Country Watch
grant of amnesty if the DPP determines the of- fender falls under the Act. The DPP refused to certify Kwoyelo’s amnesty application in 2010 and proceeded to prosecute him.
The defense team for Kwoyelo claimed that un- der the Ugandan constitution’s equal treatment of the laws clause, Kwoyelo should be granted amnesty like any other person despite the fact that he was a high-ranking officer. The prosecu- tion, on the other hand, demanded that the Am- nesty Act be declared unconstitutional because it claimed that no one should be free from im- punity for grave crimes against humanity. While the Constitutional Court was considering this case, the Amnesty Commission expressed con- cern that Ugandans who were granted amnesty feared future prosecution and that people were less likely to desert the LRA and come forward if they knew they could be prosecuted.
The trial of Kwoyelo is significant because it would have been the first time Uganda attempted to prosecute an individual for war crimes, and the Constitutional Court’s decision has implications for the future prosecution of international war criminals. Since Uganda is a state party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the prosecu- tion of Kwoyelo would help the country develop a complementarity challenge to ICC jurisdiction un- der Article 17 of the Rome Statute. Article 17 only grants the ICC jurisdiction when the State who has controlling jurisdiction over the accused is unable or unwilling to prosecute. In 2005, the ICC issued several arrest warrants for high-ranking of- ficials in the LRA. If these leaders were arrested by the Ugandan army, they theoretically would be able to apply for amnesty.
The granting of amnesty and establishing of community-building programs is often used as a tool in countries hit by widespread violence, such as Rwanda after the genocide and South Africa post-apartheid, to help former criminals and their victims begin living side by side again. Uganda
has used amnesty as a tool to encourage LRA rebels to desert the rebel army. People support amnesty as a way for the country to move be- yond its violent past and a way to allow people, some who have been forcefully abducted into the LRA as children, to begin anew. Before pass- ing the 2000 Amnesty Act, Uganda assured its people that Ugandans accused of war crimes will be tried in Uganda and not the ICC. Since 2000, almost 13,000 former rebel soldiers have been granted amnesty in Uganda. When Kwoyelo ap- plied for amnesty in 2010, the DPP had already approved the granting of amnesty to 274 other people that year. The Ugandan Constitutional Court ruled that since the DPP failed to provide a reasonable explanation for its refusal of Kwoye- lo’s amnesty application and the DPP’s action vio- lated the Constitution.
After approximately two years of detention, Kwoyelo was finally set free. Debate still contin- ues about whether amnesty is the right solution for individual countries and the international com- munity who wants to prosecute individuals for massive atrocities.
*Submitted by Dominique de Vastey
Furor over U.S. Administration’s Middle Road on F-16 Sales to Taiwan
In September, the White House denied a Taiwan- ese request to purchase advanced F-16 C/D strike fighters, manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Rath- er than greenlight the $8.5 billion sale of 60 new aircraft, President Obama approved an upgrade of Taiwan’s existing fleet of F-16 A/B fighters, which were purchased in 1992. Senators Robert Me- nendez (D-NJ) and John Cornyn (R-TX) have intro- duced legislation that would force the President to reverse course and authorize Taiwan’s full re- quest.
In 1992, the Bush Administration approved the sale of new F-16 A/B fighters to the Nationalist
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 2 » December 2011
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