International Criminal Court (ICC) has rejected a request for leave to appeal by the legal representative of the former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen.
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II instead ordered the Registrar to transmit the decision confirming the charges on Ongwen and the record of the proceedings to the Presidency for the purpose of constituting a Trial Chamber pursuant to article 61(11) of the Statute.
In March, Ongwen’s legal team led by Crispus Odongo- Ayena appealed the 70 charges against Ongwen by the Pre-Trial Chamber II arguing that the chamber had erred when it refused to exclude non-translated statements and transcripts.
The defence team also faulted the judges for failing to consider evidence presented by his defense lawyers regarding his age and accuses the chamber of deciding that article 25 (3)c of the Rome Statute does not require a substantial- contribution to the crime.
Known as the White Ant, Ongwen was 10 years old, walking to school in northern Uganda when he was abducted by the LRA rebel movement.
Ongwen was reportedly surrendered in January last year to the Seleka rebel group in the volatile Central African Republic (CAR) and handed over to the US forces working with African Union troops in the region, before being transferred to the ICC.
On March 23, this year, the Pre-Trial Chamber II composed of Presiding Judge Cuno Tarfusser (Italy), Judge Chang-ho Chung (Republic of Korea) and Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut (France) adopted a separate concurring opinion and confirmed all the 70 charges preferred against Ongwen and also committed him to stand full trial.
The Chamber concluded that there are substantial grounds to believe that Ongwen is responsible, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The confirmed charges concern crimes allegedly committed during attacks against the Pajule IDP (October 2003), Odek IDP (April 2004), Lukodi IDP (May 2004) and Abok IDP camps (June 2004), as well as sexual and gender-based crimes directly and indirectly committed by Dominic Ongwen and crimes of conscription and use in hostilities of children under the age of 15 allegedly committed in northern Uganda between July 1, 2002 and December 31, 2005.
The prosecution has been looking at the how the rebel leader Joseph Kony and his deputies communicated.
Earlier, evidence was presented to show how the Ugandan army intercepted communications between the LRA commanders.
The ICC Presidency subsequently appointed three judges for the Trail Chamber IV, where the former Sinia brigade commander, Ongwen has been referred to face trail.
The judges are; Judge Bertram Schmitt, Judge Peter Kovacs and Judge Raul C. Pangalangan.
Judge Bertram Schmitt was subsequently designated as the Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber IX.
In order to set the date of the trial, a status conference has been called it is set for May 23, this year.
