The International Criminal Court (ICC) has awarded victims of Ugandan child soldier-turned-commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Dominic Ongwen $56 million (KSh8,147 billion) in compensation.
Trial Chamber IX of the Hague-based court composed by Judges Bertram Schmitt, Peter Kovács, Judge Chang-ho Chung, delivered the order in a public hearing on Wednesday, February 28.
The three-judge bench estimated the number of potentially eligible direct and indirect victims of Ongwen — who was himself abducted by Joseph Kony’s notorious LRA at the age of 9 before rising through the ranks — to be approximately 49,772 victims.
Ongwen was in 2021 sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was convicted on 60 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, murder and child abduction.
“The direct victims of the attacks, direct victims of sexual and gender-based crimes, and children born of those crimes, and former child soldiers suffered serious and long-lasting physical, moral and material harm,” said ICC judge Bertram.
However, the judges said Ongwen — currently serving his term in Norway — did not have the resources to pay the compensation himself.
Accordingly, the chamber directed the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) to help cover the compensation cost.
“The Chamber also acknowledges that it would be for the TFV’s Board of Directors to determine whether and when to use its ‘other resources’ to complement the reparations awarded in the present case.”
The reparations, ICC says, will focus on rehabilitation and symbolic/satisfaction measures, consisting of collective rehabilitation programmes, as well as a symbolic individual award of €750 for all eligible victims.
The reparations will be in the form of a symbolic individual payment of 750 euros per victim and additional collective reparations like rehabilitation programs and memorial sites.
