An Ugandan court has on Tuesday, 13th of August, 2024 found Thomas Kwoyelo, a commander in the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), guilty of dozens of war crimes and crimes against humanity, making it the first time a senior member of the group has been tried by Uganda’s judiciary.

Thomas Kwoyelo was found guilty on 44 counts including murder, kidnap and pillaging.

He denied all 78 charges that were brought against him.

Founded in the late 1980s with the aim of overthrowing the government, the LRA terrorised Ugandans under the leadership of Joseph Kony for nearly 20 years as it battled the military from bases in northern Uganda.

The group was notorious for chopping off people’s limbs and abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced from their homes by the conflict.

The LRA first operated in northern Uganda then shifted to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where Kwoyelo was arrested in 2009, and later the Central African Republic (CAR).

Rights group Human Rights Watch has previously criticised the delays in Kwoyelo’s case, and says in general there has been limited accountability for crimes committed during the 25-year conflict, including abuses by Ugandan state forces.