Intercepted Communications in the Ongwen Case: Lessons to Learn on Documentary Evidence at the icc

What is it about?

In the Ongwen judgement, the International Criminal Court (ICC) deemed ‘highly probative evidence’ the Lord’s Resistance Army radio communications intercepted. However, the Defence had argued that it was unreliable evidence for several reasons. After considering the definition and regulatory framework governing the admission and assessment of documentary evidence at the ICC and retracing the road intercept evidence made from Uganda to the Ongwen trial, the article will analyse the issues posed by intercept evidence, including some of the challenges the Defence raised against their reliability. The objective is to call attention to the overlooked concerns the interception of communications during the period to which the charges refer may give rise to at the ICC, in particular, in terms of reliability. The article argues that intercepted communications’ peculiar weaknesses require specific attention. As a consequence, their reliability and weight should be assessed with circumspection in the overall evidentiary context.

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