Defendant Dominic Ongwen before the International Criminal Court in The Hague
Photo: Michael Kooren / REUTERS
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has sentenced an ex-commander of the Ugandan militia, Dominic Ongwen, to a long prison term.
The judges on Thursday imposed 25 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity
The 45-year-old Ongwen, himself a former child soldier, was found guilty on 61 counts in February, including murder, rape, sexual slavery and the recruitment of child soldiers in the years after the turn of the millennium.
Ongwen's crimes relate to his work in the Christian fundamentalist Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
The "Lord's Resistance Army" was founded three decades ago by the self-proclaimed Prophet Joseph Kony in Uganda.
She is responsible for the killing of more than 100,000 people and the kidnapping of around 60,000 children in Africa.
The wave of violence emanating from the LRA extended to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.
LRA chief Kony is still considered a fugitive to this day.
mrc / AFP / Reuters