Ugandan court convicts LRA commander of war crimes

By T. David, Lagos

In a landmark ruling, a Ugandan court found Thomas Kwoyelo, a commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), guilty of numerous war crimes.

This marks the first time a senior LRA member has faced trial within the Ugandan judicial system, Reuters reports on Tuesday.

Established in the late 1980s with the goal of overthrowing the government, the LRA, under Joseph Kony’s leadership, terrorised Ugandans for nearly two decades. Operating from bases in northern Uganda, the group engaged in brutal campaigns against the military.

The LRA gained notoriety for its horrific violence, including rape, abduction, mutilation, and murder using crude weapons. Around 2005, military pressure forced the LRA to flee to South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic, where they continued their brutal attacks on civilians.

Kwoyelo faced over 70 charges, encompassing murder, rape, enslavement, torture, and kidnap, all of which he denied. As the verdict was read aloud in the Gulu courtroom, Kwoyelo shook his head in apparent disagreement, his arms crossed on the desk before him.

“The verdict of this court is that the accused was found guilty,” declared Justice Michael Elubu, a member of the four-judge high court panel.

Apprehended by the Ugandan military in 2009 within the jungles of northeastern Congo, Kwoyelo has remained in pre-trial detention. His case has slowly progressed through the Ugandan court system.

The court ultimately found Kwoyelo guilty on 44 charges, dismissing 31 as duplicates and acquitting him on three. Pre-sentencing hearings will commence next week, followed by the determination of Kwoyelo’s sentence.

LRA leader Joseph Kony, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, remains at large despite numerous attempts to apprehend him.

In 2021, the ICC convicted Dominic Ongwen, another high-ranking LRA commander, of war crimes. These crimes included rape, sexual enslavement, child abduction, torture, and murder, resulting in a 25-year prison sentence.