Lords Resistance Army commander charged with war crimes by International Criminal Court

Dominic Ongwen, a
former child-soldier and Lord’s Resistance Army commander, was on Thursday
convicted by the International Criminal Court for committed war crimes and
crimes against humanity, AFP reported.

The 45-year-old was
found guilty of, and charged for, multiples incidents related to a vicious
stint of criminal activities in the early 2000s, including marking the first
instance of conviction by the ICC for forced pregnancy, which Ongwen reportedly
indulged in with women he took as sex slaves.

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“His guilt has
been established beyond any reasonable doubt,” AFP quoted presiding judge
Bertrand Schmitt as saying as the latter read out the verdict in the tribunal at
The Hague.

The court further stated
that Ongwen coordinated attacks on four refugee camps during his time as a senior
commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The LRA, under its
head Joseph Kony, caused a raging, violent campaign to establish a state based
on the Ten Commandments listed in the Bible.

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Ongwen was found
guilty of charges that included murder, rape, sexual slavery and recruiting
child soldiers.

The argument from the
defence, informing the court that Ongwen himself was a victim because of
abduction by the group around the age of nine and consequently suffered psychological
damage, was not accepted by the judges, who said that they did not find any
evidence substantiating the claim.