- Kwoyelo’s trial stirs controversy
- Victims prefer forgiveness, return
- Slow justice process criticized
Tropical fruits are spread on plastic sheets, and women sell them at a market in Gulu, northern Uganda, while calling out to passing customers. The sun is dazzling, and the air is filled with the cacophony of bargain-hunting consumers.
The days when children would sleep under the awnings of market stalls are long gone; they used to trudge sleepily each night from the surrounding villages to this small city to evade capture by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
The LRA, led by the formidable Joseph Kony, dominated the region from 1987 to 2006. During that time, they kidnapped and enslaved young children for sex and military purposes. Eventually, the LRA was driven out of Uganda and set up bases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR).
Kwoyelo’s Contentious Trial Looms
Close to this vibrant marketplace is the High Court of Gulu, where the forthcoming prosecution of Thomas Kwoyelo, a man in his fifties and the first LRA commander to face legal consequences in Uganda, will take place.
While Kwoyelo was walking to school during the early years of the conflict, he was abducted. He remained a member of the LRA for approximately two decades. The young soldier rose to the rank of senior commander under the alias Latoni and was tasked with attending to wounded combatants.
In 2009, he was captured during a conflict in the DRC. He was brought back home barefoot and with a bullet wound in his abdomen; he was detained for the next fourteen years while trial proceedings dragged on.
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More than a decade since his imprisonment, the prosecution concluded its case against Kwoyelo in April 2023. Concurrently, the defence is preparing to present its arguments.
However, human rights and monitoring organisations are alarmed by his contentious trial, claiming that his prolonged detention has made it impossible for him to obtain justice.
Meanwhile, conflict survivors in northern Uganda maintain that Kwoyelo, the first member of the armed group to face legal proceedings in the country, should not be tried at all. They wish for forgiveness and the chance to return home, similar to how commanders who were allegedly of higher rank were given this opportunity upon capture by the LRA.
Rebellion revolt
Formerly an altar boy, Kony gathered his fighters from the remaining members of another rebel faction with the aim of overthrowing President Yoweri Museveni and establishing governance based on the Ten Commandments in the country.
Approximately 10,000 people were killed in clashes between the Ugandan army and the rebels; the LRA frequently targeted civilians and forced minors into combat.
In 1991, during an attack that claimed the lives of her father and the male inhabitants of their village, Margret was abducted along with fifteen other girls. Ropes were used to bind the new recruits together and force them to carry looted goods. Margret, who was 12 years old at the time, was married to an LRA commander immediately.
A weapon was forced upon the girl, who subsequently underwent transformation into a combatant. Attempting to escape after two years with the insurgents, she was captured once more.
Regarding her time in captivity, Margret said, “There were abhorrent beatings and no one to turn to.”
The Acholi ethnic group’s leaders in northern Uganda were compelled by these mass abductions to advocate for an amnesty policy that would allow LRA combatants who surrendered their weapons to return home without fear of reprisal. As of 2000, this policy had been enacted into law.
“Our children are innocent because they were forcibly conscripted into battle,” said Okello Okuna. Okuna is a spokesperson for the Gulu-based traditional kingdom of Ker Kwaro Acholi, which governs northern Uganda.
Amnesty Versus Accountability Debate
“Several of them have returned home and are now living peacefully with us, free from any retaliation, reprimand, or arrest,” he added.
During the conflict, John “Lacambel” Oryema of the local radio station Mega FM interviewed repatriated LRA fighters and broadcast peace songs, urging the remaining rebels to surrender their weapons and return home.
Oryema said, “I used to say, brothers and sisters, let us all unite and ensure that we forgive and forget.”
This approach contradicted the international community’s desire to see LRA commanders brought to justice for their atrocities.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned Uganda’s Amnesty Act. The grounds were that it contravened international law and obstructed the pursuit of accountability for war crimes.
Uganda referred the cases of five high-ranking LRA commanders to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in 2003, a year after the court was established. This made these commanders the first individuals to be indicted by the ICC.
The commander of the LRA, Kony, remains at large. At the ICC, proceedings against two of his three highest-ranking commanders have been halted, and the defendants are presumed dead. Domonic Ongwen, another young soldier, was convicted and sentenced to 25 years at The Hague in 2021.
Anguished calm
Margret, while in LRA captivity, became the mother of two children and was promoted to sergeant. However, in 2004, when Uganda launched a military campaign against the rebels, she and other women took a risk and fled into the hills. She was granted amnesty in Gulu and began a gradual process of rebuilding her life.
The same legislation also benefited senior commanders, who renounced rebellion and returned home.
Early in his life, Charles, who, like other former LRA recruits, only used his first name, was captured.
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He provided limited information about his tenure in the LRA, stating that he held a high rank. He showed visible signs of combat, such as the amputation of a limb.
Charles stated emphatically, “I have undergone every type of military training imaginable.” He had previously aspired to become a lawyer. “Therefore, my dream was abruptly derailed, and I assumed the role of a soldier.”
He, like Margret, was granted amnesty and allowed to return home after seventeen years of conflict.
Unfortunately, Kwoyelo did not receive the same treatment.
The indictment against Kwoyelo was filed under Uganda’s International Criminal Court Act of 2010. This act permits the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on Ugandan soil.
Legal experts assert that Kwoyelo’s trial sets a dangerous precedent, as it could potentially lead to the prosecution of other former LRA rebels who were granted amnesty.
His trial has faced numerous delays, including a halt in 2011 when Uganda’s Constitutional Court ruled that he should be released because he was eligible for amnesty under the 2000 law. However, this decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court, and Kwoyelo remained in custody.
The trial’s sluggish pace has resulted in Kwoyelo spending more time in detention. This is more than any sentence he might receive if convicted, according to his lawyer, Charles Dalton Opwonya.
Trial Tests Uganda’s Fragile Peace
Opwonya stated, “It’s been over a decade since his arrest, and the trial is still ongoing. This is a clear violation of his rights.”
The prosecution has presented evidence from 120 witnesses. This includes former LRA members and individuals who claim to have been Kwoyelo’s victims. However, the defense argues that Kwoyelo was also a victim of the LRA, having been abducted and forced into servitude.
While the trial continues, northern Uganda is experiencing a fragile peace. The region is still recovering from the conflict’s devastation, with many former LRA fighters struggling to reintegrate into society.
The government has implemented a national reconciliation and transitional justice policy to address the legacy of the conflict. However, progress has been slow.
In Gulu, the bustling market serves as a reminder of the region’s tumultuous past. The anticipation of Kwoyelo’s trial highlights the ongoing challenges of achieving justice and reconciliation.
As the community awaits the outcome of the trial, there is hope that it will bring closure to a painful chapter in Uganda’s history and pave the way for lasting peace and healing.
