In a landmark case in Uganda, a child soldier-turned-rebel commander of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Thomas Kwoyelo was found guilty of 44 charges, including murder, kidnapping and plunder.
He denies all 78 charges against him.
Of the remaining 34 charges, Covoiello was acquitted of three murder charges and the other 31 charges were dismissed.
Kowoyelo became the first Lord’s Resistance Army commander to stand trial in a Ugandan court, marking a watershed moment in the country’s justice system.
The trial took place in Gulu, a city in northern Uganda that has been terrorized by the Lord’s Resistance Army for more than two decades.
The former Lord’s Resistance Army commander, who wore a dark suit and red tie, showed no emotion as he responded to the long list of guilty verdicts.
A judge read out the names of civilians killed on Coyello’s orders.
A notorious incident was the 2004 attack on a camp for displaced civilians in Pagak, northern Uganda.
Kwoyelo has been detained for the past 14 years, which analysts attribute in part to the size and complexity of the case.
Joseph Kony formed the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda more than two decades ago and claims to be fighting for a government based on the Ten Commandments of the Bible.
The group is notorious for chopping off people’s limbs and abducting children to be used as soldiers and sex slaves. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes due to the conflict.
The Lord’s Resistance Army first operated in northern Uganda before moving to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where Kwoyelo was captured in 2009, and later to the Central African Republic (CAR).
The group has been largely wiped out. But Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, has never been arrested.
Rights group Human Rights Watch has previously criticized the delays in Kowoyelo’s case and said overall there has been limited accountability for crimes committed during the 25-year conflict, including abuses by Ugandan national troops.
2021, Senior Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen sentenced to 25 years in prison by ICCthe committee decided not to sentence him to the maximum life sentence because he was kidnapped as a child and groomed by the rebels who killed his parents.
Coiello said he was also abducted by Lord’s Resistance Army militants when he was 12 years old while walking to school.
Thousands of former Lord’s Resistance Army members have been granted amnesty under a controversial Ugandan law after leaving and declaring themselves separate from the rebel group.
But Coyello, who has yet to be sentenced, was not offered that option.
