Ugandan rebel leader Ongwen says ICC trial 'taking him back to the bush'

Former child soldier-turned-warlord Dominic Ongwen on the first day of trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, on December 6, 2016. PHOTO | AFP 

By TABU BUTAGIRA and TEA REPORTER

A former commander of the Ugandan rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Dominic Ongwen pleaded not guilty to war crimes and crimes against humanity as his trial opened Tuesday before the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Mr Ongwen faces 70 counts related to atrocities committed by the LRA in a brutal 20-year war in northern and parts of eastern Uganda.

The charges include; murder, enslavement, inhuman acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering, cruel treatment of civilians, intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population, rape, pillaging, torture and sexual slavery, among others.

Abducted as a child himself, Mr Ongwen was indicted alongside four other top commanders of the LRA in 2005 but he, so far, remains the only one to go to trial after he was captured by the Seleka rebel group that operated in rural eastern Central African Republic at the end of 2014.

He had reportedly escaped from detention by the leader of the LRA Joseph Kony, also indicted by the ICC.

Abducted at the age of 14 in the village of Coroom, Kilak County in present day Amuru district, he rose through the ranks to become one of the most feared commanders of the LRA.

Observers attribute his transition to the indoctrination that included gross rituals of witnessing killings the LRA subjected its child abductees to as part of training to become ruthless fighters.

At trial, Ongwen said he was himself a victim of the LRA atrocities while denying personal responsibility. He said the LRA should be blamed instead.

“I am one of the people against whom the LRA committed atrocities in northern Uganda,” he said, “It is not me who is the LRA.”

Ongwen told the court that being put on trial was like taking him to the bush for a second time.

Not fit to stand trial

Earlier, the ICC had ruled that Mr Ongwen understood the 70 counts against him and that he must stand trial after his defence team had raised protestations.

The ruling followed a last-minute objection his lawyers led by Krispus Ayena Odongo raised with the Trial Chamber IX that Mr Ongwen did not understand the trial and that he required psychological or psychiatric examination to determine whether he was fit to stand trial.

The defence told the court on the eve of the commencement of the trial that they had, from experts they engaged, learned that Mr Ongwen was neither of the proper mind to understand the charges nor their grave nature while in the bush and, therefore, "unfit" to stand trial.

After a court official read out the 70 charges, presiding judge Bertram Schmitt asked Mr Ongwen, dressed in grey suit provided by the ICC, whether he understood the charges

"I did understand the document (of charges translated in Acholi), but not the charges because they are against the LRA and the LRA is Joseph Kony who is the leader... it's the LRA that committed the crimes," he responded.

Judge Schmitt ordered a 15-minute break after which he said it was the court's concluded that Mr Ongwen understood the charges because he had said so during the pre-trial hearing in January this year.

A waste of time

Mr Ongwen at the time, according to the judge, said "Whether the charges are read or not is all going to be a waste of time. I have read (the translated document) and understand it".

The charges that the suspect understood in January, the judge ruled, were not "materially different" from what was read to him in court Tuesday.

Judge Schmitt in his ruling on the preliminary objection, said: "The chamber is not persuaded that Mr Ongwen cannot understand something now which he understood in January 2016. Mr Ongwen's remarks that LRA committed the offences means he understands the nature of the charges. The chamber is satisfied that Mr Ongwen understands the charges."

Then he asked Mr Ongwen: "Do you make an admission of guilt?"

Instead of answering the question, Mr Ongwen said his trial was a "matter of life and death" which amounted to "going back to the bush" and asked the judge: "Do you agree that I am the leader of the LRA?"

Judge Schmitt guided him to respond to questions rather than ask questions of his own, assuring him that "you will receive a fair and an impartial hearing".

Mr Ongwen then said: "In the name of God, I deny all these charges in regard to the war in northern Uganda."