The International Criminal Court (ICC) is holding a historic hearing this Tuesday in The Hague against Joseph Kony, the fugitive founder of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, he faces 39 counts, including murder, sexual slavery, and the forced recruitment of children.
This marks the first time the ICC is conducting a confirmation of charges hearing without the presence of the accused. If the charges are confirmed after three days of hearings, a trial can only proceed if Kony is captured, he has remained at large for nearly two decades.
Founded in the late 1980s, the LRA claimed to fight for a regime based on the Ten Commandments. In reality, the group unleashed a campaign of terror across northern Uganda, killing tens of thousands of people. According to the UN, at least 100,000 civilians were killed, and more than 60,000 children were abducted and forced to serve as soldiers or slaves.
Witness accounts describe atrocities of extreme brutality: villages burned, beheadings, mutilations, and children forced to kill their relatives with machetes or to bite captives to death. Girls were subjected to sexual slavery, including by Kony himself.
Despite an arrest warrant issued as early as 2005, the ICC’s first-ever, Joseph Kony continues to evade justice. He is believed to be hiding in a remote forest in Central Africa. A global campaign, « Kony 2012 », briefly reignited international pressure. Even a U.S.-backed military mission launched by Barack Obama failed to capture him.
The defense has called the hearing “pointless,” denouncing it as a waste of resources. However, prosecutors argue that it serves to lay the groundwork for a potential trial and, more importantly, to give victims a voice.
Today, the LRA has been severely weakened, reduced to a few scattered fighters in Central Africa. But Joseph Kony remains a powerful symbol of unpunished brutality.