Indicted Ugandan Rebel Commander Confirmed Dead

It is alleged that Lukwiya operated in the inner circle of the militia in early 2004, when it was perpetrating its most deadly attacks on civilians.



The ICC published Lukwiya's arrest warrant for crimes against humanity and war crimes in July 2005, but he had remained at large ever since, along with four co-accused, Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen.



Together, the five alleged leaders of the LRA are accused of crimes including widespread and systematic murder, sexual enslavement, rape, and abducting and conscripting children under the age of 15 for combat.



In a statement issued on August 14, the ICC’s chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the Ugandan government was in the process of confirming the identity of the body believed to be that of Raska Lukwiya, and emphasised that “the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC will, if requested, lend support in this effort”.



The bloody conflict in northern Uganda has raged for two decades, since President Yoweri Museveni took power in the mid-Eighties. However, only crimes that took place after 2002 can be prosecuted by the ICC, which is when the court came into existence.