Reviews of Beth’s New Book on the Ongwen Judgment

From Amazon:

  • C. Kyla Wills
    Can One Size Fit All?
    Every serious lawyer has questioned whether justice can be truly rendered with a one size fits all model. While on the surface it seems to give force to the claim that justice is blind because the standards are uniform and applied to all equally, that is questionable. That, as most of us know, leaves out much of the context, and does not properly address the race, class and cultural factors that create unaccommodated spaces as well as erase implicit and explicit biases.
     
    In her book, Race, Culture and Mental Illness in the International Criminal Court’s Ongwen Judgment: Biases and Blindspots, Beth Lyons provides a cogent and convincing argument as to why race, class and cultural biases if not taken into consideration can prevent true justice. Even though Dominic Ongwen belonged to the much maligned LRA in Uganda which is led by Joseph Kony, he was a child victim and child soldier who suffered duress and sometimes was forced under threat of death to commit crimes. Defense Attorney Lyons argues that Ongwen’s defense of mental illness and duress was not properly adjudicated where the ICC court because of its reliance on Western models failed to take into account the cultural norms, beliefs and spirituality that were so determinative in shaping his behavior, and his responses to his situation. This, she argues, poses questions as to inevitable biases and blindspots, and therefore, the legitimacy of international justice.
     
    This is a riveting book for anyone interested in true justice and the parameters needed to make sure this is carried out.
     
     
    ‏• Robert Kirkman
    “Blind Justice” or Unjust Blindness?
     
    Beth Lyons’ book, “Race, Culture and Mental Illness in the International Criminal Court’s Ongwen Judgment: Biases and Blindspots,” is a compelling analysis of the failure of the International Criminal Court to consider Lyons’ defense of a soldier kidnapped as a child in Uganda and forced into service as a soldier in a violent terrorist “Army” forced to commit heinous crimes or be tortured and killed. The ICC’s failure to consider her client’s life circumstances and his mental illness is thoroughly critiqued by Lyons. A compelling story and a sad commentary on the ICC.
     
  • Devoted to Peace & Justice
    A Fascinating Look at How Biases Deny True Justice at the ICC
    Beth Lyons new book “Race, Culture and Mental Illness in the International Criminal Court’s Ongwen Judgment: Biases and Blindspots” provides an illuminating and “out of the box” look at how the ICC dealt with its first case involving an adult defendant who had been brutally indoctrinated as a child soldier. Her client, Dominic Ongwen, was at least as much a victim as a perpetrator. Lyons finds the ICC at fault for its superficial dismissal of the arguments she made in all three categories listed in her title. But by far the most interesting to this reader (no expert in ICC trial procedure) is her illuminating discussion of the ICC’s categorical refusal to consider Ongwen’s cultural roots in the Acholi Traditional Justice System in Northern Uganda.
     

    According to the extensive expert testimony Lyons presented to the ICC, Acholi Traditional Justice attempts to holistically restore and rehabilitate not only the suffering person but the entire community from which he or she came. In her book, she details how the Acholi culture has for centuries emphasized spiritual ceremonies and communal healing for those suffering from serious mental illness caused by traumatic killing. The Ugandan government used Acholi traditional justice as a resource to reintegrate thousands of LRA soldiers to their original homes in Northern Uganda. It granted them amnesty and made efforts to treat their trauma as part of a communal healing process rather than punishing them as individual perpetrators.

    The ICC refused to do the same for Dominic Ongwen, convicting him on 61 counts and sentencing him to 25 years in prison. Lyons persuasively discusses this rejection, arguing that by carving out an “Ongwen exception” for her client, the ICC denied him justice. She also provides guidance on how the ICC can address this “blindspot” by overhauling its procedures to include traditional justice methods. This book will go far to ensure greater justice and fairness to other child soldier victims who come before the ICC as adults in the future.

     

From Portside (on-line), 8 May 2025 at https://portside.org/2025-05-08/more-legal-read?utm_medium=email&utm_source=portside-snapshot

This Is More Than a Legal Read, by Bill Fletcher, Jr.

Let me first confess that I read this book because it was written by a very longtime friend.  The title is deceptively academic and hides an incredibly important work that, while focused on legal proceedings, is about much more.  As a result, I am so glad that I read it!

The focus of the book is on Dominic Ongwen, a former soldier in the cultish army known as the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda.  Ongwen had been kidnapped by the LRA when he was nine years old and transformed into a soldier and criminal through ruthless indoctrination and ruthlessness.  In the International Criminal Court his defense counsel pleaded his case, arguing that he was—and remains—a victim of mental and emotional disorders that were directly related to the brutal existence he experienced in the LRA and, therefore, he should not be found guilty of the crimes that he committed.

Lyons’ book is both dense and passionate.  As a member of the defense team, she carefully and in immense detail, explains the arguments of both sides and the approach the defense team attempted.  But that is not the central importance of the book.  What Lyons explores are what she identifies as “blindspots” on the part of the court that are directly related to racial and cultural biases.  As such, this book is extremely timely in a moment where the notions of racial and cultural biases—let alone racist and national oppression—are under assault by Mr. Trump and the MAGA cult.

Drawing from the work of individuals such as Theodore Allen (author of the two volume work, The Invention of the White Race) and others, Lyons addresses the unspoken and frequently unconscious assumptions that operate on the part of what I will call oppressive majorities, irrespective of intent.  Lyons provides examples of everyday circumstances in which this is in evidence.  She goes on to identify how bias operated during the case, including actions by the prosecution and assumptions by the judges.

What struck me as I read on was the passion contained in this otherwise very straight forward legal text.  One almost feels the dismay on the part of the defense team as a result of actions and rulings that simply seem to ignore the full implications of the capture, punishment and indoctrination of the accused.  By the end of the book I, too, joined in the dismay, but also was left with a question regarding responsibility.  Specifically, at what point does the background of an accused enter into a judgment of someone who has committed heinous crimes?  How should such crimes be addressed and what level of accountability is appropriate?

Behind a very long title, Lyons leaves these matters for the consideration of the reader.  How should one balance mental and emotional health, as well as so-called racial and cultural matters in rendering a verdict?  And, by implication, what is the line between vengeance and justice?