Relatives of former Lord’s Resistance Army senior commander Dominic Ongwen have requested the International Criminal Court [ICC] to consider flying one of the family members to The Hague in Netherlands ahead of Ongwen’s which begins in December 6.
Ongwen is facing 70 counts of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at The Hague based ICC. He allegedly committed the crimes in Northern Uganda between 2002 and 2004.
His trial follows the confirmation of all the 70 charges by the Pre-trial chamber in January this year.
At his ancestral home village in Coo rom, Lamogi Sub-county in Amuru District, his relatives are anxiously waiting for the trial date but have expressed concern that Ongwen won’t have a relative by his side.
Mr Kilama Norbert, Ongwen’s younger brother told Acholi Times in an interview over the weekend that ICC should consider flying one of the close relatives to follow closely the court session as a way of comforting Ongwen.
“We believe that the presence of one of us in The Hague will give courage to Ongwen during his trial,’’ said Kilama who said the family expected the ICC to arrange the trip to take a family member to The Hague.
Kilama said although the trial will be televised just like during the pre-trial hearing, it’s not enough to unite the family members and Ongwen.
Mr John Odonga, Ongwen’s paternal uncle on the other hand said they are unsure whether they will ever see Ongwen again fearing that if the former LRA commander is convicted, the family will not see him again.
“We are requesting the ICC to be considerate, we haven’t seen our son in many years, we have made this request when he[Ongwen] surrendered but it has fallen on deaf ears,” Mr Odonga said.
But Ms Maria Mabinty Kamara, the ICC’s Field Outreach Coordinator for Kenya and Uganda said she is unaware about the request by Ongwen’s family members to be flown to The Hague to follow his trial and visitation.
“I haven’t received any such information from the family members, besides I am not directly in touch with the family members. His defense lawyer is the one in touch with the relatives and they have to channel such request to him,” Ms Kamara said.
She said if Ongwen’s relatives make their request through the appropriate channels, ICC will make review of their demands and decide whether they visit or not.
Mr Krispus Ayena, Ongwen’s Defence lawyer however told Acholi Times in an interview on Tuesday that their plans to make arrangement for Ongwen’s relatives have been hampered by the limited funds ICC has.
“We have been making plans not only for the relatives to attend the trial but also making arrangements for their visitation. But all this has not been possible because ICC has no fund for such arrangements,” Mr Ayena.
About the Trial
Ongwen’s trial will be heard by a panel of three judges who include Bertram Schmitt, Peter Kovacs, and Raul C Pangalangan. The trial will commence with hearing the opening of statements and later the presentation of the evidence by the prosecution in January 2017.
The former commander of the LRA’s Sinia brigade surrendered last year from Central African Republic and was handed to the ICC on January 16 last year following an arrest warrant by the ICC before being transferred to the courts custody on January 21.