The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda is expected to arrive in Kampala today for a five-day official visit.

Ms Bensouda will visit areas affected by the two-decade Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency in Gulu, Lira and Soroti districts. She will also hold talks with government officials, parliamentarians, judicial officials, lawyers, before addressing a press conference at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala.

Gulu was the epicentre of the two-decade atrocious LRA rebellion. During the war that spanned from 1987 to 2006, crimes against humanity, which are a subject of litigation before the world court, were committed.

There were massacres, abductions, torching of huts, ransacking villages, maiming of residents, enslaving of girls and conscription of boys.

The UN OCHA estimates that 1.3 people were displaced during the rebellion while hundreds were killed. The ICC coordinator for Eastern and Central Africa, Ms Maria Kamara, confirmed the visit.

Cooperation

“The purpose of the visit of the Prosecutor is to provide updates on the activities of her office, in particular in relation to the case of Mr Dominic Ongwen, and discuss issues of mutual interests,” Ms Kamara said.

The Minister of International Relations, Mr Henry Okello Oryem, disclosed that Ms Bensouda’s visit is part of the agreement government made to fully cooperate with the ICC in the prosecution of the indicted LRA commanders.

“We agreed as Uganda that we shall cooperate with the ICC so that the prosecution is successful. Government is a witness in the case,” Mr Oryem said.

The minister said the ICC chief was there to acquaint herself with the background of the war that devastated the North, with its unique cases of victims turned aggressors.

“Ongwen’s is a unique case. He was an innocent child who was abducted (before he rose to the position of commander in the LRA where he was accused of committing crimes),” Mr Oryem said. “She wants to understand these unique scenarios.”

Ms Bensouda will hold talks with President Museveni, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, the Attorney General Peter Nyombi and other senior officials. She will also meet a selected group of Ugandan legislators.

READ: Senior LRA commander off to ICC for trial

Background

In December 2003, President Museveni referred the LRA situation to the then ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. In January 2004, the President and Mr Ocampo addressed a joint press conference at International Hotel, Hyde Park London on how Uganda would cooperate with the ICC to lead to the arrest the leadership of the LRA led by Joseph Kony.

Subsequently, in October 2005, the ICC issued arrest warrants for five senior LRA commanders Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti (deputy), Okot Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya and Dominic Ongwen.

Ongwen surrenders

Of the five indictees, it’s only Kony who is believed still be alive, marauding between the thick forests of the DRC and Central Africa Republic and the desert in Sudan.

Ongwen surrendered early this year in Central African Republic. He was later transferred to The Hague where charges for war crimes were read out to him last month. He takes plea in October.

Otti was reportedly killed by Kony while Okot Odhiambo is said to have died in crossfire in the jungles. Lukwiya was confirmed dead in 2007.

Ms Bensouda is the third top official of the ICC to visit Uganda. In July 2009, her predecessor, Ocampo, visited Uganda and held closed talks with President Museveni. In January 2010, the President of the State Parties to the ICC, Christian Wenaweser also visited. She was here to discuss preparations for the review conference that was due in May that year.