To Be Responsible for Ourselves: Dominic Ongwen and Defences Before the International Criminal Court

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Abstract

The trial of Dominic Ongwen, in which he is pleading not guilty to the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, raises the question of how he may defend what he has done as commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army. The discussion of the use of duress for child soldiers has been undertaken elsewhere, but a more general examination of the defences is useful at this juncture. The prosecution of a former child soldier confronts a classic dilemma for the Court, the Prosecutor and, indeed, all with a vested interest in international criminal justice: When boy soldiers become adults and then, commanders, how do we deal with the aftermath of the crimes they commit? Should they be tried for all the crimes committed from childhood onwards, those committed in adulthood, or those that were committed while they were in command? Arguably this is where the issue of defences under the Rome Statute ought to play a role; could the defences be used to exonerate the individual or to mitigate their conduct?
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 19 Dec 2016

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