global politics okot report

7/27/2019 Global Politics Okot Report

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Christian Sullivan

¾ Global Politics

by



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BACKGROUND

Okot Odhiambo is a Ugandan rebel currently fighting in Northern Uganda where he is a

key commander for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Whilst his date of birth is

unknown, he was born in Palugala Village, Gulu District, Uganda. Odhiambo has been

known to have terrorized the population of Northern Uganda since 1987. Notable for the

LRA’s massacre of Barlonya Village in 2004 in which 300 civilians were shot or hacked

to death, Odhiambo faces 3 counts for Crimes Against Humanity and a further 7 counts

for War Crimes. To this day, Odhiambo remains at large and is actively engaging in

warfare with the Ugandan Army and remaining responsible for the death of thousands of

civilians. It is understood that Joseph Kony is Odhiambo’s superior and that these two are

closely linked in terms of their crimes.

REASONS FOR HIS WARRANT

The warrant for Odhiambo’s arrest was released on the 18 th of May, 2005 based on the

understanding that the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is an armed group carrying our

insurgency against both the Ugandan Government and the Army and that he is a high

ranking officer within this army. Since at least 1987, Odhiambo and the LRA have been

directing attacks against both the Ugandan People’s Defence For ce (UPDF) and Local

Defense Units (LDU) and has also been known to employ fear tactics against the civilian

population in order to further the goals of the LRA. These tactics have included murder,

abduction, sexual enslavement, mutilation, and widespread infrastructural sabotage, it is

also known that abductees have been forces into sexual enslavement or have been forcedto conscript into the LRA.

LRA has engaged in a cycle of violence and established a

pattern of “brutalization of civilians”- Warrant for the

arrest of Okot Odhiambo

Considering his relationship with Joseph Kony and his seniority within the LRA,

Odhiambo has since been a target for the International Criminal Court, as well as the

second in command of the LRA, Vincent Otti who is reportedly deceased as of 2007.

Okot has been described by former LRA commanders as a “ruthless killer” and as “the

one who killed the most”.

PROGRESS

To date, little progress has been made to locate or catch Odhiambo or the other four

members of the LRA who are also wanted by the ICC. There have been rumors passed

that he has since passed, yet these claims have been dismissed under the basis of

insufficient evidence. It is likely that Okot is moving about in Central Africa, yet he



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remains at large. In 2011, 100 US special forces troops travelled to four Central African

states to advise the armies on strategies to capture the leaders of the LRA, yet there still

exists a problem of the Central African armies not containing the resources to combat the

LRA and other rebel groups, with a researcher from the US based anti-genocide group

the Enough Project stating that the mission to capture the leaders of the LRA without

more troops on the ground and a greater investment in human and aerial intelligence. To

respond to this request, the African Union, in 2012 endorsed a decision for each country

affected by the LRA to contribute 5’000 troops to finding and capturing their leaders,

however, to date, only 2’500 troops have been offered, most of them Ugandan, with a

few hundred from South Sudan and the Central African Republic. This mission has also

cost the US $30 million a year since 2008 on the LRA mission, with most being spent on

supplies such as helicopter fuel. Steps have been made however towards Okot’s captur e,

such as the capture of a top LRA strategist, Caesar Acellam, as well as a near capture of

fellow ICC warranted officer Dominic Ongwen. Defections have also increased among

the LRA recently, lowering the forces at their disposal and reducing their numbers to an

estimated 200 combatants.

Leaders of the LRA: Joseph Kony (second from the right), Vincent Otti (far right), Raska Lukwiya

(second from left), and Okot Ongwen (far left)



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BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc97197.pdf

http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/index.php?id=8195

http://endimpunity.com/2011/11/23/where-are-they-now-okot-odhiambo/

http://newsle.com/article/0/52519409/

http://justiceinconflict.org/2011/06/15/why-uganda-is-our-best-chance-to-

get-to-the-bottom-of-the-peace-justice-debate/

Ugandan National: Sharon Nakandi









http://justiceinconflict.org/2011/06/15/why-uganda-is-our-best-chance-to-get-to-the-bottom-of-the-peace-justice-debate/









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