Expert Says Ongwen Did Not Have a Mental Illness While in the LRA
By Benjamin Jumbe.
A forensic psychiatrist has told the International Criminal Court that if Dominic Ongwen had a mental illness while he was in the Lord’s Resistance Army it would have been difficult for him to mask its symptoms from the people around him.
Gillian Clare Mezeysays that based on material she reviewed she concludes that Ongwen did not have a mental illness during the time he was a LRA commander between 2002 and 2005.
Ongwen, who disrupted Monday’s afternoon session and was removed from the court, was present at the time of her submission.
Mezey says she agrees that Ongwen suffered distress from time to time because he has been at the ICC detention center but that this was to be expected given the change in Ongwen’s circumstances, but his suffering distress did not mean he had a depressive disorder.
Ongwen is on trial for his alleged role in attacks on four camps for internally displaced people, sex crimes, and conscripting child soldiers between July 2002 and December 2005.
He has been charged with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The next witness P-187, starts testifying later today.
