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LRA commander to stand war crimes trial in The Hague

A senior leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army has arrived in the International Criminal Court in The Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Dominic Ongwen, said to be the feared deputy of the rebel group's leader, Joseph Kony, was taken into US custody in the Central African Republic earlier this month, after Uganda agreed he should be tried by the ICC, despite being a critic of the court, the BBC reports.

The ICC in a statement thanked the Central African Republic, Uganda, Belgium and the Netherlands, the African Union and the US - who are not a signatory to the Rome Statute - for facilitating the detention and transfer of Mr Ongwen.

"I strongly welcome the transfer of Dominic Ongwen to the custody of the Court, which constitutes an important success for the Rome Statute system nearly ten years after the issuance of the warrant of arrest against him," said the President of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute, Minister Sidiki Kaba.

"The affected communities will have the opportunity to see international justice address the horrific violence that took place in Uganda. I join the Court in its appreciation to all those States and organizations whose cooperation made possible the successful implementation of the Court's decisions," he added.

In 2005 ICC judges issued an arrest warrant against Mr Ongwen for three counts of crimes against humanity - murder, enslavement, inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering; and four counts of war crimes - murder, cruel treatment of civilians, intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population and pillaging; all allegedly committed in 2004 while he was commander of the Sinia Brigade of the LRA.

Senior LRA commander to be handed over to ICC (13 January 2015)

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