Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the surrender and transfer of LRA commander Dominic Ongwen to the International Criminal Court

NEW YORK, January 21, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Secretary-General welcomes the transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague today of senior Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen, as well as his surrender on 6 January in the Central African Republic (CAR).

The Secretary-General welcomes the cooperation among the Governments of the CAR, Uganda and the United States, Belgium and the Netherlands, and the support provided by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR (MINUSCA), the African Union Regional Task Force (AU-RTF) and the ICC in facilitating the expeditious transfer of Mr. Ongwen to The Hague.

The Secretary-General highlights that Mr. Ongwen's transfer to the ICC marks an important milestone in accountability, with the first LRA commander being brought before the Court. It is a step forward in efforts to bring justice to the thousands of victims of LRA violence in Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and CAR over the past 28 years.

The Secretary-General pays tribute to the courageous efforts of the AU-RTF and urges all troop-contributing countries and governments of the region to remain committed to the ending the threat posed by the LRA and bringing to justice LRA leader Joseph Kony. He calls on the LRA to immediately disarm and demobilize, cease attacks and release all those abducted.