## Facts

- In the late 1980s, Dominic Ongwen was abducted in Uganda at about age 10 and taken into the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), where he was indoctrinated and trained.
- Ongwen later rose through the LRA’s ranks and, during the charged period, served as a senior commander (including command roles within the Oka Battalion and the Sinia Brigade) under LRA leader Joseph Kony.
- Between 2002 and 2005, an armed conflict of a non-international character existed in northern Uganda involving the LRA and Ugandan forces; the LRA carried out repeated attacks on civilians, including residents of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
- The ICC charged Ongwen with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute for conduct from July 1, 2002, through December 31, 2005, when he was an adult.
- The prosecution case centered on LRA attacks on IDP camps at Pajule (Oct. 10, 2003), Odek (Apr. 29, 2004), Lukodi (May 19, 2004), and Abok (June 8, 2004), and on related crimes committed during and after those attacks.
- The charges also included sexual and gender-based crimes committed against abducted women and girls held in coercive “marriages” and subjected to rape, sexual slavery, and forced pregnancy, as well as crimes involving the conscription, enlistment, and use of children under 15 in hostilities.
- Ongwen argued that his responsibility should be excluded, including through duress (claiming he faced threats of death or serious harm from Kony) and, separately, that mental disease or defect affected criminal responsibility.
- Trial testimony described Kony as violent and willing to harm LRA members, but also indicated that Ongwen had, at times, resisted or pushed back against Kony’s directions without being killed or seriously injured.

## Issues

1. Whether Ongwen’s criminal responsibility for crimes committed as an adult commander was excluded by duress under Rome Statute Article 31(1)(d), based on alleged threats from Joseph Kony and the LRA command structure.
2. Whether Ongwen’s criminal responsibility was excluded by mental disease or defect under Rome Statute Article 31(1)(a).
3. Whether Ongwen’s childhood abduction and prior victimization could negate criminal responsibility for later crimes committed as an adult, or instead was relevant only to mitigation.
4. Whether “forced marriage” could be treated as an “other inhumane act” under Article 7(1)(k) and be distinguished from sexual slavery based on the harms of an imposed conjugal association.
5. Whether the elements of “forced pregnancy” as a crime against humanity and a war crime were satisfied on the evidence.
6. Whether the court could enter cumulative convictions for distinct crimes arising from overlapping conduct where each crime protects a different legal interest.

## Decision

- The ICC Trial Chamber IX held that the contextual elements for war crimes and crimes against humanity were met, including the existence of a non-international armed conflict and a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in northern Uganda.
- The Trial Chamber found Ongwen guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on 61 of the 70 charged counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and not guilty on the remaining counts.
- The convictions included crimes connected to the four charged attacks (including killings, attempted killings, attacks against civilians, destruction and pillaging) and other crimes committed in the course of the LRA’s operations.
- The Trial Chamber convicted Ongwen of multiple sexual and gender-based crimes, including rape and sexual slavery, and also entered convictions for forced marriage (as an “other inhumane act”) and forced pregnancy.
- The Trial Chamber rejected Ongwen’s duress defense, finding that the legal requirements for duress were not met in light of the nature of the alleged threats and evidence of Ongwen’s authority and ability to act with real choices as a commander.
- The Trial Chamber also rejected exclusion of responsibility based on mental disease or defect, concluding the evidence did not establish the level of impairment required by Article 31(1)(a).
- In a later sentencing decision, the Trial Chamber imposed a single sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment, treating Ongwen’s childhood abduction and its effects as mitigating circumstances but not as a basis to excuse the crimes.
- On appeal, the Appeals Chamber confirmed the Trial Chamber’s findings on guilt and upheld the 25-year sentence.

## Legal Principles

- Duress under Rome Statute Article 31(1)(d) requires, among other elements, an imminent threat of death or continuing or imminent serious bodily harm, necessity and reasonableness of the conduct to avoid the threat, and the absence of intent to cause a greater harm than the harm sought to be avoided; evidence that an accused had meaningful room to refuse, resist, or choose among options may defeat the defense.
- Mental disease or defect under Article 31(1)(a) excludes responsibility only if it destroys the accused’s capacity to appreciate the unlawfulness or nature of the conduct, or the capacity to control the conduct; the defense fails where the impairment does not reach that threshold.
- Prior victimization, including abduction and coercion as a child, does not by itself exclude criminal responsibility for crimes committed later as an adult; it may be relevant to individualized sentencing mitigation.
- Forced marriage may be charged and proven as an “other inhumane act” when the evidence shows an imposed conjugal association and related harms that are not fully captured by sexual slavery alone.
- Forced pregnancy requires proof of unlawful confinement of a woman made pregnant by force or coercion, together with the specific intent set out in the Rome Statute; the protected interests include reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity.
- Cumulative convictions may be entered for overlapping conduct when the crimes have distinct elements and address distinct harms; any overlap can be addressed at sentencing.

## Conclusion

In *Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen*, the ICC held that Ongwen, despite having been abducted as a child, bore criminal responsibility as an adult LRA commander for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in northern Uganda from 2002 to 2005, convicted him on 61 counts (including forced marriage and forced pregnancy), rejected duress and mental-disease defenses, and ultimately imposed a 25-year sentence that was later affirmed on appeal.


Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen, Case No. ICC-02/04-01/15 (2021)