JURIST - Paper Chase: Uganda officials say rebel leader willing to face justice at home, not at ICC

[JURIST] Ugandan officials said Wednesday that Joseph Kony [BBC profile], leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army [MIPT backgrounder], has expressed a willingness to face justice in Uganda rather than at the International Criminal Court [official website]. ICC prosecutors charged [JURIST report] Kony and four LRA lieutenants last October with orchestrating the killing of thousands of civilians and the enslavement of thousands more children over two decades of conflict with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's government. To this point, Kony and the LRA have made the lifting of the ICC arrest warrants [PDF text] a condition of participating in peace negotiations being mediated by Sudan [UNMIS official website]. After the latest meeting with the rebel leader, however, Ugandan officials said that Kony has now indicated that he is "ready for accountability in Uganda" for his alleged crimes.

The ICC has refused [JURIST report] to cancel the indictments, despite requests [JURIST report] from the Ugandan government [official website], which has asserted that most Ugandans are willing to sacrifice prosecution of LRA leaders in exchange for successful peace negotiations. The rebel leader has denied the ICC charges [JURIST report], claiming the crimes were committed by the Ugandan military. Reuters has more.

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