Herbert Itongwa missing in Denmark
Jul 05, 2007
RENEGADE UPDF officer and former rebel leader Herbert Itongwa has gone missing in Denmark, where he had sought asylum. Officials said Itongwa disappeared after investigations into his asylum status revealed his criminal record.
By Felix Osike and Simon
Ankjaergaard in Copenhagen
RENEGADE UPDF officer and former rebel leader Herbert Itongwa has gone missing in Denmark, where he had sought asylum. Officials said Itongwa disappeared after investigations into his asylum status revealed his criminal record.
“Itongwa is no longer here. He has disappeared. They had given him asylum but they followed up the story he gave to the authorities and it was found not to be true,†Uganda’s ambassador to the Nordic Countries, Joseph Tomusange, told the New Vision on Tuesday.
According to Tomusange, Itongwa was last seen when he gave a television interview at the time of his trial in 2004. It is not known when he left Denmark. He is believed to be in Germany, working as an artist.
The 43-year-old former rebel leader, whose real name is Herbert Kikomeko Sseddyabane, was in May 2004 charged in a Danish court with war crimes.
His rebel group - the Uganda National Democratic Alliance – was accused of being behind the killings of the South Western regional police commander, Erisa Karakire, and his driver Samwiri Kakonge, as well as the kidnapping of the then health minister, James Makumbi. The minister was later released unharmed.
Itongwa was acquitted of the double murder. The Court of Aalborg did not find substantial evidence that the axe carried by Itongwa was the murder weapon that killed the police chief and his driver. He was only convicted for robbery.
Itongwa was later diagnosed with schizophrenic and chronic paranoid by the Medico-legal council, the Danish council that determines the mental status of accused persons. He was sentenced to indefinite treatment at a psychiatric hospital.
The court rejected the Prosecution’s demand that Itongwa be expelled from Denmark when he leaves the psychiatric hospital. Denmark does not expel persons to countries which retain the death penalty.
Itongwa arrived in Denmark in 1997 after his rebel group, which was mainly operating in central Uganda, was defeated. He was given political asylum in 1999. In 2003, he was arrested in Aalborg, 140 miles northwest of Copenhagen, where he had been living.
Itongwa’s prosecution was in line with the Geneva Conventions, which calls for countries to prosecute war criminals.
The Danish Special International Crimes Office, responsible for prosecuting serious crimes committed abroad by people residing in Denmark, collected several testimonies from Uganda.
However, these were later overruled, allegedly because the witnesses were under pressure to speak out against the rebel leader.
An official from the Prosecutions office told the New Vision that they did not appeal against the court verdict. He also said they did not know what had happened to Itongwa.
“We don’t have any knowledge of his whereabouts. We do not keep track of the people after the trial is over,†said the official.
Ankjaergaard in Copenhagen
RENEGADE UPDF officer and former rebel leader Herbert Itongwa has gone missing in Denmark, where he had sought asylum. Officials said Itongwa disappeared after investigations into his asylum status revealed his criminal record.
“Itongwa is no longer here. He has disappeared. They had given him asylum but they followed up the story he gave to the authorities and it was found not to be true,†Uganda’s ambassador to the Nordic Countries, Joseph Tomusange, told the New Vision on Tuesday.
According to Tomusange, Itongwa was last seen when he gave a television interview at the time of his trial in 2004. It is not known when he left Denmark. He is believed to be in Germany, working as an artist.
The 43-year-old former rebel leader, whose real name is Herbert Kikomeko Sseddyabane, was in May 2004 charged in a Danish court with war crimes.
His rebel group - the Uganda National Democratic Alliance – was accused of being behind the killings of the South Western regional police commander, Erisa Karakire, and his driver Samwiri Kakonge, as well as the kidnapping of the then health minister, James Makumbi. The minister was later released unharmed.
Itongwa was acquitted of the double murder. The Court of Aalborg did not find substantial evidence that the axe carried by Itongwa was the murder weapon that killed the police chief and his driver. He was only convicted for robbery.
Itongwa was later diagnosed with schizophrenic and chronic paranoid by the Medico-legal council, the Danish council that determines the mental status of accused persons. He was sentenced to indefinite treatment at a psychiatric hospital.
The court rejected the Prosecution’s demand that Itongwa be expelled from Denmark when he leaves the psychiatric hospital. Denmark does not expel persons to countries which retain the death penalty.
Itongwa arrived in Denmark in 1997 after his rebel group, which was mainly operating in central Uganda, was defeated. He was given political asylum in 1999. In 2003, he was arrested in Aalborg, 140 miles northwest of Copenhagen, where he had been living.
Itongwa’s prosecution was in line with the Geneva Conventions, which calls for countries to prosecute war criminals.
The Danish Special International Crimes Office, responsible for prosecuting serious crimes committed abroad by people residing in Denmark, collected several testimonies from Uganda.
However, these were later overruled, allegedly because the witnesses were under pressure to speak out against the rebel leader.
An official from the Prosecutions office told the New Vision that they did not appeal against the court verdict. He also said they did not know what had happened to Itongwa.
“We don’t have any knowledge of his whereabouts. We do not keep track of the people after the trial is over,†said the official.