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Offering immunity to leaders of countries or rebel movements was never a popular idea, but it has taken a battering this year. There are currently a handful of cases under review: Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, the Lord’s Resistance Army’s leader Jospeh Kony and Tanzania’s ex-President Benjamin Mkapa. Former Liberian President Charles Taylor finds himself sitting in lock-up in the Hague as Special Court prosectors chase after his hundreds of millions of dollars previously held in foreign banks. It now seems that prosecutions will become the norm, even if promises of asylum are given.
But not all cases can be treated in the same way. Taking a lesson from Taylor, leaders facing charges of corruption or extrajudicial killings may choose to hold on to power if they face prosecution. Few leaders give up power voluntarily in Central Africa.
The MDC had offered to allow President Mugabe to retire in peace, but changed its tone as the situation deteriorated. Even if Mugabe were given immunity, it would raise questions about what would happen to the people who planned and carried out the Matabeleland killings in the early 1980s. Kony has been unwilling to sign the latest peace deal because there are few guarantees that President Museveni can offer when there are outstanding warrants for Kony at the International Criminal Court and Uganda’s High Court.
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