Ex-LRA commander Kwoyelo given 40 years in jail

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  The International Crimes Division of the High Court (ICD) has sentenced former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commander Thomas Kwoyelo to 40 years in jail over war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The sentence was delivered Friday by a four-member panel of judges of the ICD sitting at Gulu High Court in Northern Uganda.

Kwoyelo was convicted in August this year of 44 crimes relating to murder, torture, rape, pillaging, kidnapping with intent to murder, cruel treatment, and outrages to personal dignity. The crimes were committed between March 1993 and June 2005 in Kilak County, in Lamogi and Pabbo Sub-counties in Amuru district.

He will serve 25 years of the 40 years’ jail sentence after the deduction of 15 years, the period he spent in custody at Luzira Maximum Prison since his incarceration in 2009.

Justice Michael Elubu in his sentencing judgement noted that the 40-year jail sentence on murder charges properly reflects the overall criminality of Thomas Kwoyelo.

Justice Elubu told Kwoyelo that he has a right to file an appeal against the conviction or sentencing or against both within 14 days of the sentencing order.

The court however excluded issuing a death sentence on grounds that the convict had spent an exceedingly long time in remand, and considered the broad transitional justice goal of the aspect of reconciliation enunciated in the amnesty act.

It also excluded life imprisonment on grounds that the sentence is reserved for offences of the most extreme gravity or brutality with little or no possibility of reform which the convict doesn’t fall in the category. Prosecutors and victims’ counsel during a sentencing submission on October 14 had requested the court to jail Kwoyelo for life.

Justice Duncan Gaswaga noted that the court considered the principle of totality which reflected on the aspect of the offending behaviour, aggravating and mitigating factors relating to the offences and those personal to the offender.

He said in the determination of the aggravating factor, the court found evidence that the convict acted in a command position for most of the offences playing an eminent role in the planning, strategy and actual execution of extreme gravity.

“The commission of offences was marked by extreme brutality, sadism, and cruelty employed. The vilest acts such as the ones in Pagak were reserved for reprisal attacks. The victims have been left with lasting physical and mental pains and sufferings,” said Justice Gaswaga.

He also noted that in the mitigating factor, the court considered that the convict is treated as the first offender since he was conscripted and initiated into the LRA at a very tender age of 12 years and has since expressed remorse and willingness to reconcile with victims.

According to Justice Gaswaga, the court also considered the convict was a mid-level commander not responsible for the overall military command and strategy of the LRA adding that by the time the offences were committed, the LRA was a very well-structured military system with a hierarchy of command.

Kwoyelo’s defence lawyers however say they will appeal the sentencing arguing that some of the sentences don’t reflect the ends of justice.

Kwoyelo’s lawyer Evans Ocheing, told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that they feel there are flaws in the sentencing which need proper clarification.

Robert Mackay, the victim’s defence lawyer welcomed the sentencing saying justice has been served for the victims who have endured sufferings and yearned for reparations for a long time.

The court has however opted to conduct separate proceedings addressing the claims of reparations. Justice Elubu in his ruling directed that the victim counsel make a formal application in which the attorney general will be joined as a party. The victim’s counsel is expected to serve an application by November 8 on the prosecution, the attorney general and the defence counsel who shall file their replies by November 22.

Kwoyelo is the first mid-level LRA commander to be convicted by a domestic court in relation to the over two decades bloody campaign in Northern Uganda.

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