Complementarity’s monopoly on justice in Uganda: the International Criminal Court, victims and Thomas Kwoyelo

Complementarity has been extolled as the pioneering way for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to navigate the difficulties of state sovereignty when investigating and prosecuting international crimes. Victims have often been held up to justify and legitimise the work of the ICC and states complementing the Court through domestic processes. This article examines how Uganda has developed its laws, legal procedure, and accountability for international crimes over the past decade. This has culminated in the trial of Thomas Kwoyelo, which after five years of proceedings, has yet to move to the trial phase, due to the issue of an amnesty. While there has been a profusion of provisions to allow victims to participate, avail of protection measures and reparations, in practice very little has changed for them. This article highlights the dangers of complementarity being the sole solution to protracted conflicts, in particular the realisation of victims’ rights.

Accountability for Forced Displacement in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda before the International Criminal Court

This article examines the challenges of investigating and prosecuting forced displacement in the Central African countries of Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, where higher loss of life was caused by forced displacement, than by any other. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed groups intentionally attacked civilian populations displacing them from their homes, to cut them off from food and medical supplies. In Northern Uganda, the government engaged in a forced displacement policy as part of its counter-insurgency against the Lord’s Resistance Army, driving the civilian population into “protected villages”, where at one point the weekly death toll was over 1,000 in these camps. This article critically evaluates how criminal responsibility can be established for forced displacement and alternative approaches to accountability through reparations.

MMP-8 Activity Profiling In GCF Samples

Background: In healthy tissues a family of enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in regulating turnover and metabolism of connective tissue collagen. MMPs have been implicated in a wide variety of pathological conditions including periodontal disease. MMP-8 has been extensively studied in periodontal health and disease using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Although ELISA quantifies the presence of the MMP-8 protein, it is not possible to determine enzyme activity using this method. Furthermore, since members of the MMP family have poor substrate sequence specificity, a peptide substrate alone cannot differentiate the activity of MMP-8 from other MMPs that may be present in biological samples. Objectives: In the present study, a method to specifically measure MMP-8 activity in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples was developed. Methods: GCF was collected from healthy patients and those with periodontal disease using Perio paper strips. Samples were stored frozen until required for analysis. A specific MMP-8 antibody was used to coat 96 well microtitre plates to selectively remove MMP-8 from the GCF samples. Following a washing step, the activity of bound MMP-8 was measured over 70 minutes using a fluorogenic (FRET) substrate. Results: GCF from healthy subjects exhibited basal MMP-8 activity but in diseased samples MMP-8 activity was significantly higher. Minimal binding of other recombinant MMPs to the specific MMP-8 antibody was observed in cross-reactivity studies. Conclusion: We show for the first time that MMP-8 activity was significantly increased in GCF from periodontitis sites compared with activity levels in healthy sites. Further studies of MMP-8 activity in GCF samples should improve our understanding of its destructive role in periodontal disease.

A prospective comparative evaluation of a Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Service in Belfast

There is continued interest in the planning, development and implementation of services designed to identify, detainees with mental illness and connect them to health and social services. However, currently little is known about how best to configure, organise and deliver these services. The study employed a prospective follow-up design with a comparator group to describe and evaluate a police mental health liaison service based in Belfast. Participants were recruited from two neighbouring police stations, only one of which provided a mental health liaison service. Outcomes including mental health status, drug and alcohol misuse, risk-related behaviour and ‘administrative’ outcomes were assessed at the time of arrest and six months later. The service was successful in identifying and assessing detainees though there appeared to be similar between-group levels of mental health problems over time. Results highlight a need to develop firmer linkages and pathways between criminal justice liaison / diversion services and routine health and social services.