The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
GULU, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | A section of victims of the crimes committed by convicted former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commander Thomas Kwoyelo have decried the 40-years jail sentence imposed by the International Crimes Division of the High Court of Uganda.
Kwoyelo was sentenced to 40 years’ in jail on Friday by the court over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between March 1993 and June 2005 in present day Amuru district.
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Michael Elubu noted that the jail sentence reflects the gravity of kwoyelo’s crimes especially the murder charges.
Kwoyelo was convicted in August this year of 44 crimes comprising torture, murder, pillaging, kidnap with intent to murder, rape, outrages to personal dignity, and cruel treatment. He will serve 25 years of the 40 years jail sentence issued Friday after deduction of 15 years he has already served since 2009.
While some victims welcomed yesterday’s 40 years jail sentence handed to the convict by the court, others received it with mixed feelings describing it as unfair for the magnitude of the crimes committed.
Richard Kirom, one of the victims of the attacks in Pabbo Sub-county told Uganda Radio Network that he is unhappy with the sentencing adding that the jail sentence isn’t appropriate for gravity of Kwoyelo’s crimes.
Kirom says as a victim, he feels justice hasn’t been served because Kwoyelo will only serve 25 years and be released yet he should have been jailed for life.
Kirom however notes that for justice to be served to the victims, reparation processes should be fast tracked by the court.
Grace Adong, one of the victims of Kwoyelo’s attack in Pagak Internally Disolaced People’s Camp in Lamogi Subcounty says she was expecting a life imprisonment sentence for Kwoyelo but is shocked that he will only serve 25 years in jail.
Adong says she feels unhappy knowing that she endured extreme sufferings, wasted valuable time and was sexually abused while in the LRA captivity after being abducted at just nine years of age in 2002 until 2005 when she escaped.
The prosecution during a sentencing submission on October 14 had asked the court to hand a life imprisonment sentence to Kwoyelo emphasizing the gravity of his crimes caused extreme suffering to innocent civilians.
However, the court on Friday abstained from issuing life imprisonment to Kwoyelo on accounts that it is reserved for offences of the most extreme gravity or brutality with little or no possibility of reform.
“In cases of this nature, it appears reserved for those who bear the greatest responsibility. The convict doesn’t fall in this category,” Justice Duncan Gaswaga noted in his remarks during the delivery of the sentencing judgement.
Justice Gaswaga also noted that there wasn’t any evidence led to show that Kwoyelo is a continuing danger to the society or community and for that reason, the court excluded the life imprisonment sentence.
Robert Mackay, the victim’s counsel however told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that while the victims demanded for a higher jail sentence, Kwoyelo was convicted under the international law which has a maximum cap for sentencing.
Mackay says as the defence team, their interest for now isn’t on the numbers of years the convict has been handed but rather ensuring that victims of the atrocities get reparations to transform their lives.
The court on Friday pronounced it will conduct a separate proceeding addressing the claims of reparation and directed the victims counsel to file a formal application to which the attorney general will be a party.
A total of 132 victims from the case locations of Pabbo and Pagak Sub-counties in Amuru districts participated in the trial of Kwoyelo after voluntary application. Kwoyelo becomes the second LRA commander after Dominic Ongwen to have been sentenced over the two decades LRA atrocities in Northern Uganda.
LRA leader Joseph Kony remains on the run and wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over 36 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed between July 1, 2002, until December 31, 2005, in northern Uganda.
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