The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has rejected a defense submission challenging the decision of Trial Chamber IX to decline to dismiss 41 of the 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Dominic Ongwen the former commander of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel outfit.
According to a statement released by the International Justice Monitor on Thursday, in a unanimous judgment released on Wednesday, the Appeals Chamber said Trial Chamber IX was correct in its March 7th decision in determining the defense had had ample time to file its challenge to the 41 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Appeals Chamber said the trial chamber was also correct in finding that the defense motion was time-barred according to the ICC’s Rules of Evidence and Procedure.
“The Appeals Chamber recalls that the duty to act in a diligent and expeditious manner applies to all those involved in the proceedings, including the accused person. In this case, even though he could have raised much earlier specific and concrete objections concerning the charges as confirmed by the Pre-Trial Chamber, Mr. Ongwen waited until February 2019 to file the Defects Series which set out for the first time those specific challenges,” read the judgment.
Pre-Trial Chamber II confirmed 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Ongwen on March 23, 2016.
When his trial began on December 6, 2016, Ongwen pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The Appeals Chamber observed in the judgment that the defense had four occasions when they could have filed challenges to the charges against Ongwen.
The first was after December 21st, 2015 when Ongwen received the Acholi translation of the document containing the charges filed by the prosecution.
The second was when Trial Chamber IX set October 28, 2016 as the deadline for filing any motions that needed to be resolved before the trial began.
The third was on the day the trial began, December 6, 2016, when Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt asked the defense if they had any objections to raise.
Finally, the fourth was when a complete Acholi translation of Pre-Trial Chamber II’s decision confirming the charges was registered on record on December 13, 2017.
In the judgment, the Appeals Chamber observed the defense neither made concrete objections on those four occasions nor raised any objections at all.
Wednesday’s judgment of the Appeals Chamber does not address the merits of the arguments the defense raised in the defect series about Pre-Trial Chamber II’s decision confirming the charges against Ongwen.
Trial Chamber IX also did not address whether there were any defects in the confirmation of charges decision.
The main issue either chamber addressed was when the defense should have raised its arguments.
CN/as/APA