Uganda’s Under-17 football team prepares to compete in Sudan from August 19-31

From The Observer, Uganda by John Vianney Nsimbe, 10 August 2009:
National U-17 footballers face daunting task

Since finishing second at the Under-17 CECAFA Cup in 2007, Uganda’s Under-17 football team hasn’t been active. Richard Wasswa, the team’s coach suggests that it’s high time Uganda sets up regular under age competitions to keep the young players active.

As the team prepares to compete in this year’s tournament in Sudan from August 19-31, Wasswa told The Observer that without under age competitions, it becomes hard to spot players.

“The time has run out for us to start building a new team. It would have been easier if there were regular under age competitions where we would have spotted the best talent early on,” says Wasswa.

Wasswa concludes that it’s important that our young players get more competition so that they get experience before such major events. Guest teams like Nigeria and Egypt will grace this event. Uganda will be in group ‘B’ battling Kenya, Ethiopia and Zanzibar.

jovi@observer.ug

UN to expand Entebbe base - UN special envoy Joaquim Chissano tenure not terminated

From The New Vision, Uganda
UN to expand Entebbe base
By Henry Mukasa, Sunday 09 August, 2009

THE United Nations will expand its anchor operations at Entebbe army base to make it its logistical launchpad for UN missions in Africa.

Uganda’s permanent representative to the UN Security Council in New York, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, announced on Friday that the expansion of the logistics hub will commence next year.

Addressing journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala, Rugunda explained that the UN logistical services base has benefited peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur, South Sudan, Chad and Somalia.

He disclosed that a memorandum of understanding between the UN and the Government would be signed to spell out the terms of the expanded use of the base.

Rugunda, who chaired the UN Security Council in July, pointed out that during his tenure, the council adopted five resolutions and five presidential statements.

Some of the issues dealt with by the council included the situations in the Congo, Somalia, Darfur – Sudan, Djibouti/ Eritrea, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Middle East and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Commenting on the situation in the neighbouring Congo, Rugunda said: “The council expressed grave concern over the renewed activity of illegal armed groups and condemned the targeted attacks against civilians by the FDLR and the LRA. It also expressed concern over reports of massive human rights violations, widespread sexual violence and the continued recruitment of children in armed conflict.”

On the LRA, Rugunda said the council commended the Secretary General’s Special Envoy, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, for his contribution to the Juba peace process and called on the LRA to sign the final peace agreement.

He explained that Chissano’s tenure as UN envoy had not been terminated.

“The talks between the Government and LRA were concluded, but Kony dodged signing. So, it was decided that offices should not be kept open in Kampala for Chissano when Kony is not contactable.

When Kony avails himself for signing, Chissano will fly in as UN envoy. His services have not been terminated but suspended,” Rugunda stated.

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From UN - Daily Press Briefing (7 August 2009) by Marie Okabe, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General - excerpt:

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR), meanwhile, says that an unprecedented 55 rebel attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have displaced some 12,500 civilians in the past month alone. This is a spike from 23 LRA attacks in May and 34 in June.

UNHCR says that the Ugandan rebels have murdered 1,273 civilians and abducted 655 children and 1,427 adults. A number of women were also raped and houses were looted and torched. Fleeing civilians have found shelter in public buildings including schools and churches. And the situation is made worse by a lack of basic medical supplies at local hospitals, while aid agencies have so far reached only half of the internally displaced persons. And that’s due to widespread insecurity in the region. You can read more about this upstairs.

Sudan

The World Food Programme (WFP) fears that the recent massacre of 161 people in Southern Sudan’s Jonglei State might lead to a spate of deadly retaliatory attacks. Some 700 people have been killed since March in the region while another 19,000 were displaced. WFP and its partners have called on the Government to put an end to inter-tribal fighting, which is endangering the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Full story.

David Blair's report from Witto, Western Equatoria, S. Sudan: LRA targets children of Sudan

Here is a long awaited report from The Daily Telegraph's Africa correspondent David Blair. I have lost count of the number of times over the past year that I wondered about his lack of reporting on Africa and even worried that he might be ill. So, it was a wonderful surprise for me a few minutes ago to find the following report filed from South Sudan's Western Equatoria! Fingers crossed that he remains in the region to report more on what is really going on. On Monday morning (10 August 2009) I published news at Sudan Watch about southern Sudan where a humanitarian disaster more serious than that in Darfur, western Sudan is unfolding.

From The Daily Telegraph
Lord's Resistance Army targets children of Sudan
By David Blair in Witto, Western Equatoria province, South Sudan
Published: 7:00AM BST Monday 10 Aug 2009

The Lord's Resistance Army, which specialises in abducting and murdering the young, has turned on a new and pitifully vulnerable target: the children of southern Sudan, one of Africa's most isolated and troubled regions.



