ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on fieldwork in Uganda and on recordings of the International Criminal Court case against Dominique Ongwen – a child abductee turned soldier, who rose to the top of the Lord’s Resistance Army. It questions how to understand the committing of extreme violence, political evil and brutality. The chapter turns to philosopher Hannah Arendt and her work on totalitarianism, radical evil and the banality of evil. Arendt’s understanding of dehumanisation in totalitarian regimes, reflections on demonisation and losing the sense of judgement cast light on the case. By forcing child soldiers to commit crimes against their own families and instincts they lose their sense of judgement. The LRA abduction strategy worked by eliminating what Arendt terms the juridical person, the moral person and human spontaneity. Arendt’s thinking provides a way to understand how Ongwen could transition from being a victim of violence and abduction to being a perpetrator himself, carrying out violence and giving orders to carry out atrocities. The chapter also points to limitations in Arendt’s thinking.
