Arusha, January 21, 2015 (FH) \u2013 Ugandan rebel commander Dominic Ongwen was on Tuesday transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face war crimes charges. Ugandan press reports say Ongwen, who was a child soldier, could be the first ICC suspect to confess.<\/p>\n
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Ongwen was a top commander of the notorious Lord\u2019s Resistance Army (LRA), which has killed, maimed and abducted thousands of civilians in Uganda and neighbouring countries.\u00a0 Now in his mid-thirties, Ongwen was captured by the LRA at age ten and given military training. He has been wanted by the ICC for nearly ten years.<\/p>\n
US forces working with the African Union (AU) Regional Taskforce in the Central African Republic took custody of Ongwen on January 6. After negotiations, he was handed over to the AU taskforce on 14 January, and the ICC took legal custody of him in Bangui on January 17.<\/p>\n
According to an ICC press release, Ongwen will receive a medical visit and \u201cwill appear, as soon as possible, before the Judges in the presence of a Defence Lawyer\u201d. During the initial appearance hearing, the pre-trial judges will verify his identity and inform him of the charges against him.<\/p>\n
The ICC arrest warrant for Ongwen was issued on July 8, 2005, for three three counts of crimes against humanity (murder; enslavement; inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering) and four counts of war crimes (murder; cruel treatment of civilians; intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population; pillaging). The crimes were allegedly committed in 2004 in northern Uganda.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transfer of Dominic Ongwen to the ICC is a major step for those affected by the LRA\u2019s long history of crimes,\u201d said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. \u201cAll eyes will now be on the ICC to deliver fair, meaningful justice that will resonate with the LRA\u2019s victims.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cJudicial proceedings against Ongwen raise important issues regarding his status as a former child soldier, though the crimes he is charged with were committed as an adult,\u201d Human Rights Watch also said. \u201cOngwen\u2019s abduction was a war crime. He was denied parental care and spent formative years under the control of adults who used violence and extreme brutality as a form of discipline and punishment. These are mitigating factors that should be considered during possible sentencing in the event of trial and conviction, and could be relevant to his legal defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Ugandan newspaper The Monitor, Ongwen could be ready to confess and has asked for forgiveness for his alleged crimes. \u201cEach of us sin in words, deeds and thoughts,\u201d it quoted him as saying in a recent interview. \u201cEach of us sin in different ways. If I committed a crime through war, I am sorry. In my mind, I thought war was the best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ICC is still seeking three other LRA commanders, including LRA leader Joseph Kony.<\/p>\n
ER\/ JC<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, January 21, 2015 (FH) \u2013 Ugandan rebel commander Dominic Ongwen was on Tuesday transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face war crimes charges. Ugandan press reports say Ongwen, who was a child soldier, could be the first ICC suspect to confess.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-24966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n