Ex-commander of a Ugandan rebel group has been sentenced to 40 years in prison
A court in Uganda has sentenced a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels to 40 years in prison for brutal crimes committed by the group during its insurgency that started in the 1980s
A former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels was sentenced by a court in Uganda on Friday to 40 years in prison for brutal crimes committed by the group during its insurgency that started in the 1980s.
Thomas Kwoyelo — a former child soldier who later became a rebel commander — will serve only 25 years in jail as he has been in government custody for 15 years, the court ruled.
Kwoyelo's jail sentence applies to the most serious crimes he faced, including multiple counts of murder, rape, pillaging, and enslavement. The sentence was delivered by a panel of the High Court that sat in Gulu, the northern city where the LRA was once active. Kwoyelo can appeal.
Grace Apio, a Ugandan victim of the LRA insurgency, told The Associated Press that she felt the sentence was lenient.
