The Human Rights Network – Uganda (HURINET-U), No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Ugandan Coalition on the International Criminal Court (UCICC), with the support of development partners, will organise on 25-29 January 2010. a first mission to Uganda by representatives of State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to meet with victims, local communities, civil society groups and Government and local officials.
This first field mission in Uganda, which will see among its participants the President of the Assembly of States Parties of the ICC, H.E. Mr. Christian Wenaweser, as well as delegates from Denmark, Kenya, South Africa, and Sierra Leone, form part of a broader campaign by HURINET-U, NPWJ and UCICC to create avenues of engagement between ICC State party delegates and victims and affected communities in Uganda, and to highlight the importance of the Review Conference of the ICC, which will be held in Kampala in May-June 2010.
Statement by Ndifuna Mohammed, National Coordinator of HURINET-U, and Niccoló Figa-Talamanca, Secretary-General of No Peace Without Justice:
“Since the Ugandan Government referred the situation in Uganda to the ICC in 2004, the Court has become a critical institution in the pursuit of justice for the victims of atrocities committed during Uganda’s long-running conflict. Given that the conflict remains unresolved and the ICC arrest warrants against senior LRA leadership have not been implemented, the situation in Uganda is of great relevance to all of the topics to be addressed during the stocktaking process at the Review Conference – complementarity, cooperation, the impact of the Rome Statute system on victims and affected communities, and its impact on peace processes and peacebuilding.
The ICC Review Conference in Uganda is an unprecedented opportunity to bring ICC State Party representatives into direct interaction or dialogue with the populations most affected by the Court’s work, as well as to spread awareness and understanding among the Ugandan public of the ICC. Through the series of pre-Conference field visits and through the People’s Space at the Conference itself, our project is designed to foster a greater understanding among States Parties of the justice needs and expectations of those populations.
We are convinced that making the ICC’s in-country presence stronger, more effective and more accessible at all levels (with government, civil society, victims and affected communities), in Uganda as in other countries affected by its work, will enhance its impact in combating impunity and building sustainable peace in those countries.
We call on State Parties to the ICC to take advantage of this opportunity to get closer to the people affected by their work. This will make the stocktaking process truly meaningful by beginning to move the ICC and States Parties towards greater responsiveness to those people.”
For further information, contact: Joyce Apio (UCICC, Kampala): ucicc@hurinet.or.ug, Tel: +256.752.866.431; Alison Smith (NPWJ, Brussels): asmith@npwj.org, Tel: +32.486.986.235; or Nicola Giovannini (Brussels): ngiovannini@npwj.org, Tel: +32-2-548-3914.
