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

212 Chapter 9
responsibility, repentance, forgiveness and compensation, are concluded
at the behest of the clan elders who go back and forth between the parties. 94
The actual reconciliation ceremony, Mato Oput, comes after
responsibility has been acknowledged, repentance offered, forgiveness
given and compensation agreed on. The major feature of the reconciliation
ceremony is the drinking of a drink extracted from bitter roots. The
accompanying ceremonies include slaughtering a sheep or goat,
participating in a ritualising ceremony (such as a mock fight) and a ritual
of exchanging the cooked meat in a celebratory manner. 95 The bitter drink
is symbolic; the drink symbolises the sacred blood of the victim and the
bitterness of the conflict which resulted in death. 96 The sharing of a meal
has been interpreted as establishing a covenant of peace witnessed by the
ancestral living dead and the creator. 97
The above description is evidence of the importance of and the value
that Acholi people attach to the traditional process of reconciliation. Thus,
Mato Oput cannot simply be dismissed as an impunity-sustaining process.
If honestly and genuinely carried out, the process can be a long-lasting
healing process. Nonetheless, there are questions on how this traditional
process can be integrated with modern justice challenges and the demands
of human rights standards. The act of disposing of a child, for instance, and
a girl in particular, raises human rights issues with gender-related
implications. The biggest challenge therefore is refining Mato Oput and
making it workable in a manner that integrates it with the modern justice
system. Although no comprehensive legislative reforms have been
undertaken, this is what the Agreement on Accountability and
Reconciliation tried to achieve. Unfortunately, enforcement of the
Agreement has not come to fruition, denying us the opportunity to test the
proposed justice system. The question then is whether the recently-adopted
ICC Act, domesticating the Rome Statute, is a panacea.
4 Punishing international crimes in Uganda
Before examining the process of domesticating the Rome Statute, it is
important to understand the nature of Uganda’s legal system, its criminal
laws and the preparedness of the judiciary to prosecute serious
international crimes. Being a former British colony, Uganda’s legal system
is based on the common law system with all its attendant legal and judicial
traditions. The powers to institute criminal proceedings are
constitutionally vested in the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). 98 The
94 As above.
95 Mato Oput Project (n 89 above).
96 Odama (n 90 above).
97 As above.
98 Art 123(3)(b) Constitution of Uganda, 1995.