The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an unprecedented ruling in February 2021 when they convicted a Ugandan child soldier-turned commander of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Dominic Ongwen was convicted on 4 February 2021 of 70 counts of crimes including: murder, rape, sexual slavery, and torture committed during his time as a commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Can former child soldiers be held responsible for their acts despite being abducted and subjugated to violence and indoctrination from such a young age?

THE LORD’S RESISTANCE ARMY

The LRA emerged in northern Uganda in the aftermath of a government campaign of violence against the minority Acholi people—this sparked fear of genocide. Founded by Joseph Kony in 1987, the LRA initially appeared to be fighting on behalf of the Acholi people to overthrow the government for their repressive practices. However, the LRA’s political project was much broader, it was aimed at the production of a new nation of “pure” Acholi people and the purging of all dissidents who did not ascribe to their spiritual ideology. This resulted in a violent retribution against the Acholi people who refused to join the group on the basis of a perceived collaboration with the government. Since 2010, the number of LRA attacks has decreased significantly and the group no longer operates in Uganda. However, it continues to survive in the border area between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

CHILD SOLDIERS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW 

One of the most dominant tactics employed by the LRA against the Acholi people was child abductions. It is estimated that nearly 30,000 children have been abducted over the last 30 years by the LRA. The use of child soldiers is prohibited under international law as stipulated under article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that “armed groups…should not, under any circumstances, recruit or use in hostilities persons under the age of 18 years”. The recruitment of child soldiers is prohibited in both international and non-international armed conflict under the Additional Protocol I and II of the Geneva Conventions, which also prohibit accepting voluntary enlistment. This means that, under international law, armed forces are obligated to refuse children below the age of 15 who voluntarily sign up to fight.

DOMINIC ONGWEN AND THE CONVICTION OF CHILD SOLDIERS

LRA fighters abducted Ongwen when he was 10 years old—the fighters forced him to become a child soldier through violence and manipulation.

Ongwen was believed to be around 40 years old when he was taken into custody and was alleged to be number four in command of the LRA. Ongwen’s trial was historic because it was the first case involving crimes committed by the LRA at the ICC, who issued warrants for five LRA commanders in 2005. Three of the commanders were killed, Ongwen was taken into custody in the Central African Republic in 2015, and Joseph Kony remains at large.

Ongwen’s case is contentious because it raises queries about the ethics of prosecuting a former child soldier. In December 2016, Ongwen told the court that he was “one of the people against whom the LRA committed atrocities,” and therefore he should not be held accountable for their crimes. Which begs the question, can former child soldiers be held responsible for their acts despite being abducted and subjugated to violence and indoctrination from such a young age?

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ICC’S RULING 

The ICC ruled yes. Jo Becker, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch children’s rights division and expert on child soldiers, supported the decision: “I don’t think anyone should excuse Ongwen for his acts as an adult. But there’s no doubt that the violence he went through as a child in the LRA was a big part of the person he became”.

The conviction is a landmark moment in achieving justice for victims of the LRA, but the question of child soldiers will continue to be an issue for post-conflict reconstruction in Uganda. Abducted children often face challenges reintegrating into their communities due to a lack of trust following the violence that they have perpetrated. This can perpetuate conflict as the children fall back on the violence in which they have been entrenched following rejection from their families. The conviction of Dominic Ongwen demonstrates the value of the legal route for achieving justice for atrocities committed but, when the victims are also the perpetrators, the courts alone cannot create sustainable peace. 

Iona works for a social justice organisation aimed at improving social mobility by teaching key employability skills in schools across London. Iona is an MSc graduate in Human Rights at the London School of Economics, where she focused her studies on postcolonial critiques of human rights, and the contention between citizenship law and human rights law.

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