Lord’s Resistance Army:
A court in Uganda has sentenced Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Thomas Kwoyelo to 40 years in prison after a landmark war crimes trial over his role in the group’s two-decade reign of violence.
- Lord’s Resistance Army is a Ugandan rebel group currently operating in the border region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), and South Sudan.
- It was established by Joseph Kony in 1988 with the claim of restoring the honor of his ethnic Acholi people and to install a government based on his personal version of the Ten Commandments.
- It has been one of central Africa’s cruelest and most enduring armed groups over the past 30 years.
- The LRA has abducted over 67,000 youth, including 30,000 children, for use as child soldiers, sex slaves, and porters, and has brutalized communities since its inception in 1987.
- It was designated as a terrorist group by the United States and prompted the first ever set of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony, and other top commanders.
- The group draws income from elephant ivory, gold, and diamonds and has received support from the Government of Sudan since 1994.
