Ongwen, now in his early
40s, was a boy when he was abducted by the notoriously ruthless rebel cult.
Mr Ongwen is accused of
leading attacks on four camps for internally displaced people in northern
Uganda, murdering and torturing civilians, and forcing women into marriage and
children to take part in the fighting.
The first former child
soldier to appear at the International Criminal Court has pleaded not guilty
and told judges he was a victim too.
Lords Resistance Army (LRA)
commander Dominic Ongwen said the LRA was responsible and he had also suffered
from the atrocities.
He faces 70 counts of war
crimes and crimes against humanity in Uganda.
Ongwen, told the court the
charges should be brought against the LRA and its leader Joseph Kony, not him.
"It is the LRA who
abducted people in northern Uganda, killed people in northern Uganda and
committed atrocities in northern Uganda. I'm one of the people against whom the
LRA committed atrocities. It is not me who is the LRA," he said.
When asked if he wanted to
plead guilty, he said the trial against him "amounts to my going back into
the bush for a second time" and asked the judges if they disputed that his
life had been ruined.
He then pleaded not guilty
to all 70 charges.
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