MOGADISHU, Somalia – Two Ugandan soldiers from the African Union force in Somalia have been sentenced to death while three others have also been slapped with 39 years in prison each for killing civilians after being convicted in an AMISOM military trial in the capital Mogadishu.
The trial that began on the 5th of this month was concluded on Friday in Mogadishu, according to Lower Shabelle farmers’ spokesman Hussein Osman Wasuge, who was present at the court.
Inside the courtroom, he said, relatives of the slain civilians were present, saying they were happy with the verdict delivered by AMISOM.
The African Union force was previously accused for a number of killings and atrocities, but the case is the first of its kind in Somalia.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has previously spoken out in the case, has suggested that soldiers found guilty of the killings should be punished and compensation paid to the families of those killed.
Recently a six-member commission of inquiry including representatives from AMISOM and the Somali government confirmed that African Union forces were responsible for the deaths of seven civilians, who were killed on August 10, 2021, in Golweyn village, about 90 kilometers from Mogadishu.
