As the precedents set by the ad hoc tribunals for Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda have shown the first steps taken by the International Criminal Court (ICC) will determine its credibility. After announcing its first «first case» (Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of Congo), the prosecutor\'s office decided to launch another investigation into the Lord\'s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA was created in northern Uganda in 1988 from a sect founded by Alice «Lakwena» Auma, who now lives peacefully in a Kenyan refugee camp. Until 2002, it was backed by neighbouring Sudan, and under the iron rule of one of Alice\'s presumed nephews, Joseph Kony, its atrocities increased. As many as 20,000 children aged between 11 and 15 were abducted and forced to become sex slaves or soldiers. The prosecutor has implied that he is only interested in trying the LRA leadership, but the suspects have yet to be located. While it is true that even the safest of havens cannot resist pressure from the entire international community, what state would take the trouble to arrest members of the LRA leadership as marginalised and discredited as Joseph Kony? The answer will govern the success or failure of this investigation.

The second pitfall for Luis Moreno Ocampo and his team is the Kampala regime\'s attempts to use the ICC instrumentally. The case brought before the court last December by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was in keeping with its statutes. Yet several human rights organisations such as FIDH and Amnesty International report that the Ugandan army also committed atrocities. In a press release issued on 23 February, three days after a bloody LRA attack, Luis Moreno Ocampo announced that he had met with «traditional chiefs and representatives of Ugandan NGOs.» The latter had expressed their concerns over «crimes committed by different groups in the region.» The text concludes, «The prosecutor explained that he will be carrying out independent investigations and will be receiving complaints against all the crimes.» He still has to inform states parties of the official launch of investigations before requesting the court\'s pre-trial chamber to issue arrest warrants.