A court in Uganda has sentenced Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Thomas Kwoyelo to 40 years in prison after a landmark war crimes trial over his role in the group’s two-decade reign of violence.

The sentence was announced on Friday by Michael Elubu, the lead judge in the case, at a court in the northern city of Gulu.

Justice Duncan Gasagwa, one of four judges on the case, said “the convict played a prominent role in the planning, strategy and actual execution of the offences of extreme gravity”. He added that “the victims have been left with lasting physical and mental pain and suffering”.

Kwoyelo was found guilty in August of 44 offences, including murder and rape, and not guilty of three counts of murder. Thirty-one alternate offences were dismissed.