Today, 7 April 2025, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "Court") delivered its judgment rejecting Mr Dominic Ongwen's appeal and confirming the Trial Chamber's decision on reparations.
Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, presiding in this appeal, read a summary of the Judgment in an open court session. Mr Ongwen and some of the Legal representatives of the Victims were authorised to attend the hearing remotely.
The Appeals Chamber considered the grounds of appeal raised by the Defence. Among other findings, the Appeals Chamber concluded that Trial Chamber's decision not to reveal the victims' names to the Defence was justified due to security concerns and did not unduly affect the Defence right to conduct a meaningful review of the victims' dossiers. The Appeals Chamber also found that there was no error in rejecting the Defence's argument regarding the allegedly overlapping claims of victims before Ugandan tribunals as well as before the ICC. The Appeals Chamber noted that the compensation discussed before national tribunals was different from the reparations awarded by the Court. It concluded that the Defence has failed to explain how the Acholi traditional mechanisms should be incorporated into the reparation system under the Court's legal texts and how such incorporation would affect the scope of Mr Ongwen's liability for reparations. The Appeals Chamber rejected as well several arguments on appeal noting that they were already rejected in the procedure of appeal against the decisions on Mr Ongwen's guilt and sentence.
The Appeals Chamber deciding on this appeal is composed of Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, Presiding Judge, Judge Tomoko Akane, Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, Judge Gocha Lordkipanidze and Judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin.
Non-Authoritative Summary of the Appeals Judgment
Audio-visual materials:
- YouTube (for viewing): Floor; English; French; Acholi
- Video (MPEG-4) for download: Floor; English; French; Acholi
- Audio (MPEG-3) for download: Floor; English; French; Acholi
Background: On 4 February 2021, Trial Chamber IX found Dominic Ongwen guilty for a total of 61 crimes comprising crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed in Northern Uganda between 1 July 2002 and 31 December 2005. On 6 May 2021, Trial Chamber IX sentenced Dominic Ongwen to 25 years of imprisonment. On 15 December 2022, the Appeals Chamber confirmed the decisions of Trial Chamber IX on Dominic Ongwen's guilt and sentence. The conviction and the sentence are now final. On 18 December 2023, Mr Ongwen was transferred to Norway to serve his sentence of imprisonment.
On 28 February 2024, the ICC Trial Chamber IX had set the financial liability of Mr Ongwen to € 52,429,000 EUR and ordered collective community-based reparations focused on rehabilitation and symbolic/satisfaction measures, consisting of collective rehabilitation programmes, as well as a symbolic award of €750 EUR for all eligible victims, and other community symbolic measures.
For further information on this case, check here
