[6] Dominic Okumu Savio (his birth name) was born in the village of Choorum, Kilak County, Amuru district, Northern Uganda[4] around 1975, the fourth son of Ronald Owiya and Alexy Acayo, two schoolteachers living in Paibona.
[12] Once abducted, he underwent initiation ceremonies which included torture and being forced to watch violent rituals of people being killed.
[19] Ongwen was reported killed in combat with a unit of the Uganda People's Defence Force on 10 October 2005, and the identity of the body was confirmed by former LRA commanders.
News reports of the time put Ongwen in southwest Equatoria, Southern Sudan, attempting to rejoin LRA head Joseph Kony in Garamba, Ituri Province, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He was initially charged with four counts of war crimes (murder, cruel treatment of civilians, intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population and pillaging) and three counts of crimes against humanity (murder, enslavement, and inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering).
[5] On 21 December 2015, the ICC charged Dominic Ongwen with crimes in addition to those set out in the warrant of arrest: a total of seventy counts.
Having escaped the camp near Songo, in Kafia Kingi, Ongwen came across nomadic cattle herders who took him to a Seleka rebel group near Sam Ouandja in CAR.
The former Seleka group commander reached out to a merchant in Mboki, who in turn called an NGO worker in Obo.
As the three other suspects in the case had not appeared or had not been apprehended, the Chamber deemed this necessary so as not to delay the pre-trial proceedings against Mr Ongwen.
[18] He has also been visited by four Acholi leaders, including the Paramount chief, His Highness David Onen Achana II, and the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu John Baptist Odama.
Seeing him as a victim, they recommend that he should be brought back to Uganda to undergo "the rituals of 'Mato Oput' (Reconciliation) for all that he went through during his time in "LRA captivity".
[45] Other commentators consider that the ICC indictments directly contradict the Ugandan Parliament's blanket amnesty which has led to the demobilisation and reintegration of tens of thousands of rebels.
[46] Family members, including his wife Florence Ayot and his brother Charles Ojar also pleaded for Ongwen not to be tried at the ICC.
[11] Victims, however, have expressed hope in the ICC trial, claiming that without it there would be no justice in their lifetime for the grave violations they had endured during the conflict.
[6] On 6 May 2021 the ICC pronounced a joint prison sentence of 25 years, taking into account the gravity of the crimes committed, as well as aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
[51] In February 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) awarded each victim of Dominic Ongwen, whose number is estimated at 49,772, symbolic individual compensation of 800 US dollars.