Gender Report Card on the International Criminal ... - YWCA Canada

OTP Situations and Cases
by the LRA. 563 These are estimates based on the
lowest figures provided, and the exact numbers
for those killed and abducted are likely to be
much higher. It is also estimated by Oxfam
International that 100% of the girls who are
abducted by the LRA are raped. 564 It should be
noted that there are significant discrepancies
between reports regarding the numbers
attacked and affected by the LRA’s activities
due to the difficulties in gaining access to these
locations. It is estimated that nearly one third
of those abducted by the LRA are children who
are forcibly recruited into the LRA as fighters and
as sex slaves. 565 Therefore, a significant portion
of the militia is composed of those who are not
voluntarily a part of the LRA’s political or military
agendas and activities. 566
Following the ‘Women, Peace, Justice, Power’
workshop in Bangui in November 2009, the
Women’s Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong> Justice has been
advocating for the ICC to open investigations
into the crimes committed by the LRA in the CAR,
the DRC and South Sudan, so as to reflect the
scope and scale of the crimes committed by the
LRA beyond Ugandan borders.
563 Figures compiled by the Women’s Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong>
Justice on the basis of available reports.
564 ‘Ghosts of Christmas Past, Protecting Civilians from
the LRA, Joint NGO Briefing Paper’, Oxfam International,
14 December 2010, available at , last visited on 25 October 2011.
565 ‘CAR/DR Congo: LRA Conducts Massive Abduction
Campaign’, Human Rights Watch, 11 August
2010, available at ,
last visited on 25 October 2011.
566 ‘A Vision for Advancing <strong>Gender</strong> Justice, 2010-2012’,
internal document by the Women’s Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong>
Justice.
The Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony et al
Five alleged senior leaders of the LRA – Joseph Kony,
Vincent Otti, Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo and
Dominic Ongwen – were charged in 2005 with a
total of 86 counts of war crimes and crimes against
humanity. Only two of these five suspects – Joseph
Kony and Vincent Otti – have been charged with
gender-based crimes. Kony is charged with one count
of sexual enslavement as a crime against humanity,
one count of rape as a crime against humanity, and
one count of inducing rape as a war crime. Otti is
charged with one count of sexual enslavement as a
crime against humanity and one count of inducing
rape as a war crime.
The ICC has issued Arrest Warrants for all five suspects,
but as of 2011, it is believed that only Kony, Odhiambo,
and Ongwen remain at large. Proceedings against
Lukwiya were terminated after confirmation of his
death in 2006. In September 2008, the Office of the
Prosecutor indicated it had confirmed the death of
Vincent Otti as well, and was preparing to terminate
proceedings against him. However, the Court’s public
documents continue to treat Otti as a suspect at large.
There have been a number of formal requests for
information pertaining to the ICC suspects from the
Court to the Governments of Uganda and the DRC in
previous years. 567 However, neither Government has
been successful in arresting Kony or the other suspects.
The President of the CAR has also publicly stated a
commitment to arrest Kony, with help from Uganda,
the USA, and France. 568
In May 2011, a joint UN assessment mission was
dispatched to the region, led by the Department
of Political Affairs (DPA) and the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). 569 The mission met
with officials from the LRA-affected areas as well as
with officials from the African Union (AU). In June
2011, the CAR, the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan
Defence and Security Ministers met under the auspices
of the AU to discuss the establishment of a Regional
Task Force and a Joint Coordination Mechanism to
coordinate their activities in their fight against the
567 See <strong>Gender</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>Card</strong> 2008, p 92-93.
568 ‘C. Africa pledges to arrest Uganda rebel chief’, AFP,
18 August 2010, available at , last visited on 25 October 2011.
569 ‘Lord’s Resistance Army’, Security Council <strong>Report</strong>, July
2011, available at , last visited on
25 October 2011.
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