Local people call LRA fighters the "ton-tong", meaning "machete", because this is their chosen weapon for murdering victims Photo: GETTY

The LRA, which emerged in neighbouring Uganda and has kidnapped tens of thousands of children during two decades of guerrilla war, is now striking across a vast area of bush and plain along Sudan's south-western frontier.

These raids on defenceless villages, usually mounted by small groups of rebels searching for children to abduct and food to steal, have forced more than 55,000 people to flee their homes. Western Equatoria province has been worst hit, with scores of villages abandoned and new refugee camps springing up.

Local people call LRA fighters the "ton-tong", meaning "machete", because this is their chosen weapon for murdering victims.

Mary Anja, who does not know her age but looks about 30, lived in Diko district until the LRA attacked her village. Knowing that the rebels were hunting for children, local people tried to evacuate as many as possible, along with their mothers, on two tractors.

Mrs Anja gathered her three infant sons and climbed onto one vehicle's trailer. Meanwhile, her daughter, Phoebe, who is about 12, boarded the second tractor.

But this tiny convoy drove straight into an LRA ambush. "The ton-tong fired bullets in the air, then they shot out the tyres of the tractor," said Mrs Anja. "When people tried to jump out, they shot at the people." As the terrified women and children tried to flee, one baby boy, less than a year old, was shot dead in the arms of his mother. Another woman was wounded in the leg, while a Sudanese soldier, who had tried to protect the convoy, died in a hail of bullets.

Mrs Anja managed to flee with her three sons. As she ran, she knew nothing of the fate of Phoebe, travelling on the second tractor. "I was thinking 'Phoebe is not here'. I started crying while I ran," said Mrs Anja.

By this time, Phoebe was already in the hands of the LRA. The guerrillas surrounded her tractor, firing in the air and singling out Phoebe along with five other girls and one boy. "They surrounded us. We couldn't run and then they said 'sit down'. One of the rebels tied us up," said Phoebe.

The captives were led away into the bush. For the next three days, Phoebe was forced to march for 18 hours at a time. "If you don't walk fast enough, you are beaten with sticks," she remembered. "I was thinking, 'I may be killed like those who have been killed by the ton-tong before'. And I asked myself 'what has happened to my mother and my brothers'?"

Phoebe could not have known that her family was safe. They had managed to reach another village, from where Mrs Anja and her sons were brought to a refugee camp at Witto, some 50 miles away.

Shortly before dawn on the fourth day of the march, Phoebe and three other girls managed to slip away as their captors slept. For the next 12 days, they walked through the bush, surviving on river water and wild berries, until they reached the town of Tore Wandi.

Phoebe, emaciated and dehydrated, was taken to hospital, where her mother eventually found her. Today, she has recovered and the family lives in Witto camp, where Oxfam provides sanitation and basic essentials for about 500 refugees.

They cannot understand why they have become the LRA's latest targets. This nihilist movement, which emerged in Northern Uganda more than 20 years ago, has no coherent aim. Its psychotic leader, Joseph Kony, claims to be a prophet and says that he wants to rule Uganda according to the Ten Commandments.

But Kony's rebellion has no purpose save murder, so no-one joins him voluntarily. Hence the LRA must abduct children, who are then brainwashed into becoming soldiers and sent to kidnap more young recruits. In this brutal fashion, the LRA constantly replenishes its ranks.

Uganda has managed to expel the rebels from its territory with a series of offensives. But the LRA has scattered across a new killing ground, covering Sudan's borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

No-one can tell how many children have disappeared in this vast area. Joseph Ngere Paciko, the deputy governor of Western Equatoria, has recorded 250 abductions in his province alone.

"There have also been cases in far-away villages, where we have no access, so the real number is certainly higher," he said. "Our people don't understand why this is happening. Why should the LRA come and kill our people every day?"

Uganda: Microfinancing - Launch of new Mobile Money Transfer Directory will focus on Sub-Sahara Africa

A new Mobile Money Transfer Directory at http://creditsms.org launches in 2 wks focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (by @CreditSMS)

Source: White African Erik Hersman via Twitter 04 Aug. 2009
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Snippets from CreditSMS website:

In December 2009, CreditSMS will launch several pilots throughout Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Additional pilot requests have been submitted for Kenya, Sudan, and Sierra Leone. Uganda and DRC have 87% and 66% rural populations respectively, constituting a nascent market of as many as 76 million potential clients and consumers. By enabling MFIs [microfinance institutions] to reach and meet the demands of this market, CreditSMS will facilitate a form of 'bubble up' development whereby the income of microloan recipients will increase and the price of newly-available goods and services will trend toward market equilibrium. All pilot results will be made free and accessible via CreditSMS.org as they become available.
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The Beginning...
By Ben Lyon
Published: July 14, 2009

