Gulu I On Friday, December 5, 2024, the Attorney General’s lawyer instructed the court to dismiss an application by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) requesting that the court order the government to compensate victims of atrocities committed by convicted former LRA rebel commander Thomas Kwoyelo alias Latoni.
Johnson Natuhwera, a Senior State Attorney who represented the Attorney General, told the court that the convict who committed the crimes bears the primary responsibility for compensating the victims, not the government.
Natuhwera noted that the court did not hold the government accountable for any crimes during sentencing and it would be unlawful and biased to be ordered to give remedies which were not derived from the court’s sentencing.
“For a remedy to be given by the government, it has to be derived from a sentencing judgment. There is nowhere in the judgment where it says the government was held accountable for any crimes,” Natuhwera told the court.
He further noted that there was no legal basis to hold the government through the Attorney General who is a third party liable for the obligation of the convict and urged the court to dismiss the applicant’s requests citing it as a wrong way of praying for judicial remedy.
Nathuhwera suggested that if the convict cannot repair the victims’ lives through reparations, the court can use the principle of complementarity under the Rome Statute to seek support from the ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims.
On the other hand, 103 victims in the Kwoyelo case, through their lawyer (Victims’ Counsels), asked the court to issue an order requiring the government to compensate the victims for the crimes committed by Kwoyelo.
While highlighting their application during the reparation hearing at ICD Gulu High Court, the Victims’ Counsel, Jane Magdalene Amooti, told a court that matters related to reparation are a state responsibility under the international law.
Amooti further asked the court to issue an order compelling the Attorney General to establish a Trust Fund for Victims from which funds will be drawn to meet the reparation needs of the victims in Pabbo and Lamogi sub-counties.
According to her, 3,150 victims have been identified, of which 1,500 are in Pabbo sub-county in Amuru district, which all need to be compensated.
“Under international law, it is a state responsibility and even where the convict is indigent, looking at the UN’s basic principles of reparation, it is still the duty of the government to repair all the lives of victims and can be through programs even creating the victims’ fund,” Amooti told court.
She, however, noted that they are considering having in place both individual and community reparation and a symbolic award of shs 4 million each to the victims to suit the varied needs of the victims.
In August this year, the court found Kwoyelo guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 40 years’ imprisonment on October 25, 2024.
“The primary obligation may rest with the convict, but the state has a duty to repair the lives of victims. The Attorney General’s skepticism overlooks this international legal principle,” Amooti explained to the court.
During the same hearing, the panel of judges led by Justice Michael Elubu rejected an amicus curiae application from the International Center for Transitional Justice, citing lack of neutrality; however, the court accepted a similar application from the Foundation of Justice and Development Initiative to participate as a friend of the court.
The hearing was adjourned to December 16, 2024, at 11:00 am and the Deputy Registrar of ICD, Juliet Harty Hatanga, clarified that this was a special reparation hearing held post-trial to address compensation.
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