UGANDA: Indictment of LRA leader Joseph Kony could ignite another bloody conflict, writes Chris Stephen in Uganda
The children who run out to greet my jeep as it arrives at the Red Chilli refugee camp in northern Uganda shout "ciao ciao" as we appear along the rutted road - a greeting taught them by Italian aid workers.
Red Chilli - a nickname given by those aid workers - should be an African success story. Since the ceasefire agreed between the country's rebels and government last month, new camps like this, a collection of timber-framed straw huts, have sprung up everywhere, as farmers leave the older, more crowded, fortified camps to begin cultivating miles of barren farmland.
But there is a problem: the rebel Lords Resistance Army has broken off peace talks and says it will go back to war on a single issue - war crimes charges.
LRA leader Joseph Kony has been charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), and he says the charges must be dropped or fighting will resume. The court's reply is an emphatic no.
The LRA is cruel even by the standards of Africa's recent wars. In his two decades, Kony, who claims mystical powers, has transformed the LRA from a liberation army for the northern Acholi tribe into a personal cult. From his base deep in the jungles of neighbouring Congo he has fashioned a Col Kurtz-style existence, terrorising recruits into following his commands.
His speciality is child kidnapping: the UN reckons the LRA has abducted more than 30,000 youngsters. Boys are brainwashed and turned into child soldiers, while the girls become sex slaves. Surplus children are butchered to terrorise followers into complete obedience.
Two years ago, out of desperation, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni called in the ICC. The move produced a surprising result, with Kony offering to end the war in exchange for amnesty. To the dismay of ICC officials, Museveni has backed Kony's call.
"One thing we are offering for sure is no prosecution for Kony," said Museveni. "We would like them [ the ICC] to leave these indictments." ICC officials fear that if an exception is made for Kony, warlords in other conflicts it is investigating, in Congo, the Central African Republic and Sudan's Darfur, will demand the same treatment. The new court, yet to hold its first trial, might then be undermined, throwing the future of international war crimes justice into question.
The court's spokesman Cristian Palme said the position remained that charges would not be withdrawn. But international support is wavering. The EU, the ICC's main backer, is keeping a low profile, as is the UN, neither wanting to be blamed for backing a policy that may see more years of war.
UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs Jan Egeland, visiting the region this week, appeared to face both ways. "Those who have been indicted should face justice," he said, but added cryptically: "What is more important now is that we should concentrate on ending the war."
The issue has split Ugandans. Some insist Kony must pay for his crimes. "Should justice be compromised as the price for peace?" asked Stephen Lamony, head of the rights group Ugandan Coalition for the ICC. "No. You cannot have peace without justice."
But in the fields around camp Red Chilli, local people know they will bear the brunt of any new violence. "We want the war to stop," said Laqor Kastol. "If this court keeps up its work, Kony will not surrender and his men will come back to fight."