Abstract
A pattern of affording impunity to local power brokers throughout Africa pervades the application of international criminal law (ICL) in Africa. The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Uganda is a notorious but representative example, although similar analyses can be made of the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Libya. In Uganda, only members of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have been indicted for international crimes, even though the United Nations, international human rights groups, and local NGOs have documented years of abuses perpetrated by government troops and local auxiliary units, often against the same populations victimized by the LRA. The ICC is thereby implicated in the power structures and political arrangements of a repressive state that both combats the LRA and often brutalizes the civilian populations of northern Uganda. Inserting itself into Uganda, the ICC becomes a partisan player in the endgame of a civil war that extends back over a generation, and is itself rooted in ethnic and tribal animosities cultivated through 19th century Euro-colonial benedictions of favor. Here, the ICC and the war it adjudicates become surprising bedfellows, repurposed by local elites for the consolidation of domestic power.
Highlights
A pattern of affording impunity to local power brokers throughout Africa pervades the application of international criminal law (ICL) in Africa
The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Uganda is a notorious but representative example, similar analyses can be made of the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Libya
In Uganda, only members of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have been indicted for international crimes, even though the United Nations, international human rights groups, and local NGOs have documented years of abuses perpetrated by government troops and local auxiliary units, often against the same populations victimized by the LRA.[1]
Summary
A pattern of affording impunity to local power brokers throughout Africa pervades the application of international criminal law (ICL) in Africa. The ICC and the war it adjudicates become surprising bedfellows, repurposed by local elites for the consolidation of domestic power In this vein, ICL promises an idealization of Western liberal criminal law fused with a transcendentally utopian ethos, but is often bogged down in the politics of unequal enforcement that seem to characterize international law. ICL promises an idealization of Western liberal criminal law fused with a transcendentally utopian ethos, but is often bogged down in the politics of unequal enforcement that seem to characterize international law This selectivity manifests in a variety of forms: the predominant emphasis on crimes within African states and not outside of the continent; the unwillingness to pursue foreign and transnational arms dealers, corporate actors, and military forces involved in these African situations;[3] and, the focus on only some parties to a conflict and not others.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
