The former commander of the Sinia Brigade of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Dominic Ongwen has been found guilty on 61 of the 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Ongwen committed the crimes during attacks in Pajule IDP camp on October 10, 2003, Odek IDP camp on April 29, 2004, Lukodi IDP camp on May 19, 2004, and Abok IDP camps on June 29, 2004.
Today, the ICC trial chamber nine composed of judges; Bertram Schmitt, Péter Kovács and Raul Cano Pangalangan said that they found beyond any reasonable doubt that Ongwen is guilty of murder, attempted murder, torture, enslavement, outrages upon personal dignity, pillaging, destruction of property and persecution of civilians. All the crimes were committed in the context of the four specified attacks on the Internally Displaced Person's (IDP) camps.
He was also found guilty of sexual and gender-based crimes, namely, forced marriage, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement, forced pregnancy and outrages upon personal dignity, which he committed against seven women who were abducted and placed into his household.
The same court convicted Ongwen on charges of forced marriage, torture, rape, sexual slavery and enslavement, committed against girls and women within the Sinia brigade, and the crime of conscripting children under the age of 15 into the Sinia brigade and using them to participate actively in hostilities.
Judge Schmitt said that the court found Ongwen fully responsible for all the crimes committed in the camps. The attack in Lukodi, which took place on May 19, 2004, left more than 60 people dead.
The chamber, however, did not find evidence that supported the claim that Ongwen suffered from any mental disease or disorder during the period relevant to the charges or that he committed these crimes under duress or under any threats. The judge said in his statement that Ongwen himself participated in the crimes and oversaw them.
The judge instead said that Ongwen was not a subordinate, but a man who'd uncontested orders and exercised his own independence in committing the crimes and planned very well before acting.
For the purposes of determining the appropriate sentence, the ICC chamber will consider submissions by the prosecutor, the defence of Ongwen led by Crispus Ayena and the representatives of the victims.
The defense can appeal the case, and based on the evidence, the appeals chamber can uphold or overturn the judgment. Ongwen could be jailed in any ICC member-state for a maximum of 30 years or a life sentence. ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute does not provide for a death penalty.
Ongwen is the first among the five LRA rebel commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005 to face trial at The Hague, Netherlands. Others indicted included LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony who still on the run, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, and Raska Lukwiya who are all presumed dead.
Over the course of 234 hearings, the Office of the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, presented a total of 109 witnesses and experts while the defence team presented 63 witnesses and seven experts.
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