By KT Reporter
The International Criminal Court on Thursday confirmed charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Uganda’s fugitive LRA leader, Joseph Kony, in absentia. He faces 39 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, torture, enslavement, and sexual slavery, allegedly committed between July 2002 and December 2005 in northern Uganda. This comes nearly two months after the court held a confirmation of charges hearing in the absence of Kony.
In a decision delivered on Thursday, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber III found substantial grounds to believe that Kony is responsible for atrocities committed in northern Uganda between July 1, 2002, and December 31, 2005. The chamber was composed of Judge Althea Violet Alexis-Windsor (Presiding Judge), Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, and Judge Haykel Ben Mahfoudh.
The chamber confirmed that Kony, a Ugandan national and founder of the LRA, oversaw a campaign of violence against civilians during a protracted armed conflict between his rebel group and the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF).
According to the ICC’s statement, the Chamber determined that the LRA’s operations were marked by “a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of northern Uganda,” targeting communities perceived to be supporting the Ugandan government.
Civilians, including women and children, were abducted, enslaved, and subjected to brutal acts of violence.
The court confirmed that Kony faces 29 charges as an indirect co-perpetrator, having ordered and induced the commission of crimes during LRA attacks on schools and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
These include crimes against humanity such as murder, torture, enslavement, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, rape, and persecution on political, age, and gender grounds, and war crimes, including intentionally directing attacks against civilians, pillaging, conscripting children under 15, and using them in hostilities.
The Chamber found Kony directly responsible for 10 more charges relating to two victims, involving enslavement, forced marriage, rape, torture, and forced pregnancy.
While confirming all charges, the Chamber, however, noted that a trial cannot proceed in Kony’s absence as he remains at large, and his whereabouts are unknown.
The court also rejected the Defense’s request for a conditional stay of proceedings, ruling that both the prosecution and defense cannot appeal the decision until Kony is apprehended and formally notified.
“The Defence and the Prosecutor cannot immediately appeal this decision, since the Chamber decided that the time limit for filing an application for a leave to appeal shall be suspended until Mr Kony is notified of the decision upon his surrender to the Court,” the statement reads.
Kony has been wanted by the ICC since 2005 and is among the longest-running fugitives of the court. His rebel group, the LRA, is accused of killing tens of thousands of civilians and abducting more than 60,000 children across Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic.
The ICC’s confirmation of charges marks a renewed international focus on bringing Kony to justice, after nearly two decades of pursuit. However, without his arrest, the case will remain in limbo.
If captured, Kony would face trial before a designated Trial Chamber of the ICC in The Hague. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Kony in 2005 along with four other senior LRA commanders.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Kony in 2005 along with four other senior LRA commanders, Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odiambo, and Vincent Otti, all pronounced dead. However, Dominic Ongwen whom the court also issued a warrant for his arrest , was captured in 2015 and was once sentenced by the world court to 25 years in jail in a Norwegian prison.
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