Dominic Ongwen, the rebel commander of the Lord Resistance Army (LRA), a group that has been waging a guerrilla campaign since 1987, has appeared before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague for war crimes charges.
From Uganda, LRA has spread its activities to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR).
Ongwen, who surrendered to US forces in CAR earlier in the month, is the first LRA member to appear before the court.
He is facing a total of seven counts of crimes against humanity, including murder and enslavement. The charges all relate to an attack on a camp for internally displaced people in Uganda in 2004.
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Responding to judge Ekaterina Trendafilova’s question on his identity, Ongwen, who replied through an interpreter, spoke in a surprising manner.
“I would like to thank God for creating heaven and earth together with everybody on this earth,” he said.
The 39-year-old revealed that he was abducted when he was just 14, adding that he had become a soldier for the LRA.
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“I was abducted in 1988 and I was taken to the bush when I was 14 years old,” he said in Acholi, a Ugandan Language.
“Prior to my arrival at court, I was a soldier in the LRA.”
Although the Ugandan government has a strong reservation for the ICC, the country conceded Ongwen to the court based on accusations regarding the seizure of children as fighters and sex slaves.
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