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

274 Chapter 12
that Uganda can hold the LRA accountable for crimes committed in
northern Uganda.
The ratification and domestic implementation of the Rome Statute
and the setting up of the WCD of the High Court of Uganda should be seen
as part of fulfilling Uganda’s mandate under the complementarity
principle and should be supported by the international community. Under
positive complementarity, the OTP can help the WCD by sharing evidence
it has on the LRA to help in prosecuting members of the LRA. The court
may also adopt a hybrid model of adjudication where its judges and
prosecutors collaborate with those at the national level in the adjudication
of international crimes. 172 It is further suggested that the WCD should
have international judges who should not necessarily be ICC judges.
Judges of the WCD can also benefit from the experiences of the ICC as
visiting professionals at the seat of the court in The Hague. 173 The
Ugandan criminal justice system should make provisions for victims’
participation in its proceedings and accord them the same rights as
provided under the Rome Statute. The Registrar of the ICC could be
supportive in this regard by offering expertise on the experiences of the
ICC in relation to the protection of witnesses and their participation in
proceedings before the ICC. 174
4 Conclusion
The ICC and African states need to do more to reassure each other that
they are willing and able to work together to end impunity in Africa. The
ICC cannot on its own ensure that those who are responsible for
international crimes are held accountable. African leaders should know
that an era of impunity without accountability is fast becoming a thing of
the past. 175 Both the ICC and AU member states would gain form an
effective international criminal justice system and national judicial systems
capable of holding persons accountable for mass atrocities. 176
172 Turner (n 34 above) 2.
173 The ICC currently offers visiting professional placements to persons who have
extensive academic and/or professional expertise in an area of work relevant to or
related to the Court. See ‘Visiting Professional Placements’ http://www.icc-cpi.int/
Menus/ICC/Recruitment/Internships+and+Visiting+professionals/
The+Internships+and+Visiting+Professionals+Programme.htm (accessed 11 August
2010).
174 S Arbia ‘The Three Year Plans and Strategies of the Registry in respect of
complementarity for an effective Rome statute system of international criminal justice’
prepared for the Consultative Conference on International Criminal Justice, 9 – 11
September 2009, UN Headquarters, New York, http://
www.internationalcriminaljustice.net/experience/papers/session2.pdf (accessed 12
August 2010).
175 O Oko ‘The challenges of international criminal prosecutions in Africa’ (2007-2008) 31
Fordham International Law Journal 343, 412.
176 Jalloh (n 33 above) 445, 452.