A top commanders in Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army Dominic Ongwen has told judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday that he was not responsible for any atrocities and felt powerless to stop them.
A former Ugandan child soldier, Dominic Ongwen cast himself as a victim, saying he could not ask forgiveness for his alleged crimes because he was not responsible for them.
Speaking at a special hearing to discuss his punishment, he said he did not have the capacity to stop the things that were happening, adding that his time in the LRA haunts him to this day and makes it hard to sleep.
He also stated that could not ask for forgiveness from victims because there were other people in northern Uganda who were corrupt and who were encouraging the war at the time.
The LRA terrorised Ugandans for nearly 20 years being led by fugitive warlord Joseph Kony battling the government of President Yoweri Museveni from bases in northern Uganda.
It has now largely been wiped out.
Ongwen, who was arrested in 2015, was convicted in February of dozens of crimes including rape, sexual enslavement, child abductions, torture and murder.
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