Thomas Kwoyelo, who faces charges for murder, rape and enslavement, was a colonel in the rebel group led by Joseph Kony
fear Thomas Kwoyelo in the villages around Pabbo, a town in northern Uganda where the Kilak hills smudge the horizon. Prosecutors in Uganda’s first war-crimes case allege that when he was a colonel in the Lord’s Resistance Army , a rebel group that terrorised northern Uganda from 1987 until 2006, he and his men abducted children, stole animals and massacred civilians. He pleads not guilty on all 93 counts, which include charges for murder, rape and enslavement.
The prosecution made its opening statement on March 12th in the high court in Gulu, a short drive away. The trial is seen as a test case for the court’s International Crimes Division, one of the first domestic war-crimes courts in Africa. Established in 2008, after failed peace talks with the, it has convicted human traffickers and terrorists. But Mr Kwoyelo, captured a decade ago in Congo, is the firstGet our daily newsletterMost of the group’s leaders have escaped justice.
But the defence argues that Mr Kwoyelo is a victim, claiming he was abducted as a child while walking to school and forced to follow orders for fear of being shot. That story elicits some sympathy in northern Uganda. This was a disturbingly intimate war, where almost everybody knows someone who was abducted and returned. A localis standing surety for Mr Kwoyelo to seek bail. He argues that Mr Kwoyelo should instead go through a “traditional” ceremony, which puts reconciliation above punishment.
Distrust of the court is rooted in memories of the war. In it the government ordered almost the entire local population into squalid camps where thousands died of disease. “Between the government and the rebels, who is to blame?” sings Bosmic Otim, a pop star. Many people accuse the army of committing atrocities and wonder why its soldiers are not on trial, too.
The judges think Mr Kwoyelo’s trial will take three years, which is optimistic. The court is so short of money that one of the victims’ counsels could not afford to travel to a recent session. Nor is it clear who will fund the reparations that the victims expect. The trial is meant to set Uganda on a road towards justice. The risk is that it becomes a dead end.
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