Dominic Ongwen, the former rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Commander, has been transferred to Norway to serve his 25-year jail term, according to a statement from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The move follows Ongwen’s conviction on February 4, 2021, for 61 crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Northern Uganda between July 1, 2002, and December 31, 2005.
The Trial Chamber IX sentenced Ongwen to 25 years of imprisonment on May 6, 2021, and the conviction and sentence were confirmed on December 15, 2022, by the appeals chamber. The ICC Presidency designated Norway as the State of enforcement for Ongwen’s sentence on November 9, 2023, under article 103 of the Rome Statute.
The transfer to Norway occurred with the close cooperation of the Norwegian authorities and the support of the Dutch authorities, according to the ICC statement. The enforcement of the sentence will be subject to the supervision of the Court and consistent with widely accepted international standards governing the treatment of prisoners.
Ongwen is the first of four other top LRA commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005 to be sentenced. The others, including LRA Leader Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Raska Lukwiya, and Okot Odhiambo, have either been pronounced dead or remain at large. Ongwen surrendered in 2015 from the Central African Republic and has now become the fifth person transferred by the ICC to a State willing to accept sentenced individuals.
