ACICCAT Challenges Naming Of Haynes as Kony’s Counsel -Questions Vetting Process Adopted by ICC’s Registry

MONROVIA – The Association of Counsels of International Criminal Courts and Tribunals (ACICCAT), has openly challenged the selection and subsequent appointment of Mr. Peter Haynes KC, by the Registry of the International Criminal Court (ICC), as counsel for Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) of Uganda, who has been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

ACICCAT  is a group  of professional,  seasoned  and experienced legal practitioners, trained in international criminal law, criminal law, international humanitarian law, human rights law  and international law,  and  duly accredited and  listed  on the list of counsels of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the   International Residual Mechanism (“Mechanism”) of Criminal Courts and Tribunals(IRMCT), admitted under Rules 42 and 43 of the Mechanism, in The Hague, The Netherlands, and the African Court on Human and People’s Rights(ACtHPR) based in Arusha, Tanzania and other international and regionals courts.

In a letter written to Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, and signed by Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus, President ad-Interim of ACICCAT, the group pointed out the alleged questionable vetting process adopted by the Registry of the ICC that resulted into the dubious selection of Mr. Peter Haynes KC, a non-Ugandan and a non-African, as counsel for Joseph Kony.

The letter which was officially delivered at State House in Kampala, Uganda, on August 14, 2025, is openly contesting and challenging what it said was the alleged surreptitious selection and subsequent appointment Mr. Haynes, something which the letter claimed is being protested by all lawyers from across Africa, including the African Bar Association and the US based International Justice Group (IGJ).

The letter then called on President Museveni and the people of Uganda to beware that the prosecution and defense of Mr. Kony should not be the exclusive preserve of white European lawyers, instead, it should be the collective decision of the people of Africa, and therefore, requires the full participation of all Ugandan and African lawyers.

The letter reminded President Museveni to remember that   white European lawyers are only interested in their fabulous monthly salaries that they will reap from an inflamed judicial process that is being staged managed to favor Mr. Haynes   rather than to work earnestly   to identify and interview credible material witnesses whose testimonies are very much critical in convicting the war criminal.

The ACICCAT letter said since Mr. Haynes himself has now publicly confessed that he is incompetent to do the job and does not speak any of the local languages in northern Uganda, but   does not want to take the blame for his faulty selection, the entire confirmation of charges should be halted, the appointment set aside and the vetting process revisited, and restricted to only the three (3) African lawyers from Liberia, Kenya and Uganda who were among the 71 that applied.

ACICCAT called on President Museveni to   respectfully  intervene to prevent  what it considers as an   anomaly from happening, in which  relics of colonialism are being reincarnated  in full display   by the selection of Mr. Haynes,  an unqualified  and incompetent candidate for the job  to defiantly    go to Uganda and flout the laws and practices in purported defense  of  a Uganda citizen for killing   Ugandans  when there is no shortage of trained,  experienced  and competent lawyers from a pool of eminent jurists  that the  Uganda can boast of.

Meanwhile, ACICCAT has joined the African Bar Association(AfBA) and the US based International Justice Group(IJG) for   Mr. Haynes to be unconditionally dropped and dismissed  on account that he does not meet the minimum requirements of the social and cultural dynamics of Uganda and has become a complete liability  rather than an asset, as he   neither speaks not understands any of the local languages spoken in northern Uganda, which is   fundamentally considered as a key factor for any would-be successful candidate.