Prosecuting International Crimes in Africa - PULP - University of ...

210 Chapter 9
In the above respect, Amnesty International argued that the War
Crimes Division would have very limited capacity to prosecute the large
number of cases involving the commission of serious crimes in Northern
Uganda. Yet, delays arising from this capacity problem could be enhanced
by delays in the processes leading to the establishment of the special
division, which include adopting special legislation; establishing
procedures; recruiting staff; and finding facilities. 84
The Agreement was also faulted for its definition of crimes and
criminal responsibility: ‘[T]he threshold set out in the Annex is
significantly higher than the definition of crime in Article 7 of the Rome
Statute.’ 85 Clause 13(a) of the Annex limited investigations to individuals
who are alleged to have planned or carried out widespread, systemic, or
serious attacks directed against civilians, or who are alleged to have
committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. In contrast, article
7 of the Rome Statute defines crimes against humanity as acts ‘when
committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against
any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack’. The difference is
that article 7, unlike clause 13, is not limited to individuals who commit
widespread or systematic attacks; it also covers those who commit crimes
which are not themselves widespread or systematic but which form part of
a widespread or systematic attack. 86
Some people expressed support for the agreement on the use of the
traditional justice mechanisms. The Refugee Law Project of the Faculty of
Law, Makerere University for instance, while opposed to the ‘twin-track
system ... whereby LRA soldiers are supposed to go through the traditional
justice while UPDF soldiers go to court martial’, endorsed the inclusion of
traditional justice mechanisms ‘as an indicator of how alternative models
do have resonance and should not be dismissed out of hand’. 87
In addition to the above, the negotiations and Agreement stirred a lot
of debate on the issue of the role that traditional processes of conflict
resolution, especially Mato Oput, would play in ending the conflict. On the
basis of this, it is imperative to understand the practice of Mato Oput and its
potential to lead to reconciliation and healing.
3.3 Understanding Mato Oput
Although the Mato Oput may be belittled simply as a process where
perpetrators of serious crime take a bitter drink extracted from tree roots
and walk away scot-free, the process is much more complex than that. As
84 Amnesty International (n 80 above) 15 – 16.
85 As above, 16.
86 As above.
87 Dolan (n 55 above) 4.