[JURIST] The International Criminal Court [official website; JURIST news archive] announced Tuesday that construction on 12 holding cells has been completed, and the world's first general international war crimes court is ready to use them to detain leaders of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) [Global Security profile; BBC backgrounder] of Uganda, for whom the court issued arrest warrants [JURIST report] last year.

The ICC hopes to arrest the LRA leaders in the near future, and has requested the assistance of Uganda [JURIST report] and neighboring countries. Sudan, also the target of an ICC investigation in connection with alleged crimes committed in the Darfur region, has already pledged its support [JURIST report] in helping to arrest the fugitives, thought to be hiding in the southern part of the country. The ICC has accused the LRA [case materials] of killing thousands of Ugandans, enslaving more than 10,000 children and causing more than 1.6 million people to lose their homes. Reuters has more.