Trivialising Through Trial. The Victim-Perpetrator in International Criminal Law.

Abstract

This thesis encircles the Ongwen case currently pending in the International Criminal Court. The thesis develops a number of theoretical observations, focusing on the unique character of this case in terms of a ‘victim-perpetrator’ perspective. The main question dealt with in the thesis is, how should the institution of international criminal law deal with a former child soldier (victim), climbing in ranks and turning into a war criminal (perpetrator). Drawing upon scholars such as Hannah Arendt and Martti Koskenniemi, the thesis intends to develop a critical argument on the narrative of the trial, in particular on how we could provide etiological understanding of how atrocity occurs and spreads and whether this is within the capacity of international criminal law to handle. If the moral questions of a case in international criminal law transcend the capacity of procedural law, as we know it, do we in such a case need alternative remedies to accompany the trial in order to avoid trivializing complex conflict through trial?