Tensions between moral and criminal responsibility: (Former) child soldiers and global manipulation

This paper examines how global manipulation, defined as long-term exposure to indoctrination that profoundly shapes an individual?s valuational structure, impacts moral and, potentially, criminal responsibility. We explore this complex issue through the real-world case of Dominic Ongwen, a former child soldier whose identity, values, and agency were forged within the deeply manipulative and violent environment of the Lord?s Resistance Army (LRA). Ongwen was convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in February 2021 for atrocities committed as an adult and sentenced to 25 years in prison. By analyzing his trajectory, we critically assess how coercively reshaped moral understanding complicates the attribution of responsibility and challenges the moral legitimacy of punishment. We argue that Ongwen?s case exemplifies the conceptual and normative tensions between moral and criminal responsibility, raising questions about agency and blameworthiness in the aftermath of formative manipulation.