Grace Matsiko Frank Nyakairu & Paul Harera
13 September 2006
Juba — THE noose around the necks of LRA top leadership may be loosened after a UN official, in a rare change of heart, said the global body would assure the International Criminal Court that the arrest warrants against Joseph Kony and his commanders are a stumbling block to peace.
The UN under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr Jan Egeland told a press conference on Monday night at the UN headquarters in Juba that the fast emerging popular view was that the indictment of the rebel chiefs by the ICC was a stumbling block to peace in northern Uganda.
He said the move was made for the sake of peace. "I will be reporting to the Secretary General [Kofi Annan] and the prosecutor of ICC. I will tell the prosecutor that I have been told by the people that the ICC indictment is a stumbling block to the peace process," Egeland said. "I think it [indictment] will not be a stumbling block it will not certainly stop the process. We (UN) will make sure that the process continues."
The ICC has indicted Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti and three other top commanders for war crimes and crimes against humanity. While, Uganda has offered blanket amnesty to rebels in attempts to end the war peacefully, the ICC insists its warrants must be executed and it will not revoke the indictments. The rebels have since been apprehensive and demanded guarantees for their safety before they sign a comprehensive peace agreement.
"The predominant feeling among all the stakeholders in the peace process is that the ICC warrant of arrest should be dropped against the LRA leaders so that a peaceful conclusion to the talks can be reached," Egeland said. Egeland who was expected to conclude his two day tour of Juba yesterday, extended his stay in the country and flew with Dr Riek Machar, the peace talks mediator, to Nabanga, where LRA's second in command, Vincent Otti and about 400 fighters are.
"Egeland and Machar have this afternoon [yesterday] flown to Nabanga to talk to Otti and we on behalf of the Uganda government, are very happy and satisfied by this move of our friends (LRA)," said International Affairs State Minister Okello Oryem.
Oryem, who addressed journalists in Kampala yesterday, said President Yoweri Museveni "is very happy and satisfied with the conduct of the LRA and has agreed to lift the earlier deadline (September 12) as consultations to issues of another date are also underway." While the government team left Juba for Kampala yesterday after the talks were adjourned to next Monday, the negotiators re-echoed their demand to have a top LRA leader at the round table talks.
"Otti must have seen that we are serious, he must have tested the waters after seeing the treatment we gave Dominic Ongwen (Forth ICC fugitive),"Oryem said.
"Now we expect him to come and head the LRA team in Juba next week." Egeland, who has previously described the situation in northern Uganda as the "world's worst humanitarian crisis", called for speedy negotiations to end the' suffering in the region.
He praised Machar, describing him as a "good role model" and said his mediation could be duplicated to other trouble spots across Africa.
While the UN condemns impunity, Egeland said, justice could be served in a different way as long as it can create peace. While answering questions on why the UN had delayed to take action on the insurgency until South Sudan took the lead, Egeland said the global body preferred to facilitate home grown peace initiatives. "We have sent here colleagues from the UN. We have contributed some money. We will be playing an important role," he said.
He, however, said the UN would not get involved in case the LRA commanders are arrested and prosecuted by the ICC.
Asked whether the UN will help Kony to relocate to a third country other than Sudan and Uganda in the event the ICC lifts the indictments, Egeland said, "We will see, presumably justice will be sought and re-integration will be sought."
No releasing women
In a related development, the LRA said yesterday that they will not release children and women in their captivity even now that they have assembled at the designated assembly points. In an interview with Daily Monitor at Rii-Kwangba, Otti said that he assured the UN chief that the LRA would not release non-combatants.
"When we talked I asked him [Egeland] why is he interested in non-combatants and not the entire team? Otti asked. "I also asked him if he was in Juba to support the Peace or derail the Peace? Then he told me that he was there for peace and I said if he was there for peace, then he should fight for our entire cause as the LRA, and not demand for a section of our team," Otti said.
He said releasing the non-combatants "would mean that I release my wife and children which I cannot do. They are part of me and so are others in our custody."
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