Trial Justice: the International Criminal Court and the Lord's Resistance
Army
Tim Allen
Zed Books (21 March 2006)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has run into serious problems with
its first big case - the situation in northern Uganda. There is no doubt
that appalling crimes have occurred here. Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance
Army have abducted thousands, many of them children, and have systematically
tortured, raped, maimed and killed their victims. Nevertheless, the ICC has
confronted outright hostility from a wide range of groups, including
traditional leaders, representatives of the Catholic and Anglican Churches
and non-governmental organisations. Even the Ugandan government, which
invited the ICC to become involved in 2003, has been expressing serious
reservations. For many, the Court is spoiling the peace process and is
making continued warfare and suffering more likely.
This book argues that much of the antipathy to the ICC is based upon
ignorance and misconception. Drawing on field research in Uganda, it shows
that victims are much more interested in punitive international justice than
has been suggested, and that the ICC has made resolution of the war more
likely.
Dr. Tim Allen is a reader at LSE.