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The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony, answers journalists' questions in Ri-Kwamba, southern Sudan, following a meeting with UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland in 2006
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed 39 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, clearing the way for a trial if he is ever arrested — nearly two decades after the first warrant for his capture was issued. Kony, the founder and commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), remains the ICC’s longest-standing fugitive. The charges against him include murder, rape, sexual enslavement, forced marriage, and the conscription of child soldiers.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, judges of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber III said there were “substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Kony is criminally responsible” for atrocities committed in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005, at the height of the LRA insurgency.
According to the judges, Kony issued direct orders to attack villages, kill and torture civilians, destroy property, and abduct women and children to serve within the rebel ranks. The court also noted that he could be personally held responsible for 10 crimes linked to two women he forcibly made his “wives”.
This is the first time the ICC has confirmed charges against a suspect in their absence, a move that allows the case to be set for trial once the fugitive is captured. However, ICC rules require that the full trial cannot begin until Kony is physically present in court.
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) soldiers pose during peace negotiations between the LRA and Ugandan religious and cultural leaders in Ri-Kwangba, southern Sudan, in 2008 [File: Reuters]
Prosecutors said efforts to locate and arrest the 64-year-old rebel leader remain ongoing.
The decision follows a three-day confirmation hearing held in September, during which prosecutors and lawyers representing victims presented evidence and witness testimonies despite Kony’s absence — an exceptional procedure that paved the way for Thursday’s ruling.
Kony launched his insurgency in the late 1980s in northern Uganda’s Acholi sub-region, combining apocalyptic Christian mysticism with a violent rebellion against President Yoweri Museveni’s government.
The conflict displaced 2.5 million people and resulted in the deaths of an estimated 100,000, according to the United Nations. Even after being driven out of Uganda, the LRA continued to stage brutal attacks in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic — looting villages, abducting children, and terrorising communities.
Kony returned to global attention in 2012 after the viral #Kony2012 social media campaign by the advocacy group Invisible Children, which exposed the LRA’s atrocities to a worldwide audience. Despite years of international military operations and a U.S.-backed manhunt, Joseph Kony remains at large.
Torch Media Africa
