Icc Pursues Cases When İnvited To Do So: Court Chief

International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Friday that her court only investigated cases on the African continent when it was invited to do so.



Addressing reporters in Ugandan capital Kampala, Bensouda asserted that the ICC's investigations were entirely independent and impartial.



The ICC has come under fire in recent years for only targeting African heads of state.



Bensouda insisted, however, that there was no foundation for such accusations.  



"We are in Africa. We are investigating war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Africa. It is not by choice or by directive from anybody that we go to Africa to investigate these crimes," she said.



The court, she added, pursued cases in Africa only because African leaders and governments had asked it to do so.



She cited the case of Uganda, which, she said, had asked the ICC to capture and prosecute members of the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group.



"If a state party has crimes committed on its territory and is not able to do the investigation itself, it can turn to… the ICC," Bensouda said.



She added that the ICC was also investigating cases in other countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Mali, Nigeria, Libya, the Ivory Coast and Kenya.



-'Only when asked'-



The ICC prosecutor said the question people needed to ask was whether the ICC should refuse if other African states requested its intervention.



"Should we not think about these kinds of heinous crimes: rape, killing, pillage and murder – should we just let them go because it's an African state?" she asked. "Shouldn't we think about the victims of these crimes as well?"



Bensouda said the ICC was not coming to investigate crimes that occurred in Africa, but only answering calls from African states requesting ICC intervention.



She said that, apart from Africa, her court was also conducting preliminary examinations related to situations in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Iraq, Ukraine and Palestine.



-LRA-



Bensouda is in Uganda for five days. Her visit to the country followed the arrest and transfer of Dominic Ongwen, a former LRA commander previously indicted by the ICC.  



She is expected to visit the districts of Gulu and Lira in northern Uganda and Soroti in the country's east.



"This visit is part of my effort to explain our work, listen and address the concerns of the affected communities," Bensouda said.



At a meeting with Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament Rebecca Kadaga earlier in the day, Bensouda described the sudden transfer of Ongwen as "a surprise" and a "significant development."



After Ongwen's initial appearance on Jan. 26, ICC judges set August to start confirming the charges leveled against him.



Bensouda acknowledged, however, that the rebel commander's sudden appearance had forced her court to pick up the file and begin preparing the case.



"As a result, I have now requested from the Judges three more months so the case can start in January of 2016," Bensouda said.



She said the judges had yet to respond, however, noting that the request for more time would be good for both the prosecution and the defense.



She added that her investigators were looking at crimes Ongwen might have committed both inside and outside Uganda in 2004 and afterward.



Speaker Kadaga, meanwhile, advised Bensouda to look at the totality of what happened after 2004 in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.



-Comprehensive probe-



Bensouda said that, at the beginning, there had been calls for the Ugandan army to be investigated as well.



She added, however, that her office would begin its investigations with the gravest crimes.



"That's why investigations started with the LRA," she said.



She went on to urge rebel commander Josephy Kony to surrender.



"Leave the bush and encourage other members of the LRA to do the same," she said, addressing the rebel leader.



She also asked him to stop committing crimes against his own people and others.



"Do the right thing and surrender," she said.



She said the rebel commander would be treated fairly and impartially in accordance with the highest standards of justice and with full respect for legal due process.



"You have the opportunity to plead your case in court and let the judicial process establish the truth," Bensouda said, addressing Kony. "There is no future in violence and brutality."



Uganda referred the crisis in its northern region to the ICC in 2003, in hopes of bringing LRA members to justice.



The ICC then issued arrest warrants for five LRA commanders – Kony, Ongwen, Okot Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya and Vincent Otti – who it accused of responsibility for mass crimes.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Kampala