Police under its War Crimes Investigation for International Criminal Division (ICD) has opened investigations into the alleged atrocities committed by Mr Thomas Kwoyelo, the former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel’s atrocities against the population in northern Uganda.
So far, the police have interviewed witnesses and also visited places such as Lukodi in Gulu and Atiak in Amuru where LRA are alleged to have committed massacres
The department was established in 2008 as part of government plan to prosecute those responsible for heinous crimes in northern Uganda and the region which suffered from the insurgence led by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
The police War Crime Investigation is helping the Ugandan High Court’s International Crime Division to investigate crimes that contravene the Geneva Convention Act that occurred across the country.
The trial of Kwoyelo which is the first such case before the Ugandan High Court’s International Crime Division (ICD) started in 2011 after the court was established to try crimes of international nature in 2008.
Detective Commissioner of Police, Mr Venansio Tumuhimbise, the Head of the War Crime Investigation says they have opened a desk and deployed police detectives at all the areas that have been affected by the war including northern Uganda where LRA fighters are alleged to have committed crimes against the locals.
Tumuhimbise says, “Anyone who has evidence in Kwoyelo’s case can go and register it with the officers responsible.”
He said, “We are up to the task after receiving special training on how to investigate cases of international nature besides normal training in the police force.”
He adds that he has a 19 year experience in police work on top of training at the Institute for Criminal Investigation in the Netherlands.
Recently, the Ugandan High Court’s International Crime Division (ICD) announced that it is preparing its witnesses after it was cleared by the Supreme Court to try Thomas Kwoyelo, the former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander.
Justice Moses Mukiibi, the head of ICD revealed while addressing the press at Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC) media facility in Gulu town that they are ready to proceed with the case after an evaluation that Kwoyelo’s was charged with breaches of Geneva Convention.
Though the High Court Judge did not specified the date but he said anytime soon.
Kwoyelo was charged with war crimes, including murder and kidnapping in various northern Uganda locations. Kwoyelo denies all the charges.
In August 2010, he was charged with wilful killings, hostage taking and extensive destruction of property in Amuru and Gulu districts.
