Uganda. Very few of Uganda’s Grey Crowned Crane population falls within a formally Protected Area. Nabajuzzi and Songo Bay, both Ramsar Sites, are the only two sites with populations of Grey Crowned Cranes that are recognised nationally. Nyamuriro and Kaku Kiyanja are both currently under consideration for Important Bird Area status. Neither Ramsar nor Important Bird Area status afford the sites good levels of protection and management of these sites is dependent on the community involved and the support that they are provided.
Uganda. The Republic of Uganda lies on the Equator, between the Rift Valley and the northern and western shores of Lake Victoria. Mountain Gorillas occur in two localities, in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, in the Virunga Massif, at the southeast extreme of the country, on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, and in Bwindi Impenetrable NP, only about 25km further north.
Uganda. Massive removal of invasive species in Lake Mburo and Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxx National Parks are ongoing.
Uganda. Fiscal decentralization was gradually implemented in Uganda since 1993, and like in South Africa, it has served as an avenue for national unity. Prior to decentralization, the central government played a major role in providing funds for health and education related expenditures. After decentralization, local governments became the recipient of these funds and took charge of providing those services to the local population. Overall, since the implementation of fiscal decentralization in 1993, poverty appears to have fallen markedly in Uganda. According to a poverty line approach, the proportion of Ugandans living in poverty fell from 55.5 percent in 1992 to about 44.0 percent in 1997. This has also been reflected in regional poverty, which has seen a decline as well (Table 10). The improvement in poverty is reflected by the policies implemented by the authorities in recent years, and which have heavily focused on education and healthcare, in addition to some other socially related sectors such as agriculture and water. This interest has been evidenced by the increase in education and health related expenditures. In 1990, the authorities spent 1.3 percent and 0.4 percent of GDP on education and health respectively. These ratios have gradually increased over the years, and reached 2.9 percent and 2.4 percent of GDP respectively in 1999 (Table 11). Total 55.5 44.0 Urban 28.2 16.3
Uganda. On 9th October 1962, Uganda attained total independence from the British. This was mainly due to the role played by Xxxxxx Xxxxxx Xxxxx.
Uganda. The ICJ addressed questions concerning responsibility for the pillage and looting of the natural environment in a separate State, and the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources. It held that permanent sovereignty over natural resources is a “principle of customary international law”.677 DRC alleged that Uganda was responsible for widespread environmental harm and exploitation of natural resources678 committed by Ugandan armed forces and also rebels supported by the Ugandans.679 The ICJ found that the looting and plunder of natural resources in DRC by Ugandan forces was a violation of IHL, specifically Article 47 of The Hague Regulations of 1907,680 and Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.681 The ICJ stated that “whenever members of the [Ugandan People’s Defence Force] were involved in the looting, plundering and exploitation of natural resources in the territory of the DRC”, they were perpetrating pillage.682 In Ituri, where Uganda was an occupying power,683 Uganda’s responsibility extended not only to its failure to prevent looting and pillage by its forces but also to looting and pillage by private persons (including rebel groups), and it found that Uganda’s failings constituted a breach of the duties of an occupying power under article 43 of the Hague Regulations of 1907.684 In light of these internationally wrongful acts, the ICJ found that Uganda was required to make reparations to DRC for the harm. The DRC requested that the specificities of the compensation be left for determination by the parties outside of court, but that the ICJ stand ready to determine the nature, amount and form of the reparations should the States be unable crimes committed in South Sudan, and Xxxxxx Xxxx, Xxxxxxx Xxxx, Xxxx Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx for crimes committed in Uganda.
