The International Criminal Court yesterday confirmed the convictions of Dominic Ongwen, a former Ugandan child soldier who rose to be a commander in the revered outlawed Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and upheld his 25-year sentence for rape, murder and child abduction.
“The appeals chamber rejects all the defence grounds of appeal and unanimously confirms the convictions,” presiding judges Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza said.
Led by fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, the LRA terrorised the neighbouring Ugandan nationals for nearly two decades as it fought the government of President Yoweri Museveni from bases in northern Uganda and neighbouring countries.
The militia has been largely wiped out.
Ongwen, now in his mid-forties was himself abducted aged nine by the rebel group led by the fugitive Joseph Kony, was found guilty last year of murder, rape and sexual enslavement in northern Uganda during the early 2000s.
After his abduction, he was forced into a life of violence after the group killed his parents.
The defence had argued that his horrific experiences in the LRA meant he could not be held responsible for his later actions.
Appeals judges, however, dismissed this and confirmed the lower court’s findings that Ongwen was not under duress and acted independently when he had committed the crimes for which he was charged.
Ongwen is the only LRA suspect to appear before the ICC so far. Kony is still at large despite being the subject of an arrest warrant from the court since 2005.
In a hearing earlier this year Ongwen told judges he felt as though he was being blamed for all of Kony’s crimes.
The ICC prosecutor recently said he would seek to start proceedings against Kony and intensify efforts to bring him to trial.
Prosecutors and lawyers for the more than 4,000 victims participating in the case have asked judges to uphold the conviction and sentence.
The ICC was established in 2002 to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and other major human rights violations.
The LRA’s bid to set up a state based on the Bible’s Ten Commandments killed more than 100,000 people and saw 60,000 children abducted, spreading to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic.
Ongwen, whose nom de guerre was “White Ant”, was found guilty on 61 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which also included charges of himself turning young abductees into child soldiers.