Formal banks were hesitant to give "the bottom billion" loans because they didn't have collateral. Today, microfinance institutions (MFIs) fill that void by providing collateral-free loans to micro-entrepreneurs. In order to compete with traditional moneylenders, however, those MFIs had to charge exorbitant interest rates, mostly to absorb the high transport cost of making weekly visits to rural areas to collect loan repayments. With teledensity penetration and mobile commerce growing faster by the day, one has to wonder: why are loan officers still making the trip? Read More...
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Increasing revenue and impact through technology
By Ben Lyon
Published: July 22, 2009
[article written for Project Diaspora]

Aaron Ewedafe wakes up every morning at least one hour before the sun rises. Donning his satchel full of client records and repayment schedules, he hails the nearest okada driver and races into the surrounding countryside to begin a long day of loan group meetings. The trip from headquarters in Oshogbo to the village of Ojudo and back can take all day. Aaron rarely makes it home before nightfall. Altogether, Aaron spends 112 hours and 5,000 naira a week to manage 350 microloan recipients. His profit is negligible. Read More...
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The 'Phone as Cow' Model
By Ben Lyon
Published: August 1, 2009

Mobile phones are quickly becoming the hottest topic in development. Everyday, waves of new innovations are rolled out to connect 'bottom of the pyramid' (BOP) entrepreneurs to markets and information. But many advocates and implementers seem to neglect a fundamental question: What good are mobile innovations if BOP entrepreneurs can't afford handsets? According to Iqbal Quadir of Grameenphone, the answer is to issue the handset as the first microloan. Read More...

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Follow Credit SMS on Twitter

Check out Mobile Money Africa - Africa's leading online resource for mobile financial inclusion: mobilemoneyafrica.com

‘Uganda came close to war with Sudan’

From Sunday Monitor, Kampala by Angelo Izama, 02 August 2009:
‘Uganda came close to war with Sudan’

Uganda was warned by its neighbour, the semi-autonomous South Sudan, of grave consequences including war and instability, if it dared arrest indicted Sudanese leader, Omar El Bashir.

Sunday Monitor has learnt from credible sources that a senior member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement jetted into Kampala carrying a letter from South Sudan president Salva Kirr Mayardit urgently asking President Yoweri Museveni to diffuse a situation created by Uganda’s position that it could arrest and hand Bashir to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The special envoy was Maj. Gen. Gier Chuang Aluong, the current minister for internal affairs of the Government of South Sudan. He arrived in Uganda on July 14 and had a meeting with President Museveni in the evening of the same day, literally entering State House just as President. Museveni concluded an uncomfortable session with Luis Moreno Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the ICC.

Sources familiar with Maj. Gen. Aluong’s visit, but who cannot be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Mr. Kirr wanted to emphasise to his Ugandan counterpart the danger of even “threatening to arrest” Bashir.

Earlier, Mr Ocampo who made a surprise visit to Uganda expressly to inform the government of its obligations to arrest Bashir if he set foot in the country had held a press conference in Kampala with Minster of State for International Relations Henry Okello Oryem. It was here that the minister said if Bashir, an invitee to the recently concluded Smart Patnership meeting, arrived at Entebbe he would be served with an arrest warrant and taken into custody by the Uganda police.
“Gier said Uganda may turn into Somalia with suicide bombers making security difficult and there was the risk of war if Bashir was facing arrest” said one source with close ties to the South Sudan political establishment.

The choice of envoy itself is telling. Maj. Gen Aluong is a familiar face in Kampala and has close ties with senior members of the National Resistance Movement including former internal affairs minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda and Works minister John Nasasira. He was previously minister for communications and helped set up the GoSS mobile phone network, Gemtel with the help of the Uganda government.

A statement from State House did not give any details of Maj. Gen. Aluong’s visit but simply said he and the President discussed bilateral issues. Mr. Oryem and the President’s Principal Press Secretary attended the meeting.

“The issue of President Bashir was not raised in this meeting,” Mr Oryem said yesterday adding, however, that Maj. Gen. Aluong had arrived as special envoy and consequently spent some time privately with the President.

The revelations show just how complicated the Ugandan position on Bashir’s arrest warrant is. Uganda would have been the first country which is a signatory to the ICC statute that Bashir would have visited.

“The Sudanese were very mad. They were threatening severe action against Uganda including war,” said a Ugandan delegate to the Non-Aligned States meeting which was taking place in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheik at the time.

Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa who represented President Museveni at the meeting was tasked to cool things down with Bashir who was present. Later, Bashir took a phone call from President Museveni in which the latter reportedly apologised.

Uganda and South Sudan have a close relationship having been on the same side of the long war between SPLA and Khartoum. However, today, under the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Mr Kirr is also Sudan’s First Vice President.

However the Bashir indictment is also complicated at various levels. Informed sources say President Museveni had been asked by a key European nation to mediate between Bashir and rebels in Darfur whose representatives had already visited Kampala.

