A former Ugandan rebel leader has been accused of ordering his child soldiers to degenerate into cannibalism and using rape as a tool of fear and oppression.

Dominic Ongwen, 40, who is part of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is accused of slaughtering people and turning children into sex slaves.

The LRA is a rebel group and quasi-Christian cult based on worshiping the group's leader Joseph Kony. The organisation is mainly based in northern Uganda and South Sudan and has been designated as a terrorist group by many states and international organisations.

Ongwen was kidnapped by the LRA on the way to school when he was ten, and after proving himself as a fierce fighter, Ongwen quickly climbed the ranks and ruled under Kony for over a decade.

Alleged cannibal killer Dominic Ongwen

Prosecutor Ben Gumpert said in court that Kony found children the easiest to shape via brutalisation into the fighters he needed.

He said that Ongwen, by turns generous and cruel, played a crucial role in molding the kids.

"Witnesses tell of how he instructed his personal escorts to administer dreadful beatings and ... even, on at least one occasion to kill, cook and eat civilians who had been abducted in attacks," Gumpert said.

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Ongwen faces 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for which he said to bear significant responsibility for by prosecutors.

During the hearing, Ongwen appeared uncomfortable and rose only to say he did not need to read the list of charges he faces.

LRA leader and internet sensation Joseph Kony

"It is all going to be a waste of time," he said.

Gumpert said Ongwen's own traumatic childhood could however be a mitigating circumstance if the court finds him guilty and moves to the sentencing phase.

"Child abusers are overwhelmingly likely to have been abused themselves as children," he said.

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In 2012, the Invisible Children organisation released a short film called Kony 2012 which went viral.

It promoted the Stop Kony movement, which aimed to bring an end to African warlord Joseph Kony and his LRA associates like Ongwen.

Despite the organisation raising $20 million in 2012 alone, Kony remains a fugitive.