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Ex-LRA commander appears before ICC judges
Ex-LRA commander appears before ICC judges
SMSMEDIA (Uganda), 20 May 2015
Former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen has appeared before judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the run up to his trial. This is his first appearance before judges since his first reception in The Hague in January, to hear lawyers negotiate on the timelines and finer details of his impending trial. The Ugandan faces seven charges or war crimes and crimes against humanity. His international arrest warrant was one of the first the ICC ever issued on its formation in 2005. Ongwen and the LRA are accused of killing an estimated 100 00 people and butchering, raping and maiming thousands of others across Northern Uganda, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
ICC Spokesperson, Fadi El-Abdullah says, “The court has started the preparations for the proceedings in his case. Starting by separating his case from the case regarding Mr Joseph Kony and the other leaders of the LRA against whom the ICC had delivered arrest warrants.” The LRA is thought to have enlisted as many as 20 000 child soldiers. Ongwen was himself one of them, but rose through the ranks and built himself a fearsome reputation as a ruthless commander.
Some observers say the ICC should be putting him before judges more frequently. No Peace Without Justice’s Niccolo Figa-Talamanca says, “Four months is quite a long time considering that the case has been open for 10 years. The prosecutor in an ordinary circumstance is expected to be ready for trial when they go and confirm the charges which were a long, long time ago when the first warrant of arrest was issued. Of course 10 years is also a mitigating factor for the prosecutor that can say well in the meanwhile, the witnesses have spread all over and we have to catch up with them.”