Two Ugandan People’s Defense Force (UPDF) soldiers serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have been sentenced to death and three others to 39 years in jail for the deaths of civilians. “This sentence would be a lesson for the AMISOM mission that none of its soldiers would escape with murdering Somali civilians,” Nur said. Relatives and eyewitnesses accused the Amisom soldiers of placing the bodies of some of the victims on remotely controlled mines before they were detonated, triggering local anger and protests in Mogadishu. A spokesman for the relatives, Hussein Osman Wasuge, told local media outside the court they were happy with the verdict. “Even though there were no lawyers to represent us, one of us and six Ugandan soldiers were allowed to testify against the alleged soldiers for two days,” said Wasuge.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 13, 2021 17:43 UTC