Uganda. The first country in which the ICC intervened, Uganda was also the first situation country to set up a specialized judicial forum for the prosecution of Rome Statute crimes. Established in 2008 as the War Crimes Division (and later rebranded as the International Crimes Division), the forum is a specialized division of the Ugandan High Court with jurisdiction to try war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, as well as other serious transnational crimes, including human trafficking, piracy, and terrorism. Although it has yet to convict any individuals related to the LRA conflict, the court to date has received a great deal of attention. As Xxxxxx notes, it is “[p]ossibly the most visible effect indirectly catalyzed by complementarity in Uganda,” one that “has become the focus of donors’ transitional-justice interest.”508
1.1 Complementarity as Coercion: The ICC and Juba Although the establishment of the War Crimes Division (WCD) has often been depicted as a product of the ICC’s investigations,509 the history of the WCD’s establishment is more appropriately traced to the Juba peace talks that sought to bring a negotiated settlement to the government’s long running conflict with the LRA.510 The 508 Nouwen, Complementarity in the Line of Fire, 179. 509 See, e.g., Xxx Xxxx, “Why Uganda’s New War Crimes Court Is a Victory for the ICC,” JURIST (29 May 2008), at xxxx://xxxxxx.xxx/forum/2008/05/why-ugandas-new-war-crimes-court-is.php. Xxxx argues that, “the ICC has been the key player in using the threat of international criminal responsibility to create a judicial body that can address the same issues of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the domestic rather than international level.” 510 A detailed history of the Ugandan conflict is not offered here, however, texts that were particularly useful in offering background context include Xxx Xxxxx, Trial Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Lord’s Resistance Army (London: Zed Books, 2006); Xxxxxxx Xxxxx, The Wizard of the Nile: The Xxxx for Xxxxx’s Most Wanted (London: Portobello Books, 2009); Xxx Xxxxx and Koen Vlassenroot (eds.), The Lord’s Resistance Army: Myth and Reality (London: Zed Books, 2010); Xxxx Xxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxxxxx’x Uganda: Paradoxes of Power in a Hybrid Regime (Boulder: Xxxxx Xxxxxxx Publishers, 2010); Xxxx Xxxxxx, Displacing Human Rights: Ugandan government formally announced the referral of the “situation concerning the Lord’s Resistance Army” in January 2004.511 At the tim...
Uganda. The permanence of a structure like Uganda’s ICD is, in part, a response to concerns that the benefits of transitional justice mechanisms would not accrue to domestic justice systems. As Human Rights Watch describes it, “As a division of Uganda’s High Court, the ICD is a fully integrated part of Uganda’s domestic system, operating according to standard judicial procedure and practice.”649 Yet even such specialized divisions can produce tensions between and amongst other justice sector actors. In Uganda, for instance, the perception that the ICD is a “prized” Division, 644 Xxxxx and Xxxxxxxx, “Fond de Commerce?,”11. The authors further note that, “legal personnel receive compensation (primes) during mobile hearings from the NGOs.” 645 Interview with Congolese jurist, Kinshasa, 21 June 2011. 646 “The Democratic Republic of Congo: Military Justice and Human Rights – An urgent need to complete reforms,” 34-35. 647 Interview with XXXXXXX official, 23 June 2011. The Open Society Justice Initiative likewise notes, “Judges who are usually reluctant to accept remote postings have eagerly participated in mobile courts for the per diem payments.” Putting Complementarity into Practice, 56. 648 “Rebuilding courts and trust: An assessment of the needs of the justice system in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” An International Legal Assistance Consortium and International Bar Association Human Rights Institute Report (August 2009), 27. The report concludes that having mobile courts “run by the government, under specific and consistent guidelines, would contribute to solving the problem.” Similar tensions are described in a2004 report of Human Rights Watch, concerning a joint effort, known as REJUSCO, spearheaded by the DRC government and the European Commission to restore the criminal justice system in Bunia, Ituri. The report notes that, judges and investigate judges’ monthly stipend was “ ‘worse than meaningless’” as it did “ ‘not even cover 30% of … monthly needs.’” It recommends that all parties involved “should reaffirm the principle that the burden of paying the salaries of judicial personnel should be borne by the government.” Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, “Making Justice Work: Restoration of the Legal System in Ituri, DRC” (1 September 2004), 10. 649Human Rights Watch, “Justice for Serious Crimes Before National Courts: Uganda’s International Crimes Division” (January 2012), 18. attracting not only the interest of international NGOs, advocates, and academics...