Consequently the invitation by Bashir would have been a pro-active attempt by President Museveni to pursue a dialogue had it not been for the intervention of the ICC prosecutor and the controversy his visit generated in the media.

At the same time President Museveni is sensitive to Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi’s emphatic lobby for Bashir to be protected by African leaders. Col. Gadaffi is chairman of the Afircan Union.

At a broader level, the alliance of Egypt, Sudan and Libya was an issue that Uganda’s Foreign Service has been fretting about for some time.

“ Gier said Salva was very concerned and insisted that the matter be resolved quickly” said the source who added that after years of SPLA fighting Khartoum, Mr Kirr who used to be the army’s intelligence chief “ knew how dangerous an enemy Khartoum can be”.

Bashir blocked but is Museveni off the hook?

Note to self to re-read the following analysis.



Photo: President Museveni and Ocampo at State House.  (The Independent)  See profile here below.

Cover story from The Independent, Uganda:
Bashir blocked but is Museveni off the hook?
Wednesday, 29 July 2009 by Rosebell Kagumire 

Govt drafts law to save the President from prosecution



Sudanese President Gen. Omar al-Bashir wanted by the ICC.

Uganda has officially become the second African country after South Africa to block a visit by Sudanese President Gen. Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir faces a similar situation in 28 other African countries and more than 90 others worldwide which are signatories to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC)Rome Statute. The number of potential arrest spots for Bashir swells if countries that are not signatories but are cooperative with the ICC are included.

Uganda placed itself between a rock and a hard place when it invited him to the 19th edition of the International Global Smart Partnership dialogue in Kampala between July 26 and 28.

Since then, analysts have pointed out that, the narrowing of space for Bashir has implications for President Yoweri Museveni and other African leaders too.

Bashir has a warrant of arrest hanging over his head issued by The Hague-based ICC for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s restive western region of Darfur between 2003 and 2008.

But African Union (AU) leaders at their July 4 summit in Sirte, Libya, had resolved not to cooperate with the ICC “pursuant to the provisions of Article 98 of the Rome Statute on the ICC...or the arrest and surrender of African indicted personalities.”

Since the arrest warrants were issued in March, Bashir has defiantly visited several African countries and the Middle East. But coming to Kampala would be significant because it would be the first visit to a country which is a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC.

South Africa blocked Bashir from attending President Jacob Zuma’s inauguration in May with a warning that it would arrest him to honour its obligations to the ICC.

Initial indications that Bashir would attend shifted world attention to whether Uganda, as a signatory to the Rome Statute, would flout the AU position, uphold its international obligation to the ICC, and arrest him.

ICC mandate

At the time, Lina Zedriga, a women’s peace and security advocate in Kampala, argued that although the Rome Statute puts obligations on the signatory countries to arrest the suspects, it does not impose legal punishments on countries which do not comply.

“The institutional framework to practically deliver this arrest seems to be largely absent even at the ICC level. There is a gap as the court operates on the cooperation, so failure to cooperate is not fatal to Uganda,” she said.

But David Mpanga, a senior lawyer in Kampala, argued that Uganda could not risk undermining the ICC.

“Uganda cannot go with the AU on the Bashir indictment. That would not be politically expedient in light of the fact that Uganda now chairs the UN Security Council,” Mpanga reasoned. “There is also the matter of Kony; how does Uganda urge the DRC and others to apprehend Kony if they lay their hands on them but then let Bashir slip through its hands?”

On the face of it, Uganda appeared to be reacting with classic confusion. Later analysis revealed, however, that it could have been orchestrated confusion.

The unstated view of most AU leaders who signed the Sirte resolution is that most of the ICC accusations of war crimes have been against Africans. Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is locked up at The Hague on trial under the jurisdiction of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, while former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Vice President Jean Pierre Bemba and former DRC warlords Thomas Lubanga, Germaine Katanga, and Mathieu Ngudjolo are on trial by the ICC.

To this group, Bashir’s indictment proves that the ICC is only working at the whims of western leaders. Most African leaders fear that they could end up on trial in The Hague should they fall out of favour with the West.

On March 29, 2006 Taylor was arrested and handed to the ICC despite a 2003 assurance of immunity from prosecution from his host, then Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo, then South African President Thabo Mbeki and the international community. On the day Taylor was arrested Obasanjo had a scheduled meeting with then US President George Bush. Insiders claim Bush gave Obasanjo an ultimatum: “Arrest Taylor or meeting is off.”

At a broader level, DR Congo president Joseph Kabila has filed a similar case in the ICC against President Museveni’s government on accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity following Uganda’s military campaign against the Kinshasa government between 1998 and 2002. If the ICC finds merit in the DRC case, we may witness Bashir-like indictments against the Ugandan leadership.

However, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has condemned the position of the African leaders saying they are seeking protection “when one of them” is called to face justice.

