Thomas Quoyello Photo Credit: AP
A Ugandan court on Friday (October 26, 2024) sentenced a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to 40 years in prison following a landmark war crimes trial over his role in the group’s two-decade reign of terror.
Thomas Kwoyelo was found guilty in August of multiple counts of crimes against humanity in the first such trial in the East African country.
Chief Justice Michael Elubu said, “This court has determined a sentence of 40 years on the offense of murder accurately reflects the criminality of Thomas Kwoyelo.”
The LRA was founded in Uganda in the 1980s by former altar boy and self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony to establish a regime based on the 10 Commandments.
More than 100,000 people were killed and 60,000 children abducted in its rebellion against President Yoweri Museveni during a reign of terror that spread from Uganda to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.
Kwoyelo, who was kidnapped by the LRA at the age of 12 and became a low-level commander, has denied all charges against him. But he was found guilty of a range of charges, including murder, rape, torture, looting, kidnapping and destruction of settlements of internally displaced people. Most of Kwoyelo’s crimes occurred between 1996 and 2005 in his home region of Amuru in northern Uganda and parts of South Sudan.
Immediately after the sentencing, Kwoyelo’s lawyers informed the court that they intended to appeal.
published – October 26, 2024 10:59 am IST