Surrender of senior aide to Joseph Kony is major blow to Lord's Resistance Army
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Version 0 of 1. The manhunt for Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony has been boosted by the surrender of one his most senior aides, a former child soldier accused of directing a campaign of murder and enslavement. Dominic Ongwen of the rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), who is wanted for crimes against humanity and war crimes, gave himself up in Central African Republic (CAR), it was confirmed on Wednesday. Analysts said the move deals a “major blow” to the LRA and time could be running out for its leader, a fugitive who came to worldwide prominence in the viral Kony 2012 video campaign. Ugandan army spokesman Paddy Ankunda said Ongwen had first surrendered to CAR’s Seleka rebels and was then handed over to US forces, which joined the hunt for Kony in 2011. “His surrender puts the LRA in the most vulnerable position,” Ankunda told Agence France-Presse. “It is only Kony left standing.” Ongwen, in his mid-30s, is being held in the south-eastern CAR town of Obo, close to the border with South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “We are working out procedures,” Ankunda added. He said now only Kony remains at large among the five LRA commanders charged by the international criminal court (ICC) almost a decade ago. But it remains to be seen whether Ongwen will be handed over to the court in The Hague. The US is not a signatory to the ICC while Uganda has threatened to withdraw from it, accusing its prosecutors of targeting only African leaders. The LRA had been blamed for the deaths of more than 100,000 people and kidnapping of at least 60,000 children during a three decade-long campaign across five countries in east and central Africa. It is notorious for chopping off limbs as a form of punishment, as well as raping young girls and abducting them for use as sex slaves. The group is now believed to comprise no more than a few hundred fighters. Abducted by the LRA when he was 10, and forced to fight as a child soldier, Ongwen was quickly singled out for his loyalty and tactical ability, and rose through the ranks, becoming a major at 18 and a brigadier by his late 20s. He allegedly directed bloody campaigns in northern Uganda in the early 2000s, where thousands were killed or abducted, as well as carrying out attacks on civilians in DRC. The US State Department accuses him of “murder, enslavement and cruel treatment of civilians”, and had offered a $5m (£3.3m) reward for information leading to his arrest. Former fellow LRA child soldiers who fought with Ongwen told AFP their ex-commander should be put on trial. Richard Ojwang, 37, a carpenter, said: “None of the commanders should be pardoned. Ongwen should be brought to see the terrible things he and Kony did to us. They abducted us and forced us to fight. The LRA killed my parents and friends.” Julius Komakech, a motorbike taxi driver, added: “It is the tail end of LRA. He was one of the few surviving top commanders. If Kony hears of the news about Ongwen’s capture, he must be worried.” Kony, a self-declared mystic who claimed spirits had ordered him to seize power and rule Uganda according to the biblical 10 Commandments, has long been reported to be based in the Sudanese-controlled Kafia Kingi enclave. The Enough Project, a US-based human rights group, welcomed Ongwen’s defection. Kasper Agger, its LRA expert and Ugandan-based field researcher, said: “The surrender of Ongwen is a major blow to the LRA. Ongwen has been one of Joseph Kony’s top proteges, rising in the ranks since 1990, when he was abducted as a child soldier at the age of 10. As part of the LRA’s core command, his surrender is a very significant step in the efforts to bring a final end to the LRA.” Sasha Lezhnev, associate director of policy for DRC, the Great Lakes Region and the LRA at the Enough Project, said: “Ongwen’s defection is strong evidence that the African mission against the LRA is working, slowly but surely. It will have a major psychological impact on other LRA commanders. But this is not the end – the US and European Union must deepen the mission to counter the LRA’s illicit trafficking networks in ivory, diamonds and gold, or else a revitalised LRA could come back in 2015.” Amnesty International called for Ongwen to face justice at the ICC. Michelle Kagari, its deputy regional director, said: “The people of northern Uganda have waited almost 10 years for the warrants issued by the ICC against leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army to be executed. Dominic Ongwen now needs to be held to account for the numerous charges he faces of murder, mutilation, forced recruitment of child soldiers and use of sex slaves – crimes he allegedly committed when he was a senior commander of the LRA.” |