Ugandan Court Hands Ex-LRA Commander 40-Year Sentence

 

In a historic ruling, a Ugandan court on Friday sentenced former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Thomas Kwoyelo to 40 years in prison.

This landmark decision, marking the first time a member of the notorious LRA has faced trial for war crimes in a Ugandan court, follows the group’s brutal two-decade insurgency against the Ugandan government.

Kwoyelo, who was convicted in August on 44 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, faced charges including murder, rape, torture, pillaging, abduction, and the destruction of settlements for internally displaced people.

Michael Elubu, lead judge of the case at the International Crimes Division (ICD) of Uganda’s High Court, delivered the sentence in the northern city of Gulu, underscoring a rare moment of accountability in the decades-long history of the LRA’s violence.

Judge Elubu stated that Kwoyelo retains the right to appeal both his conviction and sentence within 14 days.

Kwoyelo, who was abducted by the LRA at the age of 12 and later rose to a low-level command position within the organization, denied all charges brought against him.

The Lord’s Resistance Army, founded by Joseph Kony in the 1980s, sought to establish a regime based on the Ten Commandments. Under Kony’s leadership, the group unleashed widespread terror across Uganda and neighboring regions, resulting in over 100,000 deaths and the abduction of 60,000 children.

The violence eventually spread to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Central African Republic.