The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has reassured former senior Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commanders who have been issued Amnesty Certificates after abandoning rebellion that there is no plan to withdraw the documents and have them prosecuted.
Former senior LRA commanders who were pardoned under the Amnesty Act 2000 and granted Amnesty Certificates include Mr Sam Kolo, Mr Caesar Acellam, Mr Kenneth Banya and Mr Okwonga Alero among others.
But Mr Thomas Kwoyelo, the former LRA field operation commander was denied amnesty.
Although his legal team led by Mr Onyango Owor of Onyango & Co. challenged it before the Supreme Court, the court ruled that he does not deserve clemency since he breached the Geneva Convention.
Addressing the press recently at Northern Uganda Media Club (Numec) offices in Gulu town, Mr Lino Anguzu, a Principal State Attorney in the DPPs office said there is no intention to come after those who have already received the certificates.
According to Anguzu, “Out of the 26,000 former LRA fighters who have already been granted certificates, not a single one will be prosecuted since their crimes are political in nature.”
He called for calm among former combatants.
Anguzu also dismissed reports of selective prosecution after former Internally Displaced Persons asked International Crime Division Court (ICC) to prosecute members of the government forces who were a party to the insurgency that rocked the part of northern and eastern Uganda.
He called upon the civilian population to bring forward incriminating evidence against the UPDF so that those responsible are prosecuted.
In October 2013, Ms Jane Anywar Adong, the Legal Monitor for Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, a local Non Governmental Organization argued that the amnesty act was an error in the law.
According to Ms Adong, “Some of the crimes committed by the rebels who were granted amnesty certificates were beyond ordinary crimes. They should have been denied such pardon.”
She adds that there should have been a proper criteria to vet who qualifies for amnesty.
She also noted, “The women who were in LRA captivity have been forgotten despite being victims of the war while the perpetuators received pardon for the crimes they have committed.”
She calls for amendment in the current amnesty law.
But cultural and religious leaders from the Acholi Sub Region and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working for peace in Northern Uganda argue that amnesty made a positive contribution to the course of peace in Uganda and the region, by facilitating the defection of rebels, and encouraging other rebel groups to settle their grievances peacefully with the Government.
Sheik Musa Khalil, the Vice Chairperson Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI), an interfaith group urged the government to speed up the process saying it will lead to relative peace in the region affected by the over two decades of war.
He said, “Through the Amnesty Law, dozens of children who were forcefully abducted have been able to reunite with their families after returning from the bush.”
