THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A commander in warlord Joseph Kony's feared militia made his first appearance before an International Criminal Court judge Monday, calling himself a former soldier who was abducted and "taken to the bush" when he was just 14.
Dominic Ongwen appeared in court for a brief hearing to confirm his identity and that he understood the charges against him. He was not required to enter a plea.
Ongwen arrived in The Hague last week after being taken into custody in Central African Republic earlier this month. He faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, pillage and enslavement for his alleged role in a reign of terror by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army that has spanned more than 25 years in central Africa's Great Lakes region.
When Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova asked Ongwen about his identity, he replied through an interpreter: "I would like to thank God for creating heaven and earth together with everybody on this earth."
Wearing a dark suit, white shirt and checked tie, Ongwen looked nervous as he told Trendafilova his date of birth was 1975 and then added, "I was abducted in 1988 and taken to the bush when I was 14 years old."
Asked to give his profession, he said he was unemployed, but, "Prior to my arrival at the court, I was a soldier in the Lord's Resistance Army."
Ongwen was one of five LRA commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005. Three others have since died, according to the Ugandan army. Kony is the only one who remains at large.