“The ICC represents hope for victims of atrocities and sends a message that no one is above the law. That hope and message will be undermined if the African Union condemns the Court because it has charged an African head of state,” Annan said.

Implications

But threatening Bashir with arrest has other significant implications for President Museveni.

Uganda is slated to host the ICC review conference next year. As a prelude, the government is working hard to ensure the ICC Bill of 2006, which is the domestication of the Rome Statute, is enacted into law before the end of this year.

It is, therefore, interesting that in the ICC Bill which the Uganda government wants parliament to pass, Clause 19 which spells out those to be tried under the law, excludes Article 27 of the Rome Statute.

Jean-Pierre Bemba

Article 27 of the Rome Statute disregards immunity conferred to the heads of state under their national law. That is why Bashir can be arrested even if he is a sitting president.

Kampala Central MP Erias Lukwago who sits on the Parliamentary Legal Committee says the domesticated ICC Bill must also hold the head of state accountable.

“We are challenging this exclusion of the president from prosecution in case he commits war crimes. We want government to adopt the Rome Statute article that disregards [such] immunity.”

He says the reason for immunity of a sitting president in cases related to war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Ugandan law is similar to the views of African leaders towards the ICC.

According to Lukwago, Uganda cannot risk to be seen championing the arrest of Bashir when back home in the national ICC Bill they are seeking to exempt a sitting president from similar criminal liability.



Jean-Pierre Bemba

Ocampo’s role

The arrival in Uganda of the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo initially appeared to complicate the government’s strategy. Initially interpreted as an attempt to secure assurance from Uganda that it would arrest Bashir should he step into the country, Ocampo’s visit appears to have served the interests of the Uganda government more than it did the ICC.



Charles Taylor, ex-leader of Liberia on Trial in the Hague for alleged war crimes.

Before Ocampo arrived, Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kuteesa, said Bashir was free to travel to Uganda.

“We cannot invite President Bashir here and then arrest him. We don’t work like that,” he said at a press conference.

He said Uganda would abide by the AU resolution and not act until an investigation by an AU-appointed commission has given its recommendations on Bashir’s indictment. He said the decision was not a denial of support for the Rome Statute.

However that changed when Ocampo arrived and told a press a conference in Kampala that Uganda was under obligation to arrest Bashir.

“South Africa informed Bashir that he could be invited to President Zuma’s inauguration, but while he is there he could be arrested,” he continued, “It’s a legal obligation not a political decision, it’s a court decision and Uganda, South Africa and the 30 African (member) state parties have this legal obligation, it’s clear.”

Uganda’s Junior Foreign Affairs Minister Okello Oryem who spoke at the same press meeting with Ocampo, appeared to contradict his senior minister.

“The warrant against Bashir is already deposited here in the Solicitor General’s office,” Okello said, “If and when Bashir arrives here in Uganda, then it is up to Kayihura [head of the police] to see to it that he takes action if and when it arises.”

His statement sparked a cloud of confusion. President Museveni panicked into calling Bashir to refute Oryem’s remarks. Museveni, according to the Sudan News Agency, told Bashir that Oryem’s statement did not represent the Uganda government position.

However observers now believe that Oryem could not have contradicted his senior and the president without the matter having been discussed and endorsed by the government.

However the dice was cast. Amid the confusion, Bashir could only travel to Kampala at his own peril.

So it was not surprising that Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Permanent James Mugume announced the next day that the two countries had agreed that Bashir delegates a senior cabinet official to represent him at the Smart Partnership dialogue.

President Museveni had achieved double success; Bashir would not set foot in Kampala and therefore it relieved him of the ICC obligation to arrest him or the AU responsibility to spare him.

Analysts point out that Uganda’s dilemma doubled because in December 2003 it became the first country to refer a case to the ICC, which in July 2005 issued indictments against Lord’s Resistance Army rebel leaders, Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen over 2,200 killings and 3,200 abductions between July 2002 and June 2004, in about 850 attacks.

The ICC indictments have since been blamed for the LRA’s failure or refusal to sign a peace agreement with the government.

The government is, however, aware that the ICC involvement drew international support to its efforts to end the rebellion.

Currently, a bill called the “LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act 2009” is being pushed through the US Senate to ensure further support.



Joseph Kony

The Uganda government has been careful not to jeopardise that through its handling of the Bashir affair.

If Bashir had come and was not arrested, it would have left Uganda in the mud and rendered the ICC indictments inconsequential. This could motivate other countries to follow suit and no other indicted person would ever get bothered by the ICC indictments.

Ocampo, who travelled to Uganda from Kinshasa where he sought MONUC support to apprehend Kony, told journalists in Kampala that was the other reason for his visit.

Bashir’s side

Ensuring that Bashir stays away from Kampala was no easy job.

On July 16, just a few hours before Mugume announced that Bashir would send a representative, a source in The Hague quoting contacts in Khartoum had told The Independent that information from Sudan indicated that Bashir was determined to come to Kampala to put the efficacy of the ICC indictments on absolute test.

