The International Criminal Question in Uganda : An analysis of the International Criminal Court Interventions in Uganda

Abstract: Abstract The conflict in northern Uganda between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) began in 1986 and lasted for more than twenty years, despite efforts for a peaceful resolution. The contribution  of civil society, including religious groups, traditional organizations, and community self-help groups shouldnot be under estimated in promoting grassroot peace building in northern Uganda. Civil society groups in northern Uganda provided alternative reports, exposed atrocities against civilians, facilitated negotiations, promoted reconciliation, supported livilihoods, and influenced external peace interventions during the Juba peace talks. However, the peace talks and reconciliation process in Juba yielded no positive results, and the conflict was referred by the government to the ICC in 2003.  This thesis examines this conflict and the various ICC interventions in Uganda. The focus of this thesis is on the nexus between the ICC's involvement and the judicial process in the country. The Museveni effect, war crimes and crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression, and the provision of justice to the victims of the war in the northern Uganda are therefore believed by Ugandan civil society to have influenced the ICC's interventions in Uganda's legal sector. The conclusions of the thesis reveal that the ICC contributed to the peace process in the country by promoting accountablity to the law and by contributing to the deterance of future atrocities through its actions and activities in Uganda. At the centre of investigations, this thesis employs the theories of neo-colonialism and constructivism. Keywords: Uganda, Civil Society, International Criminal Court, Fugitive, Lord's Resistance Army, war crimes, crimes against humanity, Constructivism, Neo-colonialism, Intervention, Principle.