#11456. The International Criminal Trial as a Site for Contesting Historical and Political Narratives: The Case of Dominic Ongwen

September 2026publication date
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Sociology and Political Science;
Social Sciences (all);
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Abstract:
This paper considers how the international criminal trial emerges as a site for contesting historical and political narratives. It focuses on how the criminal trial appears to reinforce the hegemony of some contested historical narratives over others in attempting to deal with the past. It is suggested that the conflict in Uganda as well as what is currently happening in the Ongwen trial cannot be understood in isolation from, on the one hand, interregional and factional struggles within the Ugandan territory and, on the other hand, a postcolonial logic. By scrutinizing the legal strategies employed by Ongwen and his defense team, the paper argues that their strategies demonstrate the ways in which historical and political narratives are susceptible to ‘rupture’ by counternarratives put forth by defendants who refuse to play their part in the global justice drama by pointing to the struggle for larger contextual issues. The paper concludes by arguing that the Court may need to find a new approach to ‘courtroom historiography’ if it is going to survive, either with or without the Global South.
Keywords:
International Criminal Court; international criminal law; resistance; victim-perpetrator

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