The other reason that added to the pressure was that Uganda is currently heading the UN Security Council, which has not accepted the AU request to defer Bashir’s indictment for 12 months.

Complying with the International Crminal Court arrest warrant would, however, not only put Uganda’s diplomatic relations with Sudan at risk, but could also alienate Uganda from other fellow African countries that share the African Union’s thinking. If that happened, Uganda then could face political isolation by her counterparts on the continent.

This view was reinforced by the Sudanese Ambassador to Uganda Abdil Rahim al-Sadiq who said in the wake of contradicting statements from Uganda government officials that Uganda risked a diplomatic row if it dared arrest Bashir.

Uganda has in the past accused Khartoum of sponsoring the Kony rebellion in northern Uganda. It is feared that any diplomatic tiff could resurrect such hostilities and strangle the remaining hope for peace.

If arresting Bashir in Kampala could have reignited hostilities between Sudan and Uganda, not arresting him does not mean that Khartoum now counts on Uganda as an ally.

Blocking Bashir also seems to have provided a temporary rather than a permanent solution.

Even after blocking Bashir visit, South African President Jacob Zuma is still under pressure to state his country’s stand regarding Bashir’s indictment.

Human rights organisations want Zuma to categorically state that he is not party to the AU decision. The agitators include Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia; and Dumisa Ntsebeza, a member of the international commission of inquiry on Darfur appointed by the UN.

Cases before the ICC



Thomas Lubanga

On 17 July 1998, 120 states adopt the Rome Statute, which sets up the International Criminal Court. The Rome Statute became operational on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries.

The ICC is joined by 109 countries. It will not act if a case is investigated or prosecuted by a national judicial system unless the national proceedings were undertaken to shield a person from criminal responsibility.

To date, three States Parties to the Rome Statute – Uganda, the DR Congo and the Central African Republic – have referred cases on their territories to ICC. In addition, the Security Council has referred the situation in Darfur, Sudan – a non-State Party.

In Uganda’s case; The Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen is currently being heard before Pre-Trial Chamber II. In this case, five warrants of arrest have been issued against the five top members of the Lords Resistance Army. Following the confirmed death of Mr Lukwiya, the proceedings against him were terminated. The four are still at large.

For DR Congo, there are three cases: The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo; The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda; and The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui. Two cases are at the pre-trial stage, while the proceedings against Lubanga are at the trial stage. Lubanga, Katanga and Ngudjolo are in the ICC custody. Ntaganda is still at large.

In Darfur, there are three cases before Pre-Trial Chamber I: The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Muhammad Harun (“Ahmad Harun”) and Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (“Ali Kushayb”); The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir and suspect Bahr Idriss Abu Garda appeared voluntarily for the first time before Pre-Trial Chamber I on 18 May 2009. He is not in custody. The three other suspects remain at large.

In the Central African Republic, the case; The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is at the pre-trial stage and is currently being heard before Pre-Trial Chamber II.

Profile: Luis Moreno-Ocampo

Luis Moreno-Ocampo was born on June 4th, 1952 in Argentine. A lawyer by training, Ocampo has been Prosecutor of the ICC since June 16th 2003. He previously worked as a prosecutor in Argentina, combating corruption and prosecuting human rights abuses by senior military officials.

Ocampo graduated from the University of Buenos Aires Law School in 1978. From 1980 to 1984 he worked as a law clerk in the office of the Solicitor General.

1984-1992, Ocampo was a prosecutor in Argentina. He first came to public attention in 1985, as Assistant Prosecutor in the “Trial of the Juntas.” The first time since the Nuremberg Trials those senior military commanders were prosecuted for mass killings. Nine senior commanders, including three former heads of state, were prosecuted and five of them were convicted.

He served as District Attorney for the Federal Circuit of the City of Buenos Aires 1987-1992 during which time he prosecuted the military commanders responsible for the Falklands War. In 1987, he helped USA prosecutors extradite Gen. Guillermo Suárez Mason to Argentina.

He resigned in 1992 and established a private law firm, Moreno-Ocampo & Wortman Jofre. He represented the victims in extradition proceedings against Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke, and also in the trial of the murderer of Chilean General Carlos Prats.

Achola - 800M National Champion

Press release just in, 18.17 hrs (Ugandan time) 25 July 2009:

ACHOLA – 800M NATIONAL CHAMPION
IN PERSONAL BEST TIME + STORMING 400M RELAY LEG

800M FINAL
Despite running an 800m heat (in 2 min 12 sec) about 3 hours before, Achola Janet set a blistering pace in the Final which she won in 2 min 6.1 sec, a new personal best time.

