Guest lecture Marie O'Leary

• Maatschappijleer
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

The Defence of Mr Dominic Ongwen has submitted that he was abducted by and conscripted into the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) at about the age of 13. This could make him a ‘victim’ in another case trying those who were conscripting child soldiers. In their final brief, the Defence submits how this abduction and conscription has affected him even into adulthood and has impact on his alleged responsibility: 

"Mr Ongwen is a victim, not a perpetrator. He was abducted as a young child by the LRA and brutalized for almost three decades before he was able to voluntarily surrender to military personnel in the Central African Republic. This case cannot be properly adjudicated without considering his shattered life and the catastrophic effects of his experience in the LRA throughout his childhood and adulthood before his surrender. The psychological manipulation and injuries, the constant fear of death or serious bodily harm, and the long-term mental destruction of Mr Ongwen are central to the case before this Court."

1. What do you think of the plead the defences submitted?
2. The Chamber has found that, considering all, an appropriate sentence for his crimes is 25 years of imprisonment. What is your opinion on that sentence?
Give (short) answers to both questions and underline these with arguments

Rights of Defendants in International Criminal Law

Defendants in International Criminal Law have been tried and convicted of egregious crimes. At the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), Chambers found the evidence supported convictions of some defendants for the genocide of thousands, or tens of thousands of victims.

Should those accused of atrocity crimes have rights? What kind of rights should they have? Is there ever a case where human rights can be removed from a person? Would you represent a person charged with genocide?

1. Should those accused of atrocity crimes have rights? If so, what kind of rights?
2. Is there ever a case where human rights can be removed from a person?
3. Would you represent a person charged with genocide?
Give (short) answers to all questions and underline these with arguments

Pre-Trial Detention

Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba, acquitted by the ICC, was incarcerated for 10 years or trial/appeal proceedings before his release. He submitted a claim, pursuant to Article 85, for this long detention he endured when the trial ended in his acquittal of all charges. He submitted, among other claims, the real human loss that is difficult to quantify by virtue of his detention far from his home and family; most significantly:

“In ten years of detention, Mr. Bemba has missed ten Christmases, New Years, Easters and wedding anniversaries, as well as sixty birthdays, five of which were eighteenth birthdays. He has missed three funerals, three graduations, five baccalauréat passes and five successful driving examinations within his immediate family. There have been four family weddings from which he was absent, and five children were born to his siblings, nieces and nephews; children he didn’t meet until after 13 June 2018.”

1. Should persons who are acquitted have recompense for the time they spent in detention?
2. Aside from financial award, are there other ways to avoid this problem?
3. What can the States Parties do to ensure that such ‘personal suffering’ can be avoided by future defendants?
Give (short) answers to all questions and underline these with arguments.