Lawyers and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in northern Uganda have asked the International Court Criminal Court (ICC) to offer adequate protection to witnesses in the charges brought against the former senior Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen.
Ongwen, a former commander of LRA’s Sinia brigade is set to appear on January 21 at The Hague for the confirmation of 67 charges in relation to his alleged participation in recruitment of child soldiers, sexual violence and carrying out attacks on civilians in northern Uganda.
Ongwen surrendered to the African Union forces in Central African Republic (CAR) in December 2014.
Henry Komakech Kilama, a Gulu based Human Rights lawyer says ICC should guarantee the safety of individuals who are witnesses in the case against Ongwen. Kilama said that the protection of witnesses against harm should not be ignored describing it as key.
Another advocate, Christabel Judith Aceng, who also doubles as a lecturer at Faculty of Law at Uganda Christian University- Mukono, asked the ICC to do everything within its power ensure that witnesses remain anonymous.
Aceng raised fear that not only witnesses who may face violence but also members of their family.
She cited Kenya’s case where witnesses were intimidated forcing the ICC prosecutor to drop charges brought against President Uhuru Kenyatta.
According Dr Brian Kalenge, an advisor of the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court of Uganda, ICC and other agencies need to protect witnesses who under some circumstances are victims.
Dr Kalenge also said that even ICC officials need to shield from harm.
In March last year while visiting northern Uganda, Fatou Bensouda, the Chief Prosecutor for the ICC said they have learnt lessons from Kenya after some of their witnesses were intimidated leading up to the dropping of case against President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Bensouda promised to ensure that that witnesses in the case against the Dominic Ongwen receive the utmost protection. She said if need be, some of the witnesses will be relocated to undisclosed locations in order to protect their identities.
The ICC Prosecutor said although they have received assurance from Uganda’s government that it will make witness protection a priority, they ICC still have the responsibility to reinforce the support.
