A commander of a notorious Ugandan extremist group was turned over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Saturday and is expected to be flown to the Netherlands to face international charges of war crimes, following his surrender in a remote corner of the Central African Republic, authorities said.
Detained Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen is in the custody of the ICC, the organization tweeted on Saturday. He was expected to be flown to The Hague later that day, Central African Republic chief prosecutor Ghislain Grezengue said.
Ongwen was under guard by UN forces who are in the nation to stabilize it after months of sectarian violence has left thousands dead.
Photo: AFP
The court’s warrant for Ongwen’s arrest lists seven counts including crimes against humanity, enslavement and inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury.
Ongwen surrendered earlier this month to US soldiers in a remote eastern part of the Central African Republic, near the border with Uganda.
The extremist group is blamed for slaughtering countless civilians since the 1980s and forcing many others into slave labor.
Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony remains at large.
Ongwen was flown to the capital, Bangui, on Friday aboard a US aircraft under heavy guard from both US and Central African security personnel, Uganda People’s Defense Force spokesman Lieutentant Colonel Paddy Ankunda said.
“He belongs to ICC. Our focus now is hunting down the last man standing: Joseph Kony,” Ankunda said.
Kony is the only Lord’s Resistance Army leader still at large out of five commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005. Three have since died, Ugandan officials said.
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