A court in Uganda has sentenced Thomas Kwoyelo, a commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), to 40 years in prison following a landmark war crimes trial.
The sentence, announced on Friday by lead judge Michael Elubu, took place at a court in Gulu, a city in northern Uganda, in response to Kwoyelo’s role in the LRA’s two-decade campaign of violence.
Justice Duncan Gasagwa, one of four judges on the case, said “the convict played a prominent role in the planning, strategy and actual execution of the offences of extreme gravity”.
He added that “the victims have been left with lasting physical and mental pain and suffering”.
Kwoyelo was found guilty in August of 44 offences, including murder and rape, and not guilty of three counts of murder.
Thirty-one alternate offences were dismissed.