The first ever trial against a Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel ended in disappointment for the prosecution. Uganda's Constitutional Court ruled that LRA commander Thomas Kwoyelo should be given amnesty instead of being sentence.

Thomas Kwoyelo could soon be a free man. The former high-ranking commander in one of Africa's longest surviving rebel groups was yesterday granted amnesty by Uganda's Constitutional Court.

The LRA started fighting in Northern Uganda in 1987; abducting children as child soldiers or 'wives' for the commanders. In 2006 the movement left Uganda and began causing havoc in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and northern DR Congo, where Kwoyelo was arrested in 2009.

Despite the ruling, Kwoyelo will not be released immediately as it falls out of the remit of the Constitutional Court. Only the International Crimes Division (ICD) can grant Kwoyelo. "If they delay so we will apply for bail," says Kwoyelo's lawyer Francis Onyango.

Sudden death

Yesterday's ruling means sudden death for the historic trial of Kwoyelo, which started only three months ago and was handled by the ICD. The Kwolyelo case was the ICD's first case, so the prosecution was eager to get a significant result.

The ICD was set up in the wake of the failed peace talks with the LRA between 2006 and 2008. It was established to try LRA commanders who are not among the top five leaders. LRA leader Joesph Kony is, together with four of his commanders, indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The ICC works closely together with Uganda's own court, sharing information and training material.

Amnesty Act

Kwoyelo was saved from prosecution by Uganda's Amnesty Act, implemented in the year 2000. The Amnesty Act says that everybody who is involved in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan state and renounces it can be given amnesty. "Our entire case was about equal treatment," a jubilant Kwoyelo lawyer Frances Onyango says. "Almost thirteen thousand LRA members were given amnesty under the Amnesty Act, so it is perhaps no surprise that Kwoyelo also gets it."

During the hearing, last month, the prosecution had argued that the Amnesty Act should be declared unconstitutional, in order to 'end impunity.' But Onyango calls talk of impunity in Uganda a fallacy,' "today's ruling is a victory for all child soldiers and for all the people in Northern Uganda. Because this war was not as simple as people want to believe. Mr Kwoyelo was himself abducted at the age of 13 and forced to fight with the rebels. So he is the victim here." Onyango added that in his view, 'amnesty is a very important aspect in reconciliation [...] And we will sue the state for torturing our client during his illegal detention," says Onyango.