ICC opens war crimes hearings against Ugandan warlord Kony
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun hearings in its war crimes case against Joseph Kony, the fugitive leader of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), marking the court’s first-ever confirmation of charges hearing conducted without the accused present.
Kony, who has evaded capture for over two decades despite an ICC arrest warrant, faces 39 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual enslavement, abduction and the forced conscription of children as soldiers.
Prosecutors say the atrocities were committed in northern Uganda between 2003 and 2004.
In a solemn courtroom session, the catalogue of charges was read out, detailing how thousands of women and girls were subjected to enslavement, rape, forced marriages and pregnancies.
Children, abducted from schools and fields, were forced to kill for Kony’s army.
“This is about recognition,” said one survivor in northern Uganda, where ICC teams set up large screens for victims to follow the proceedings remotely.
Kony, who styled himself as a prophet fighting for the Acholi people and a government based on biblical commandments, gained global notoriety for the LRA’s brutal tactics, including mutilations and child abductions.
His profile surged in 2012 following a viral social media campaign highlighting his crimes, yet he remains at large.
Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang acknowledged the frustration of victims who have waited decades for justice.
“Unfortunately the tentacles of international justice, even though lengthy, have not been sufficient to ensure the efficient arrest of fugitives,” she told the court.
For the first time, the ICC is using its powers under the Rome Statute to proceed without the suspect in custody. Kony is being represented in absentia by a court-appointed lawyer, although a trial cannot begin until he is arrested and physically present in The Hague.
Legal experts say the case could set an important precedent for how the ICC handles other high-profile fugitives unlikely to be detained.
It also comes at a critical time for the embattled court, which has faced sanctions from the United States and is grappling with internal challenges.
Kony’s LRA was driven out of Uganda in 2005, later relocating to Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, where remnants reportedly engaged in poaching and illegal mining.
Attempts at a peace deal in 2008 collapsed after Kony demanded immunity from prosecution.
