The International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed 39 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Uganda’s fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, the long-time leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
The charges, confirmed in absentia on Thursday, relate to atrocities committed between 2002 and 2005, including murder, rape, the use of child soldiers, sexual slavery, and forced pregnancy, according to the court’s ruling.
Kony, who has evaded capture since an ICC arrest warrant was issued in 2005, remains the court’s longest-standing fugitive. Judges dismissed a request by his court-appointed lawyers to delay the proceedings and ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to support all 39 charges.
“The chamber finds that the prosecution’s allegation that Mr Kony issued standing orders to attack civilian settlements, kill and mistreat civilians, loot and destroy their property, and abduct children and women to be integrated into the LRA is established to the relevant standard,” the judges said.
In addition to crimes committed by his subordinates, Kony faces ten counts for offences he is accused of committing personally, including enslavement, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, torture, and persecution based on age and gender involving two women described as his “forced wives.”
Prosecutors welcomed the decision, calling it a major step towards holding Kony accountable.
“This ensures that Joseph Kony – once arrested – can immediately face trial on these charges,” the prosecutor’s office said, adding that efforts to locate and arrest the 64-year-old are continuing.
Formed in the late 1980s with the aim of toppling Uganda’s government, the LRA terrorised northern Uganda for nearly two decades, killing an estimated 100,000 people and displacing millions, according to United Nations figures. Though the group has largely been dismantled, Kony remains at large.
