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A former Ugandan child soldier who became one of Joseph Kony’s deputies has been convicted of dozens of crimes, including sexual enslavement and the killings of babies.
Dominic Ongwen, known as one of the most ruthless commanders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) – a guerrilla group that operated in northern Uganda – was found guilty by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of 61 out of 70 alleged counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The crimes include widespread rape, sexual enslavement, child abductions, torture and murder – including the killings of infants.
A sentence will be issued at a later date.
Ongwen was himself abducted by the LRA group, led by warlord Joseph Kony, as a young child, and he was later given military training by senior leaders of the rebel group before eventually becoming an LRA commander.
Judges told the court on Thursday that Ongwen, who was himself taken by the LRA as a young child, had acted out of free will in committing the crimes between 2002 and 2005.
“There exists no ground excluding Dominic Ongwen’s criminal responsibility. His guilt has been established beyond any reasonable doubt,” Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt said.
In a legal first, Ongwen was also convicted for the crime of forced pregnancy for atrocities committed against seven women.
The leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, pictured in 2006
Judge Schmitt added: “As a result of the sexual and physical violence and the living conditions to which they were submitted, the abducted women and girls suffered severe, barely imaginable physical and mental pain.”
The court heard how Ongwen ordered the killing and abduction of many civilians during attacks on camps protected by Ugandan government forces.
He also personally took sex slaves and forced children to fight in hostilities, the court found.
Abductees were beaten to death if they were unable to walk.
The court was also told how babies were taken from their mothers and thrown away so they could carry looted goods to LRA’s camps.
Reacting to Thursday’s verdict, New York-based Human Rights Watch said: “The LRA terrorised the people of northern Uganda and its neighbouring countries for more than two decades.
“One LRA leader has at last been held to account at the ICC for the terrible abuses victims suffered.”
It noted that LRA head Kony has evaded justice for more than 15 years and called on countries to help secure his arrest and transfer to The Hague for trial.
Kony and the LRA garnered worldwide attention in 2012 following the release of a 30-minute documentary titled Kony 2012 by US filmmaker Jason Russell for the campaign group Invisible Children, Inc.
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