This thesis argues that the International Criminal Court (ICC) brings a new more deontological paradigm to international interventions, founded upon the universal application of legal principle, and displacing consequentialist notions of justice linked to human rights. Based upon the Court’s Statute and mode of operations, it is argued that this is associated with assumptions concerning the ICC’s primacy, military enforcement, and theory of change. The consequences of this development in volatile contexts are demonstrated. The case study, founded upon analysis from the war-affected community, examines the impact of the International Criminal Court in the Lord’s Resistance Army war, and reveals the relationship between criminal justice enforcement, and community priorities for peace and human rights. On the basis of evidence, and contrary to narratives repeated but unsubstantiated in the literature, it demonstrates that in this case these two imperatives were in opposition to one another. The Court’s pursuit of retributive legal principle was detrimental to the community’s interests in peace and human rights. The subsequent failure of the ICC’s review process to interrogate this important issue is also established. The research establishes that statutory and operational assumptions upon which Court interventions are based do not hold in volatile contexts. For the case study community and elsewhere, this has had adverse impacts, with significant implications for the ICC. The findings indicate that if these issues are not fundamentally addressed, principled international criminal justice enforcement in volatile environments will continue to have profoundly negative human rights consequences.

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Based on the work of leading theorists within peace and conflict studies, this thesis develops a theoretical framework in order to analyse the seemingly deadlocked ‘peace vs. justice’ debate to explore the possibility of expanding the perspectives in a combined approach. It finds that the debate is based on a narrow perception of both concepts, where they are perceived as negotiations and punishment respectively. Only through applying such a combined approach is it thereby possible to move beyond this current situation. This theoretical framework is then applied on the case of the ongoing conflict in Northern Uganda, where the empirical aspects of this debate have lasted for the longest period of time since the International Criminal Court’s involvement in 2004. With basis in the Juba peace agreement from 2008 that would have balanced retributive and restorative forms of justice, this study finds that the only way to create sustainable peace is by striking a balance between the transitional justice mechanisms of the ICC, conditional amnesties and more traditional forms of justice in the affected communities in Northern Uganda. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Op grond van die werk van voorste teoretici op die gebied van vrede- en konflikstudie, ontwikkel hierdie tesis teoretiese raamwerk vir die ontleding van die oënskynlik vasgevalle debat tussen vrede en geregtigheid, ten einde die moontlike verbreding van perspektiewe met behulp van 'n gekombineerde benadering te ondersoek. Die studie bevind dat die debat tussen vrede en geregtigheid op 'n baie eng opvatting van dié twee konsepte berus, naamlik dié van onderhandeling en straf onderskeidelik. Slegs deur 'n gekombineerde benadering toe te pas, is dit dus moontlik om die huidige toedrag van sake te bowe te kom. Die teoretiese raamwerk van die studie is vervolgens op die voortslepende konflik in Noord-Uganda toegepas, waar die empiriese aspekte van dié debat steeds sedert die betrokkenheid van die Internasionale Strafhof in 2004 voorkom. Met die Juba-vredesooreenkoms van 2008 as uitgangspunt, wat veronderstel was om 'n balans te vind tussen vergeldende en herstellende vorme van geregtigheid, bevind dié studie dat volhoubare vrede slegs bereik kan word deur 'n gebalanseerde kombinasie van die Internasionale Strafhof se oorgangsgeregtigheidsmeganisme, voorwaardelike amnestie, en meer tradisionele vorme van geregtigheid in die geaffekteerde Noord-Ugandese gemeenskappe.

This thesis examines the experiences of girl child soldiers in Uganda in order to explore the gender gaps that exist in post-conflict programming and to engender meaningful policy solutions that target these gaps. This thesis uses a gender lens to analyze the challenges faced by Ugandan girls and to explore how entrenched gender norms feed into a singular narrative of conflict – dangerous boys and traumatized girls – that renders particular combatants – and their unique needs – invisible. Adopting a feminist methodology that prioritizes the importance of girls’ narratives and self-perceptions, the author argues that girl child soldiers must be meaningfully included in the design and implementation of programming aimed at serving their needs. A participatory action research methodology is presented as a promising way forward. It can help address specific gendered challenges in the post-conflict environment, while also recognizing and drawing upon the resiliency and strengths of the girl child soldiers themselves.

This thesis examines the experiences of girl child soldiers in Uganda in order to explore the gender gaps that exist in post-conflict programming and to engender meaningful policy solutions that target these gaps. This thesis uses a gender lens to analyze the challenges faced by Ugandan girls and to explore how entrenched gender norms feed into a singular narrative of conflict – dangerous boys and traumatized girls – that renders particular combatants – and their unique needs – invisible. Adopting a feminist methodology that prioritizes the importance of girls’ narratives and self-perceptions, the author argues that girl child soldiers must be meaningfully included in the design and implementation of programming aimed at serving their needs. A participatory action research methodology is presented as a promising way forward. It can help address specific gendered challenges in the post-conflict environment, while also recognizing and drawing upon the resiliency and strengths of the girl child soldiers themselves.

This dissertation intends to analyse the practice of amnesties in the context of grave human rights violations using northern Uganda as a case study. It also examines its consistency with the obligation upon states to protect human rights through the prosecution of perpetrators of the said violations. It will, accordingly, analyse the implications of the complementary mandate of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to national jurisdictions. Furthermore, the author also explores the tension which results from national amnesties and the principle of international criminal responsibility, a principle that the ICC has the mandate to enforce. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Dr Ben Kiromba Twinomugisha of the Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The main aim of this Master's thesis is to analyse how children are recruited and abused as soldiers in armed conflicts, and how international humanitarian law protects their rights. The thesis is divided in two main parts, theoretical and empirical. In theoretical part are introduced the most important documents of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including international governmental and non-governmental organizations which promote these rights. In empirical part, the author focuses on case studies, namely the case of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the case of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The author was not interested in finding similarities in these two cases, but conversely, to point out on the uniqueness of each case. To precise, the thesis is analysing reasons for the recruitment and abuse of children by the LRA and ISIS, and the legal responsibility of both groups. The author of this thesis chose as a methodology an instrumental case study which is useful for providing a general understanding of a phenomenon by using a particular case. In addition, this methodology is convenient for interpretation of legal documents, and two selected cases serve as instruments for interpreting the recruitment and abuse of children in armed conflicts. The...

The research aims to understand how female former child soldiers describe the ones who had power over them in the bush of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to understand how patriarchal beliefs in a society affect vulnerable women. The researcher wishes to enhance the importance of working against patriarchal beliefs and stopping child abductions for the sake of young women’s empowerment. The impact of the deep-rooted problem of patriarchy should be researched concerning child soldiers since they are vulnerable and are also the future female population. How they get affected by power relations early in their lives should be examined since they are a part of the future which needs to be brought into empowerment and gender equality and not enhance the patriarchal beliefs. Therefore, the attitudes of former female child soldiers have been examined through a qualitative single case study to see how the gender gap and patriarchal beliefs mirror their experiences in the bush and could affect their empowerment. The patriarchal theory, feminist theory and empowerment theory will help analyze and discuss the findings of the data. The data was collected from stories of four female former child soldiers which were coded, memo written and interpreted. By doing this research the consequences of patriarchal beliefs are enhanced through how hidden parts of society are exposed to gender exploitation due to their vulnerability. The findings show that women’s attitudes towards the ones in power do affect to what extent they experience exploitation and gender-based violence. The result implies that women in developing patriarchal societies are having different attitudes towards empowerment. Ugandan society and other societies need help to transition out of patriarchal beliefs which could lead to potential peace and eventually develop a secure and equal society.