A FORMER Ugandan war lord is facing crime against humanity charges after being accused of ordering hostages to “kill, cook and eat” civilians, using rape to coerce children into becoming soldiers and burning children alive.

Former Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen has been slapped with 70 charges including war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Crime Court (ICC), where prosecutors are describing his years of brutality, rape and cruelty.

He has been accused of bearing “significant responsibility” for “terrifying attacks” in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005.

In total, the LRA is accused of slaughtering more than 100,000 people and abducting 60,000 children since its rebellion against Kampala began in 1986.

Ongwen is the first LRA commander to appear before the ICC. An arrest warrant has also been issued for the group’s fugitive chief, Joseph Kony.

Prosecutor Benjamin Gumpert described Ongwen as “one of the most senior commanders in the LRA” and “was the tip of the spear”.

Gruesome images of the bodies of LRA victims — including burned out huts and abandoned corpses of children — were shown to the three-judge panel on the opening day.

In one attack under Ongwen’s command, a boy was shot in the stomach and his intestines spilt out.

One witness told the court how Ongwen had ordered his two children be locked in a hut, and forced him to watch it be set alight.

Other witnesses said Ongwen had ordered hostages “to kill, cook and eat civilians” on at least one occasion.

At least 200 civilians were also captured, which prosecutors described as “one of the largest instances of mass abductions in the history of the LRA”.

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 2011/12 alone, Kony remains a fugitive.