Ogwen forced new abductees to kill deserters, witness tells court

May 31, 2017

The witness who is also among the abductees, who were ordered to carry out the killings, said that the order would come from a superior officer and in his case, it was Dominic Ogwen.

A former fighter with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has told the International Criminal Court (ICC) that young new abductees were often ordered to kill people who attempted to escape the group as a form of instilling fear in the younger recruits.

"They would select the newly abducted people who were between the ages of 13 and 15 to kill those who try to escape as a way of showing them that if they also tried to escape, their friends would kill them. That was a way of instilling fear," Witness P-314 told the court.

The witness who is also among the abductees, who were ordered to carry out the killings, said that the order would come from a superior officer and in his case, it was Dominic Ogwen.

He made the revelations while responding to questions from Adesola Adeboyejo, a trial lawyer in the case.

The witness, who is also a registered victim in the trial, told the court that he was abducted in September 2002 by a unit from the LRA's Sinia brigade in which Ongwen was a commander and was assigned as an escort to one of the radio operators in the brigade known as Otto Signaller which he worked with until his escape in 2004.

He stated that his main tasks were to carry the solar panels that powered the radio that Otto operated, carry the batteries for the radio and Otto's chair.

P-314 said that he received training together with some other boys who were aged between 14 and 15 years, for month after his abduction. He was allegedly taught how to address the seniors as ‘lapwony', an Acholi word for teacher, how to march, clean a gun, assemble it and fire it.

He was given an AK47 six months after his abduction.

"We were given the guns, and told it is our mother and father. Our life depended on the gun. So, if we lose it that is the end of us," he said.

His testimony comes after a break of 20 days from the trial of the former LRA commander Dominic Ongwen. It resumed on Monday with him giving his evidence in chief.

Ongwen faces several charges for his alleged role in the April 2003 attack on Odek in northern Uganda. He also faces two charges for conscripting child soldiers.

Other charges against him include his alleged role in attacks on three Pajule, Abok and Lukodi IDP camps in northern Uganda. The attacks took place between 2003 and 2004. In total Ongwen is charged with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Today there are no IDP camps in northern Uganda where the LRA used to be active because the group ceased its attacks in 2006.

P-314 said that the older abductees were made to carry the loot from the villages or camps and were killed in case they attempted to escape.

He is testifying under in-court protective measures that include his face being distorted from any public broadcasts of the hearing and where his testimony may identify him, the hearing foes into private session.

The witness revealed to court that he was also among a group of about 30 LRA fighters led by a one Opiyo, who were deployed to attack the military barracks in Odek as a separate group went to the IDP camp to loot food.

He said they took the soldiers by surprise, overpowered them after 10 minutes of the gunfight and he was able to loot a pouch with gun magazine from the barracks.

However, the group that went to loot was unsuccessful and had to retreat with only salt, flour, beans, cooking oil, soap and about 50 abductees, because there were many soldiers in the camp.

He said for the attack on Odek he was issued with eight bullets but had not done target practice.

"If you shot your gun they [government soldiers] would know your position," the witness told the court to explain why the LRA did not have target practice sessions for its fighters.

The witness also revealed that during the course of his stay in the LRA, he sustained an injury on the leg from a bomb explosion.

 

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