The International Crimes Division of the High Court has convicted former Lord’s Resistance Army rebel commander Thomas Kwoyelo alias Latoni of war crimes and crimes against Humanity.
Kwoyelo was found guilty by the court for committing 44 out of the 78 counts he was indicted in a long-awaited verdict delivered on Tuesday at ICD sitting at the Gulu High Court in Northern Uganda.
The crimes include murder, pillaging, outrages to personal dignity, enslavement, rape, cruel treatment, and torture committed between 1993 and 2005 in Kilak County, Present day Amuru District.
The judgement was delivered by a trial panel of four judges comprising Justices Michael Elubu, Duncan Gaswaga, Stephen Mubiru, and Andrew Bashaija.
Justice Elubu in a ruling acquitted Kwoyelo of three counts relating to murder in contravention of Article 3 common to the Geneva Convention and Articles 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act.
He also dismissed 31 alternate charges under the Penal Code Act on which Kwoyelo had already been convicted.
Kwoyelo’s trial commenced in November 2018 and since then a total of 53 prosecution witnesses were presented to pin him on the indictment. He is the first senior LRA commander to be found guilty in a domestic court in Uganda for crimes related to the bloody LRA campaign in Northern Uganda.
William Byansi, the State Prosecutor told the Court Tuesday that they appreciate the extent to which the court had reached in the trial of Kwoyelo calling it a moment they had all been waiting for a long time.
Byansi however asked the Court to grant the prosecution one month to make submissions concerning the determination of the sentencing of Kwoyelo.
“We are therefore asking the court for time for adjournment, to enable us to prepare a detailed brief for the most appropriate sentence. My lords, in consultation with my colleagues in defence, we are proposing one month,” says Byansi.
Caleb Alaka, Kwoyelo’s defence lawyer notes that they still intend to read the detailed judgement of the court before making a mitigating statement.
