The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a notorious armed group. It operated for two decades in northern Uganda. Dominic Ongwen was among its commanders. The LRA is currently depleted, exhausted, and out-of-commission. Its pernicious effects, however, still linger. And its leader, Joseph Kony, remains at large.
The LRA abducted children to staff its fighting and support units. Many of these conscripts – now adults – face an uncertain future. Their reintegration into the communities they had previously tormented is fragile. LRA fighters initiated widespread campaigns of rape, mutilation, and torture against civilian populations. While open to forgive, victims of this violence also call out for justice.
Ongwen himself entered the LRA as a kidnapped child soldier in 1988. He surrendered as Brigade Commander in January 2015 in the Central African Republic. He arrived shortly thereafter at the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention center in The Hague. On March 6, 2015, an ICC Pre-Trial Chamber postponed the date of his confirmation of charges hearing from late August 2015 to late January 2016.
