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Mar
08
2024
By TONNY RAYMOND KIRABIRA and MIRACLE CHINWENMERI UCHE
Lord’s Resistance Army: ICC awards reparations to victims of commander Dominic Ongwen – what happens next

Lord’s Resistance Army: ICC awards reparations to victims of commander Dominic Ongwen – what happens next

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE
THE International Criminal Court (ICC) has recently ordered reparations for victims of Dominic Ongwen, an ex-child soldier turned commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group that terrorised northern Uganda for two decades. The court’s order, the first in the Ugandan situation, awards collective community-based symbolic payment for each victim. International criminal law scholars Tonny Raymond Kirabira and Miracle Chinwenmeri Uche answer questions about the ruling. Who are the victims in this case? The victims are part of the post-war affected communities in northern Uganda. Ongwen is one of the top Lord’s Resistance Army commanders charged by the International…
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Feb
29
2024
By STEPHANIE VAN DEN BERG
ICC orders record $56 million compensation for Uganda victims

ICC orders record $56 million compensation for Uganda victims

NEWS
NEARLY 50,000 victims of Ugandan militia commander Dominic Ongwen should get a total of over 52 million euros ($56 million) in compensation, International Criminal Court judges ruled, in a record reparations order. Judges said Ongwen, a former child soldier who rose through the ranks to become one of the top commanders of the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, did not have the resources to pay the compensation himself. Instead, they asked the tribunal's own Trust Fund for Victims to help cover the cost. The reparations will be in the form of a symbolic individual payment of 750 euros per…
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May
07
2021
By The African Mirror
Ex-child soldier jailed for 25 years for war crimes

Ex-child soldier jailed for 25 years for war crimes

NEWS
ANTHONY DEUTSCH and ELIAS BIRYABAREMA THE International Criminal Court (ICC) today sentenced a former Ugandan child soldier who became a commander of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to 25 years in prison for crimes including rape, sexual enslavement, child abduction, torture and murder. Dominic Ongwen, who was taken into ICC custody in 2015, was convicted in February of 61 out of 70 alleged crimes. In many, the victims were women and children. Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt said the panel had considered sentencing Ongwen to life imprisonment, the court's harshest punishment, but decided against it due to his own suffering.…
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Apr
16
2021
By The African Mirror
No apology from ex-warlord

No apology from ex-warlord

NEWS
A former Ugandan child soldier who became one of the top commanders of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army told judges at the International Criminal Court yesterday that he was not responsible for any atrocities and felt powerless to stop them. In a defiant, sometimes meandering, unsworn statement to the court, Dominic Ongwen cast himself as a victim, saying he could not ask forgiveness for his alleged crimes because he was not responsible for them. LRA warlord Joseph Kony in 2011. Picture: Adambearne/Flickr "I cannot ask everyone in northern Uganda for forgiveness when there were other people in northern Uganda who…
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Feb
12
2021
By The African Mirror
Child victim, soldier, war criminal: unpacking Dominic Ongwen’s journey

Child victim, soldier, war criminal: unpacking Dominic Ongwen’s journey

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
DOMINIC Ongwen, a former Ugandan child soldier, has been convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Court. Three judges found him guilty of 61 of 70 charges. These ranged from the war crime of the forced conscription of child soldiers to the crime against humanity of forced pregnancy. KJELL ANDERSON, Assistant professor and Director of the Master of Human Rights program, University of Manitoba The presiding judge, Bertram Schmitt, read aloud the names of dozens of his victims in a stark reminder of the human consequences of Ongwen’s acts. Ongwen was impassive as the verdict was read out, only…
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Feb
06
2021
By The African Mirror
Dominic Ongwen and the Lord’s Resistance Army

Dominic Ongwen and the Lord’s Resistance Army

NEWS
BEN PARKER DOMINIC Ongwen could face decades behind bars after his conviction today at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes – committed arguably by a victim of extreme child abuse. Ongwen was aged about 10 when he was abducted, around 1993, by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, rising to become a commander in the Ugandan armed group, notorious for its abuses against civilians. Specific attacks on civilians and displaced people’s camps formed the core of the legal case against Ongwen, which began in December 2016. Ongwen faced charges including “murder and attempted murder; torture; sexual slavery; rape; enslavement;…
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Feb
05
2021
By The African Mirror
‘You chop her’: A Ugandan child soldier recalls

‘You chop her’: A Ugandan child soldier recalls

NEWS
ELIAS BIRYABAREMA LOUIS Lakor was seven years old when Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army killed his family and kidnapped him to use as a child soldier. On Thursday the International Criminal Court found the commander responsible, Dominic Ongwen, guilty of war crimes. Lakor says Ongwen should be forgiven. Ugandan rebel commander found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity The verdict thrusts an uncomfortable spotlight on questions of culpability in a society still deeply traumatised by the militia, which rampaged through northern Uganda from 1987 to 2006. Families still grapple with the question: when does a terrified and traumatised child become…
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Feb
04
2021
By The African Mirror
Ugandan rebel commander convicted for sex crimes, forced pregnancy

Ugandan rebel commander convicted for sex crimes, forced pregnancy

NEWS
FORMER Ugandan rebel commander Dominic Ongwen was today convicted of widespread sexual crimes, including rape and forced marriage, in a ruling at the International Criminal Court. Ongwen, once a commander in the Lord's Resistance Army, faces 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and could be imprisoned for life if convicted. Judges will not address sentencing on Thursday. Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt said the evidence in Ongwen's case showed that sexual crimes were systemic and institutional under his command and in a legal first convicted him of the crime of forced pregnancy.
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Feb
04
2021
By The African Mirror
ICC to hand down judgment against former Lord’s Resistance Army commander

ICC to hand down judgment against former Lord’s Resistance Army commander

NEWS
STEPHANIE VAN DER BERG WAR crimes judges will today deliver their verdict in the case of Dominic Ongwen, a Ugandan child soldier turned top commander in the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group known for extreme violence and forcing women into sexual slavery. Ongwen, 45, faces 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and could be imprisoned for life if convicted. Judges will not address sentencing on Thursday. The ruling at the International Criminal Court will be the first dealing with crimes by the LRA, New York-based Human Rights Watch said. It highlights the difficulty of trying somebody…
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