The International Crimes Division of Uganda Finds Thomas Kwoyelo Guilty of Crimes He Committed as a Member of the Lord’s Resistance Army

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Friday, August 23, 2024
Author: 
Morinsola Tinubu
Volume: 
40
Issue: 
9
Abstract: 

                      On August 13, 2024, the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Gulu, a northern city in Uganda, found Thomas Kwoyelo guilty of forty-four offenses including murder, rape, the recruitment of child soldiers, torture, and pillaging. He was found not guilty of three counts of murder and thirty-one alternative offenses were ultimately dismissed. Kwoyelo was a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a prominent rebel group in the North of Uganda and Ugandan authorities have detained him for over fourteen years due to the complexity and gravity of his alleged crimes. Kwoyelo is the first member of the LRA to be tried in Uganda, a milestone in the country.