Friday, October 14, 2022

Sentences reduced in war crimes case

The Monitor reports here on sentence reductions (and an appellate acquittal) in cases arising from Ugandan peacekeeping operations in Somalia. Seven civilians were killed. Excerpt:

According to court, an analysis and consideration of such factors would remove the case from those rarest of the rare cases which call for a death penalty. 

“The trial court might have been influenced by the reaction or riots that followed the murder of the victims to impose the death sentence,” Justice Turyamubona added.

According to the court, a 20-year jail sentence for Capt Asiimwe and Cpl Bwambale was appropriate and when the eight months and 29 days they have spent detention are deducted, it means the two convicts will serve 19 years and three months in prison.

Court also found that a 16-year jail sentence was appropriate for Cpl Ichumar and Pte Tushemererwe who were simply following orders from their superiors at the time the offence was committed.

But this did not take away the liability of the offence given that all soldiers participated in committing the offence, according to the evidence produced before court.

“We find that the trial court found that the prosecution adduced sufficient evidence to prove all the ingredients of the offence of murder and we also find that the court properly evaluated the evidence in the case in respect of appellant 1,3,4 and 5 participated in the murder,” the court ruled.

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