Fate of former Ugandan child soldier in balance

KAMPALA/ ABIDJAN: The capture of Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen is a major success against the notorious rebel group, but it remains uncertain whether and how the former child soldier might face trial.

Options range from a case at the International Criminal Court, where he is wanted for crimes against humanity, to prosecution or even being granted amnesty.

His eventual fate is likely to have an impact on whether the remnants of the Ugandan rebel group also end Africa’s longestrunning armed uprising, which has killed thousands.

Earlier this week, US forces helping track the LRA said a man claiming to be Ongwen had given himself up in the Central African Republic. Uganda said he was in the custody of its forces and would be flown to Uganda.

“Once he’s here then a decision will be taken on what to do with him,” government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said.

The LRA rebelled against the government in northern Uganda in the late 1980s.

Headed by Joseph Kony, a former choirboy who claimed to be guided by spirits only he could hear, it earned a reputation for brutality, abducting children to serve as fighters and sex slaves and mutilating prisoners.

Many of the victims were from the Acholi community the LRA claimed to be defending against the government.

In 2003, Uganda referred the LRA to the newly created ICC.

The warrants unsealed two years later for Kony, Ongwen and two other commanders were the first issued by the court in The Hague in the Netherlands.

By then, the LRA had largely left Uganda to roam lawless areas of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and the CAR.

Now Ongwen is in custody, rights groups insist he should be sent to The Hague.

“Authorities should seize the opportunity to see that justice is done and he’s surrendered to the ICC,” said Elise Keppler, assistant director of Human Rights Watch’s international justice programme.

It is far from certain that will happen, however.

Washington is not a member of the ICC, though it has cooperated with the court to varying degrees in the past.

Now 34, Ongwen was himself kidnapped by the LRA as a 10-year-old walking to school, and went on to rise through its ranks.

This past could see him benefit from the Acholi community’s readiness to pardon exfighters, especially those forced to commit crimes as children.

Some Acholi figures say his crimes, alleged to include murder and enslavement, have tested the willingness to forgive.

Ugandan officials have already made clear the ICC is not the only option they are considering for Ongwen.

Uganda could mount a legal challenge to the ICC, claiming it is willing and able to try Ongwen on charges substantially similar to the those he faces at The Hague. – Reuters