The mismanaged war on the LRA and the involvement of the ICC

“Throughout the Juba Peace Talks, there was stiff opposition from the International Criminal Court.”
“There are serious questions of state impunity versus non-state actors accountability.”

Why has it proven so difficult to defeat the LRA? Why did the Juba Peace Talks fail? And how has the International Criminal Court’s investigation impacted the peace process? Mr Stephen Oola lists a number of factors hampering a defeat of the LRA. The Ugandan state had no interest in finishing the war because it did not threaten Kampala. Mr Oola also highlights the unconventional guerilla tactics of the LRA, as well as the interests of the Sudanese government in the conflict. But more importantly, Mr Oola reflects critically on the Juba Peace Talks and argues that they were disrupted by the investigation of the International Criminal Court under then-Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo.

Stephen Oola works as Programme Manager Conflict, Transitional Justice and Governance at the Refugee Law Project of Makerere University.

The interview was recorded in Kampala on December 3, 2015, at the office of the Refugee Law Project.