Child victim, loyal war spirit medium or war criminal: shifting the geography and logic of historical accountability in Dominic Ongwen’s ICC trial

Breaking Through the Legal Binary: Media Labelling of Dominic Ongwen as a Victim–Perpetrator

“…Evidence from Uganda suggests that Ugandans are split on the issue of Ongwen's prosecution and punishment by the ICC (Atingo, 2021; Nortje, 2017). Benyera (2021) advocates for the use of local justice systems and, in particular, mato oput because it resonates more with the survivors of the violence—both victims and perpetrators. Mato oput is a process and a ritual of the Acholi people that restores relationships between clans that participated in intentional or unintentional killing.…”

“…It seeks to establish forgiveness and restoration through a number of steps to restore relationships and social harmony rather than the singling out of the guilty individual (Liu Institute et al, 2005). Benyera (2021) argues that the mato oput approach is better for dealing with complex perpetrators as “the agent would have been cleansed, pardoned, and reintegrated into the community” (1). Yet, at times, Benyera's argument seems to rob Ongwen of any agency through a structuralist approach that argues that “Ongwen lost his agency before it was even fully developed … whatever Ongwen did or did not do from the day that he was abducted onwards was not to be brought upon him as he was structured to perform or not that way by the war” (Benyera, 2021: 8).…”

“…We build on previous work on how international and national media report on defendants who challenge existing institutions of international criminal law, their Western origins, and interests they serve (Maweu, 2019; Steflja, 2018b). Finally, our research adds to the growing body of work on children as agents of political violence as we seek to emphasize the central role they play in armed groups (Barber, 2009; Bloom and Horgan, 2019).…”