The U.S. Military Has No Legal Basis To Detain A Known African Warlord Who Has Committed Genocide

Craig Whitlock, Washington Post: Detention of African warlord raises legal questions for Pentagon

WNU Editor: This is a fascinating case .... what should the U.S. government/military do when U.S. soldiers are in an Africa country and during the course of their mission they are given a known war criminal who has been accused of committing genocide. From my point of view this is where a place like Guantanamo may become very useful .... where a detainee like this warlord could be put until his international legal status has been determined. But I also know that this is not going to happen ..... Guantanamo is a place that the Obama administration does not want to grow let alone use .... so that is not an option.

Unfortunately .... the debate that we should have on this case has been terminated. U.S. forces handed  Dominic Ongwen to the Ugandan military ..... US gives LRA commander, war crimes suspect to Ugandans (AP), and they are going to hand him to the ICC for trial .... Uganda LRA commander Dominic Ongwen 'to be sent to ICC' (BBC). But the legal murkiness remains, and it will not surprise me if in the next few months the Pentagon's lawyers start to publish opinions, options, and solutions to these legal questions.

On a side note ... the Seleca rebels who captured Dominic Ongwen, and who themselves have been accused of committing atrocities, want the $5 million reward money ..... LRA's Dominic Ongwen 'capture': Seleka rebels want $5m reward (BBC). Sighhh .... now we know why they handed Dominic Ongwen to U.S. soldiers and not to Ugandan or African Union soldiers .... it is all about the money.