Rebels should face justice – UN

GULU – The commanders of Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) should be brought to justice despite a government offer of amnesty, said the United Nations’s top humanitarian official on Saturday.

UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Jan Egeland said the Ugandan authorities should explore ways of delivering justice to the five LRA commanders sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC). “Those who have been indicted should face justice,” said Egeland as he visited a camp for displaced people in northern Uganda.”But we should also use all other ways to deliver justice.What is more important now is that we should concentrate on ending the war.”Egeland was speaking at Opit Camp, 40km outside the northern township of Gulu, where 24 700 people are living.Hague charged five with atrocities He spoke after the LRA deputy chief Vincent Otti said the rebels would not agree to a final peace deal with the government unless international war crimes charges against its top leaders were dropped.The Hague-based tribunal has charged Kony, Otti and fellow LRA commanders Dominic Ongwen, Okhot Odhiambo and Raska Lukwiya with numerous counts of war crimes for atrocities allegedly committed during the country’s brutal, two-decade war.President Yoweri Museveni has offered the indicted rebels a blanket amnesty if they agree to a peace deal.He has also hinted at a possible extension of a September 12 deadline he set for an agreement if the talks show progress.Egeland, who is scheduled to travel to the venue of the peace talks in southern Sudan, said a truce reached last month had improved security in the region.”I look forward to spending a night with you at this camp.It is a sign that things have changed, that I can stay in the camp with you and enjoy your hospitality,” he told the refugees.”I am also going to Juba to encourage the peace talks because they are the best hope for northern Uganda and a quick return to your homes.”The Juba negotiations are widely seen as the best chance to end the fighting in northern Uganda.The violence has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced nearly two million people.The conflict is regularly described by UN and aid workers as one of the world’s worst and most-forgotten humanitarian crises, with the area’s poor civilian population subjected to massive abuses.News24″Those who have been indicted should face justice,” said Egeland as he visited a camp for displaced people in northern Uganda.”But we should also use all other ways to deliver justice.What is more important now is that we should concentrate on ending the war.”Egeland was speaking at Opit Camp, 40km outside the northern township of Gulu, where 24 700 people are living.Hague charged five with atrocities He spoke after the LRA deputy chief Vincent Otti said the rebels would not agree to a final peace deal with the government unless international war crimes charges against its top leaders were dropped.The Hague-based tribunal has charged Kony, Otti and fellow LRA commanders Dominic Ongwen, Okhot Odhiambo and Raska Lukwiya with numerous counts of war crimes for atrocities allegedly committed during the country’s brutal, two-decade war.President Yoweri Museveni has offered the indicted rebels a blanket amnesty if they agree to a peace deal.He has also hinted at a possible extension of a September 12 deadline he set for an agreement if the talks show progress.Egeland, who is scheduled to travel to the venue of the peace talks in southern Sudan, said a truce reached last month had improved security in the region.”I look forward to spending a night with you at this camp.It is a sign that things have changed, that I can stay in the camp with you and enjoy your hospitality,” he told the refugees.”I am also going to Juba to encourage the peace talks because they are the best hope for northern Uganda and a quick return to your homes.”The Juba negotiations are widely seen as the best chance to end the fighting in northern Uganda.The violence has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced nearly two million people.The conflict is regularly described by UN and aid workers as one of the world’s worst and most-forgotten humanitarian crises, with the area’s poor civilian population subjected to massive abuses.News24