Ugandan courts convicted Thomas Kwoyelo, a commander in the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), of numerous war crimes on Tuesday. This marks the first time a senior LRA member has been tried by Uganda’s judicial system.
The LRA, established in the late 1980s to overthrow the government, terrorised Ugandans for nearly 20 years under Joseph Kony’s leadership.
The group waged a brutal campaign from its bases in northern Uganda against the military.
The LRA gained infamy for its extreme brutality, including rapes, abductions, mutilation, and bludgeoning victims to death.
Around 2005, facing military pressure, the group relocated to South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic, where it continued its violent assaults on civilians.
Thomas Kwoyelo, who faced over 70 charges including murder, rape, enslavement, torture, and kidnapping, denied all allegations.
On Tuesday in the courtroom of Gulu, northern Uganda, Thomas Kwoyelo shook his head and crossed his arms on the desk, seemingly in disagreement with the announced verdict.
Justice Michael Elubu, part of a four-judge panel, declared, “The verdict of this court is that the accused was found guilty.”
Captured by the Ugandan military in 2009 in northeastern Congo, Kwoyelo has been in pre-trial detention since then, with his case slowly progressing through the Ugandan judicial system.
Kwoyelo was convicted on 44 charges, with 31 dismissed as duplicates and three resulting in acquittals.
The judges announced that pre-sentencing hearings would start next week before determining his final sentence.
While LRA leader Joseph Kony remains a fugitive despite numerous attempts to capture him, the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted another senior LRA commander, Dominic Ongwen, in 2021.
Ongwen was found guilty of war crimes including rape, sexual enslavement, child abduction, torture, and murder, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.