Keystone-SDA
A Ugandan court on Friday sentenced former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebellion commander Thomas Kwoyelo to 40 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity following a historic trial .
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October 25, 2024 – 12:24
(Keystone-ATS) This judgment is the first pronounced for such acts by a court in Uganda against a leader of this guerrilla movement. Founded in the country in the 1980s, the LRA sowed terror in Central Africa for around thirty years.
“The 40-year sentence” correctly reflects the crimes committed by Thomas Kwoyelo, said Michael Elubu, presiding judge of the International Crimes Division (ICD). The former “colonel” was found guilty in August of 44 charges including murder, kidnapping and looting.
During the hearings which ended in May, Thomas Kwoyelo, aged around fifty, pleaded not guilty. Mr. Kwoyelo also spoke of his past as a child soldier, saying he was kidnapped at the age of 12 and forcibly conscripted into the LRA.
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