In Uganda, the highly anticipated trial of Thomas Kwoyelo, a former child soldier turned commander in the infamous Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has commenced.
Kwoyelo faces over 90 charges, ranging from murder and rape to the recruitment of child soldiers, making him the first LRA commander to undergo trial in a Ugandan court. This marks a significant milestone for the country’s judicial system.
The accused, who had previously denied the charges during a 2011 court appearance, has spent the past 14 years in pre-trial detention—a duration attributed, in part, to the extensive and intricate nature of the alleged crimes.
The LRA, founded by Joseph Kony over two decades ago in Uganda, purportedly aimed to establish a government based on the Bible’s 10 Commandments.
The group gained notoriety for brutal practices such as mutilating individuals and abducting children for use as soldiers and sex slaves, leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
Initially operating in northern Uganda, the LRA later expanded its activities to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Kwoyelo was arrested in 2009, and subsequently to the Central African Republic.
The trial unfolds at the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Gulu, considered Uganda’s equivalent to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Despite previous appearances in court as part of pre-trial hearings, the case has faced repeated postponements, drawing criticism from Human Rights Watch for delays and a broader lack of accountability for crimes committed during the 25-year conflict, including abuses by Ugandan state forces.
In 2021, another LRA commander, Dominic Ongwen, received a 25-year sentence from the ICC.
Notably, the court refrained from imposing a life sentence due to Ongwen’s abduction as a child and grooming by rebels who had killed his parents.
Kwoyelo claims he, too, was abducted during his early teenage years while walking to school.
While thousands of former LRA members have been granted amnesty under a controversial Ugandan law after renouncing the rebel group, this option was not extended to Kwoyelo, leading to allegations of political motivations behind the denial.
