On Monday 20 November 2023, the Wayamo Foundation and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of Uganda co-hosted a symposium at the Méstil Hotel in Kampala, entitled “Domestic Accountability Mechanisms for International Crimes: New Developments and Opportunities in East Africa“, focusing on modern forms of evidence and the application of universal jurisdiction to international crimes committed in the region.
The symposium, which featured Uganda’s DPP, Jane Frances Abodo, and her Kenyan counterpart, Renson Mulele Ingonga, was the second in a series exploring these themes in East Africa, following the initial September meeting held at the Prosecution Training Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.
In her opening remarks, Ugandan DPP Abodo said that the symposium “explores timely and pressing questions, including the exercise of universal jurisdiction, both internationally and specifically in the East African region. I am hopeful that the symposium today will prompt similar discussions like it did in Kenya in September.”
“We must be alive to the fact that there are ongoing armed conflicts within the region,” added Mulele Ingonga. “This symposium presents an opportunity for us to audit East African domestic mechanisms insofar as handling of international crimes is concerned. It shines a spotlight on modern forms of evidence, such as digital forensics and its applicability and use by law enforcement agencies in the investigation of international crimes.”
Wayamo Foundation Director Bettina Ambach underscored the importance of national accountability mechanisms for international crimes
“The goal”, she said, “is to debate how East African prosecution authorities could think outside the box, learn about new technological developments to enrich their investigative and prosecutorial strategies, and reflect on universal jurisdiction opportunities in the region using the international criminal law provisions that Uganda and Kenya have implemented into their national law. We could be sowing the seeds of universal jurisdiction opportunities for international crimes in the East African region.”
By way of introduction, it was noted that the Sudanese armed conflict was having a serious impact on the region. Among other issues, participants and experts discussed the role that digital open-source information plays in supporting investigations and criminal trials, and the opportunities and limitations of universal jurisdiction. The speakers also touched on Kenya’s first crimes against humanity case and Uganda’s experience with its International Crimes Division.
East African experts speaking at the symposium included Justice Susan Okalany, Judge of the International Crimes Division of the Ugandan High Court, Lino Anguzu, Assistant DPP and Head of the International Crimes Department in Uganda, and Vincent Monda, Kenyan Senior Assistant DPP, and Betty Murungi, Transitional Justice Expert, Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, and member of the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability.
International experts included Mikel Delagrange, International Criminal Law and Victims Expert at the Wayamo Foundation, Hannah Bagdasar, Digital Investigations and Accountability Expert, Patrick Kroker, Senior Legal Advisor, European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, Libby McAvoy, Legal Advisor, Mnemonic, and Wieger Veldhuis, Senior Public Prosecutor for International Crimes, Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands.
The symposium was held in the context of Wayamo’s ongoing project, “Capacity building for civil society and the justice sector in Sudan”, which is set in the wider context of providing training in international criminal law, international humanitarian law and human rights to civil society and legal actors both in Sudan and the wider East African region, aimed at building a coalition committed to addressing impunity through regional and domestic accountability measures, such as national court systems.
