The Prosecution of a Child Victim and Brutal Warlord: The Competing Narrative of Dominic Ongwen

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Author	Gamaliel Kan

TheProsecutionofaChildVictimand

BrutalWarlord:TheCompetingNarrativeof

DominicOngwen



GamalielKan*



In2007,UNICEFestimatedthatthereweremore

than250,000childrenservingaschildsoldiers

globally.Thephenomenonofthechildsoldierdefies

criminallaw’sbinarycharacterisationof‘innocent’

and‘guilty’,andchallengesprevailingmoral

prescriptionsof‘good’and‘evil’.Thechildsoldier

manifestsasboth‘victim’and‘perpetrator’.This

paperexaminestheeffectsofchildsoldieringon

agency,andquestionswhetherformerchildsoldiers

oughttobeprosecutedforcrimescommittedinthe

continuityoftheirforcedconscription.Thecase

studyfocusesonformerLord’sResistanceArmy’s

(LRA)Commander,DominicOngwen.Thisarticle

analysesthecompetingnarrativesofOngwenas

victimandasperpetratorbeforetheInternational

CriminalCourt(ICC).Thepapergoesonto

investigatehowthePre‐TrialChamber’s

subscriptiontothe‘perpetrator’narrativemay

jeopardiseinternationalnormsaimedatprotecting

childsoldiers,andduallyhowitsacknowledgmentof

agencyintheOngwencasesetsastrongmessage

againstimpunity.



132SLJ5(1)



Introduction



Helovedhuntingbirds…Hewouldmakeahole

inapapayafruitanduseittodrawthebirds…

thenhe’dgivethebirdstotheotherchildren.1



ThisishowMadelineAkotremembershernephew,Dominic

Ongwen.Itisafondmemoryofamansaidtoberesponsible

forthedeathsofmorethan345civiliansin2009duringthe

MakamboMassacreinCongo.2Madeline’smemoryof

Ongwenisofatimeshortlybeforehewasabductedbythe

Lord’sResistanceArmy(LRA)whileonhiswaytoschoolat

only10yearsold.LikemanyLRAabductees,Ongwenwas

taughttokill,maim,andtofightagainsttheMuseveni

Government.3Hewassetapartfromotherabducteesforhis

efficiencyandloyalty,leadingtohisrapidpromotionwithin

*GamalielKaniscurrentlypursuinganMAinHumanRights

andDemocratisation(EMA)attheEuropeanInter‐University

CentreforHumanRightsandDemocratisation(EIUC).Heholds

anLLBfromQueen’sUniversity,Belfast.

1MichelaWrong,‘MakingaMurdererinUganda’(Foreign

Policy,20January2016).

‐a‐murderer‐

dominic‐ongwen‐uganda‐icc/>accessed30December2017.

2‘QuestionsandAnswersontheLRACommanderDominic

OngwenandtheICC’(HumanRightsWatch,5December2016)

/2016/12/05/questions‐and‐answers‐

lra‐commander‐dominic‐ongwen‐and‐icc#Q2>accessed30

December2017.

3ErinBaines,‘ComplicatingVictimsandPerpetratorsin

Uganda:OnDominicOngwen’(2008)JPRFieldNote7,1

‐

content/uploads/2008/07/JRP_FN7_Dominic‐Ongwen.pdf>

accessed30December2017.

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The Prosecution of a Child Victim and Brutal Warlord: The Competing Narrative of Dominic Ongwen

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