Ugandan Child Soldier-Turned-Rebel Commander Is Convicted Of War Crimes

This article shows the most miserable case that former Ugandan child soldier who turned rebel commander is convicted of war crimes. According to this article, the International Criminal Court convicted LRA commander, Dominic Ongwen of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court said Owgwen’s crime falls into several categories such as not only murder and torture but also rape and sexual slavery. He is in his 40s and became LRA commander because he was kidnapped when he was around 10 years old. He was a child soldier and turned LRA commander a few decades later. His prison sentence was thirty years in the prison, but I was not sure he deserved it when I read this article because he is also a victim of LRA. He was kidnapped in childhood, and he would not have gotten any chance to be back to a normal child. I don’t know why but I can understand the ICC cannot exempt his sins in the same as they exempt sins of child soldiers right after the war. When I read this article, I thought about what the world should be and how to protect the future of child soldiers. Owgwen’s case should never happen again.

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/04/963960196/lords-resistance-army-commander-dominic-ongwen-is-convicted-of-war-crimes

Nanami Kanda