LRA Rebel Commander Appears Before International Criminal Court

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A leader of a rebel group appeared at the International Criminal Court at the Hague yesterday. Dominic Ongwen was first a child soldier and then a military commander for Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. He faces seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for a 2004 attack on a camp for displaced persons. The BBC's Kassima Kayira was at yesterday's hearing.

KASSIMA KAYIRA: The Lord's Resistance Army atrocities have been committed over four countries. It is northern Uganda, it is South Sudan, it's the DRC and Central African Republic where he was captured. But these particular charges against him will concentrate on what happened in northern Uganda after 2004.

INSKEEP: Which is why some victims' advocates say the charges do not go far enough. The Lord's Resistance Army is accused of kidnapping children to use as soldiers and as sex slaves. Ongwen was turned over to U.S. custody this month. The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, remains at large. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.