Thomas Kwoyelo, 52, a former colonel in the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army-LRA has asked High Court in Kampala to forward his case to the International Crimes Division in the Hague if the Ugandan court cannot expedite his trial.
Ugandan authorities took Kwoyelo in custody in 2009 when he sustained injuries in the battle ending his 16 years of insurgency. In 2011, he appeared before the International Crimes Division of the High court where he was charged with 93 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, murder and the recruitment of child soldiers.
However, his trial has dragged on. Kwoyelo says his case has dragged on for a long time yet his colleague, Dominic Ongwen, who was arraigned before the ICC after him, already knows his verdict.
Ongwen, who surrendered to US authorities in 2015 was on May 2021 sentenced to 25 years in prison, a decision he has since appealed. Kwoyelo says that by Ongwen’s sentencing, he got justice, which he is yet to get.
He says that if the court here can not expedite his trial, it should the case to the ICC. Kwoyelo told the High Court International Crimes Division, Judge Micheal Elubu that for the more than 13 years he has spent in prison, he has come to learn of instances when the court issued production warrants but the prison authorities failed to present him and told him the case had been adjourned.
He adds that he needs proper treatment for high blood pressure and paralysis on his right-hand side, which he’s not accessing while in prison.
He says he can only get proper treatment when he leaves prison. He further asked the court that his case be heard in Gulu, not Kampala if the court is to continue with the case.
Submitting before Court, one of Kwoyelo’s lawyers, Caleb Alaka asked the court to give his client a speedy trial, adding that justice should be seen to be done. For now, he added, his client feels that he has been forgotten by the justice system in Uganda.
Both prosecution and the victims’ representative didn’t object to the submission. They said it was also in their interest to have a speedy trial.
In his response, Justice Micheal Elubu, who headed the panel of three Justices comprising Duncan Gaswaga and Stephen Mubiru, said that the High court is a competent Court with the capacity to handle the case and deliver justice to the accused.
He added that since the High court received the case, they have made strides and are now working on having a day to day hearings of the case. About Kwoyelo’s welfare, the court directed that necessary treatment be given to him to ensure his good health.
And as for production warrants not being respected, Justice Elubu advised the accused to talk to his lawyers because when the court issues a production warrant both prisons and lawyers are served.
The justice also told the accused that the case will be heard in Gulu after specific witnesses have appeared before Court.
LRA is known to have been a brutally violent rebel group founded in northern Uganda in 1987 under the leadership of Joseph Kony, the LRA to topple the government of President Yoweri Museveni who had assumed power the previous year.