The full results were:

1. Achola Janet (Prisons) 2 min 06.1 sec
2. Annet Nekesa (Standard High) 2 min 08.6 sec
3. Chepkwemoi Gladys (Standard High) 2 min 10.4 sec
4. Anzazi Lilian (Ndejje University) 2 min 14.8 sec
5. Esther Opio (UPDF) 2 min 16.2 sec
6. Catherine Webombesa (UPDF) 2 min 16.5 sec
7. Lubagu Margaret (Gombe SS) 2 min 19.4 sec
8. Emily Chebet (UPDF) DNF

COACHES’ COMMENT

Achola’s coaches, Kevin and Sue O’Connor, commented: “There are many ways to win an 800m. Today, Janet destroyed the field from the front by a sustained piece of front-running. While the improvement in her PB was only by one-tenth of a second, any middle distance athletics coach will realise that with a fast heat just a couple of hours before, Janet is capable of significantly improving her PB this season. And after today’s Final, she ran a superb last leg of the 4 x 400m relay, closed a gap of around 15 metres on the 2 teams ahead, to secure victory for a jubilant Prisons team.”

”Both she and ourselves realised at the beginning of this season that the 2009 World Championships 800m qualifying time (2 min 01.3 sec) was not possible for her this year. But we are now extremely confident that she will achieve these required qualifying standards for the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympic Games.”

”Today’s excellent National Championships follows shortly after Achola’s equally encouraging races at the recent World University Championships.”

KEVIN AND SUE O’CONNOR

Clerics criticise Chissano’s stand on LRA rebels

From Daily Monitor Friday, July 24, 2009:
Clerics criticise Chissano’s stand on LRA rebels
By PAUL AMORU & JAMES ERIKU

(Gulu) - A statement by Mr Joachim Chissano, the outgoing UN Secretary General’s envoy for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) affected areas, recommending that both the peaceful and military option be pursued to end the conflict in northern Uganda has received round condemnation from a local religious group.

The Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) yesterday released a press statement signed by its chairperson, Arch Bishop John Baptist Odama and his vice Alhajji Musa Khelil, saying the military option still being recommended by Mr Chissano failed to bring peace for over two decades.

“We respect the final recommendations which Mr Chissano presented to the Security Council however, as religious leaders, we always stand upon the principles of non-violence and dialogue to resolve conflicts,” ARLPI said in the statement.

The former Mozambique President briefed the UN Security Council on his final observations and recommendations regarding the state of the peace process between the government of Uganda and the LRA on July 15.

In the statement, the members said, while they appreciate the multiple consultations Chissano and his team conducted throughout the region, they do not want the region to recede to another war.
“We do not have the confidence that any military action will bring security to the region but instead will only further destabilise the relative calm which we are experiencing,” the statement adds.

The clerics urged all the stakeholders to put more efforts on building trust and confidence between the parties so that dialogue can continue to lead to the final signing of the peace agreement.

They further cautioned that military action could put in danger the lives of innocent civilians abducted by the LRA in Uganda, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic.

The Acholi religious Leaders Initiative has been at the fore front of pushing for peaceful resolution of the conflict in the north since its inception in the early 1990’s though the government believed that the military option was the best way of achieving peace in northern Uganda.

The Final Peace Agreement was negotiated between the government and the LRA, but the LRA’s leader Joseph Kony has repeatedly failed to sign the deal, citing indictments and arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as obstacles.

But the Security Council last week urged the LRA rebels to sign a peace agreement which seeks to end its decades-long conflict with the government.

(Hat tip: http://DRC.Ushahidi.com)

Mandate of UN special envoy for LRA affected areas since 2006, ended on June 30th

Sad news from Sudan Radio Service, Thursday, 16 July 2009:
Mandate Ends for LRA Envoy

(Kampala) – Human Rights Watch has expressed concern over the suspension of the mandate of the United Nations special envoy for areas affected by the Lord's Resistance Army.

The mandate of the former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, who has been the UN special envoy for LRA affected areas since 2006, ended on June 30th.

Maria Burnett, Human Rights Watch's Uganda researcher spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Thursday. She described the likely impact of the UN envoy’s departure.

[Maria Burnett]: “Human Rights Watch remains extremely concerned about what the United Nations has done in terms of the protection of civilians who have been affected by the LRA in Congo, in Sudan and potentially in the Central African Republic. At the same time, we are also concerned about the warrant from the International Criminal Court and we hope that it will lead to Joseph Kony and other indicted LRA leaders facing justice for their crimes.”

She went on to say that there has been limited international action against the LRA and is calling on the international community to protect civilians from attacks by the LRA.

[Maria Burnett]: “We are looking to the Security Council and other international leaders. We have called on the United States for example to do more to protect civilians who are in the LRA affected areas where the LRA are continuing to commit abuses.”

