W&L Law’s Mark Drumbl Files Amicus Brief in International Criminal Court The brief concerns the case of Dominic Ongwen, a Ugandan former child soldier and military commander, who is appealing a conviction for war crimes committed in the early 2000s.

By Peter Jetton
January 28, 2022

Mark Drumbl, the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor of Law and Director of the Transnational Law Institute at W&L Law, has filed an amicus brief with the International Criminal Court in the case of Dominic Ongwen, a Ugandan former child soldier and military commander. Ongwen is currently appealing a conviction for war crimes committed in the early 2000s.

Drumbl and co-authors Erin Baines and Kamari Clarke provided expert observations to the Court on Ongwen’s troubled history as both a victim and perpetrator of crimes against humanity. They propose a therapeutic justice framework that would reduce culpability for defendants like Ongwen who were abusively indoctrinated with violence as children. Drumbl’s brief is available in the W&L Law Scholarly Commons.

Drumbl is a world-recognized expert in several areas, including mass violence, human rights, genocide and wartime atrocity, international governance, and international criminal law. He has authored numerous book chapters and articles on these topics, as well as three books: Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law (Cambridge University Press 2007); Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy (Oxford University Press 2012); and Research Handbook on Child Soldiers (Edward Elgar Publishing 2019).

Drumbl’s most recent article, “The Visualities and Aesthetics of Prosecuting Aged Defendants,” is the cornerstone for a special symposium issue of International Criminal Law Review. Co-authored by Caroline Fournet of the University of Exeter, it frames the scholarly discussion of often overlooked implications of putting very aged defendants on trial for atrocity. The publication follows a virtual symposium on the topic that Drumbl coordinated with Fournet in February 2021.

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