According to Human Rights Watch reports, about 1200 civilians have been killed and over 250,000 people displaced by the LRA in the past eight months in southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sudanese embassy in Kampala to question Ugandan gov't over its stance supporting ICC Bashir arrest warrant

Here's a strange story. Anything to do with the relationship between Sudan and Uganda I find odd. Some days I can't help thinking that Ugandans are at the root of the conflict in Sudan, particularly Southern Sudan. From what I have gathered over the five years of blogging at Uganda Watch, Sudan Watch and Congo Watch, Uganda receives support from the U.S. military. Taking into account all three blogs, the common denominators appear to be Uganda and the USA. Clearly, Sudan has everything going for it but is being held back. Some very powerful people are stopping Sudan from developing and keeping the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on track. Who are they and why, after six years and miles of writings on Darfur, don't we know for sure?

From Sudan Vision Daily, Wednesday, July 15, 2009:
Sudan Intends to Question Ugandan Government Over its Stances toward the ICC

(Khartoum – Zuleikha Abdul Raziq) - Sudanese government affirmed its intention to question the Ugandan government about its stance supporting the ICC arrest warrant against President Al-Bashir and its adhering to the ICC decision in case of Al-Bashir’s arrival in Uganda.

The question will be through the Sudanese embassy in Kampala.

Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ambassador Ali Al-Sadiq said in press statements yesterday that the travel of the President is not linked with the Ugandan stance, affirming that certain factors dictate the travel not including the Ugandan President's statement.

Al-Sadiq added that if Uganda stuck to its stance supporting the ICC arrest warrant that means that it violated the AU decision, adding that all African countries must adhere to AU decisions and any state that doesn’t do that is breaking the African consensus.

Foreign Ministry spokesman concluded that the Ugandan regime should be reminded about their massacring of the Acholi people in Northern Uganda, before talking about justice.

Governmental sources described Uganda stances as swinging and undecided while warned of any intention to get out from the AU decision which called on all African countries not to cooperate with the ICC with regard to its fabricated allegations against President Al-Bashir.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry is reserved in responding officially against the Ugandan stances but the Ministry spokesman had condemned in a previous statements, a similar stance of State of Botswana.

The Ugandan State Minister for International Relations Okello Oryem had said in a press conference, “Till Al Bashir comes here I could not tell whether he could be arrested or not”, adding, “Let us wait for Al-Bashir to arrive here and we will see which action will be action,” explaining that the said issue is up to the Inspector General of Police to take action.

The media in the area says that President Al-Bashir intends to attend a meeting on the international affairs called “Smart Partnership Business Conference”.

The ICC General Prosecutor Luis Ocampo said that Uganda has obligation to cooperate with the said Court indicating that the case of South Africa where the President Al-Bashir did not attend the swearing-in of President Jacob Zuma last May adding.

“It’s a legal obligation and a court decision and Uganda and South Africa and 30 other states have a legal obligation on the said issue.”

UPDATE: From Sudan Tribune, Wednesday 15 July 2009:
Uganda president apologizes to Sudan’s Bashir over ICC remarks: SUNA -- July 14, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Ugandan president Yoweri Musievini phoned his Sudanese counterpart Omer Hassan Al-Bashir over remarks made by one of his cabinet ministers on cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his arrest.

Joseph Kony will never make peace- ICC

From The New Vision, Uganda, Tuesday, 14 July, 2009:
Joseph Kony will never make peace- ICC

UGANDAN rebel leader Joseph Kony will never sign a peace agreement so international efforts should focus instead on arresting him, the International Criminal Court prosecutor said.

The Hague-based ICC has indicted Kony and other leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) for war crimes in a brutal, two-decade rebellion that began in north Uganda but has spilled into south Sudan, east Congo and Central African Republic.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said late on Monday that past mediation efforts in 2007 and 2004 had failed and served only to allow Kony to recruit and re-arm.

"This is a fantasy, Kony will never make peace," he said in the interview with Reuters and BBC. "When he is weak, he goes for peace negotiation. Then he gets money, he gets food, he buys weapons and he attacks again. How many times will he cheat?"

Kony, a self-styled prophet, has said he will surrender only if the ICC warrants are withdrawn.

Following a Ugandan-led assault on LRA camps in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) late last year, the rebels have carried out numerous reprisal attacks on civilians, killing more than 1,000 and capturing thousands more.

"The retaliation shows that Kony has to be arrested," Moreno-Ocampo said. "They tried the Juba talks (in 2007), they offered him everything and he refused."

Uganda willing to arrest al-Bashir for war crimes

Uganda said Monday it would arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he enters the country, an unusual stance after a summit of African leaders denounced the international arrest warrant against al-Bashir.

Henry Oryem Okello, Uganda's minister for international affairs, spoke after meeting with the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, in Kampala.

"It is a legal obligation for Uganda to arrest Bashir if he comes to Uganda," Ocampo said.

Full story from Associated Press by Godfrey Olukya - Monday, 13 July 2009, KAMPALA, Uganda: Uganda willing to arrest al-Bashir for war crimes