Nairobi, Kenya- The International Criminal Court (ICC) is stepping into uncharted territory this week, as judges in The Hague begin hearing charges against Joseph Kony—the elusive leader of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
The notorious warlord, accused of orchestrating decades of mass killings and child abductions, will not be in court himself. Instead, this marks the ICC’s first-ever in absentia hearing for war crimes.
The Elusive Prophet of War
Kony, once a Catholic altar boy who later declared himself a prophet, founded the LRA in the late 1980s. His stated mission was to create a society built on the Ten Commandments, but his methods left behind a trail of horror.
According to United Nations estimates, the rebellion against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s government claimed at least 100,000 lives. Another 60,000 children were kidnapped, forced into roles as soldiers or sex slaves.
Survivors recount nightmarish ordeals: children ordered to kill family members, young girls handed over as “wives” to commanders, and captives mutilated in brutal rituals.
The group terrorized villages across Uganda and neighboring countries—including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic—burning homes, raiding refugee camps, and committing widespread atrocities.
Among the most chilling allegations, prosecutors say LRA fighters ripped a newborn from its mother’s arms and threw the infant into a river before attacking the woman with a machete.
From Global Spotlight to the Shadows
Kony’s name burst into global consciousness in 2012 when the viral Kony 2012 video campaign gained over 100 million views in just days.
That momentum prompted then-U.S. President Barack Obama to deploy special forces to assist regional armies in hunting down the warlord. Despite years of tracking, the mission ended in 2017 without capturing him.
Since then, the once-feared LRA has dwindled. Once several thousand strong, its fighters have scattered, leaving only a small remnant across the central African region. Kony himself has not been seen publicly for nearly two decades, believed to be hiding deep in remote jungle territory.
Still, his legacy of brutality lingers. The ICC issued its first-ever arrest warrant for Kony back in 2005, charging him with 39 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, rape, pillaging, and sexual slavery.
What the ICC Hopes to Achieve
The current hearing, known as a confirmation of charges, will run for three days. Judges will decide whether the evidence against Kony is strong enough to merit a full trial. However, ICC rules forbid trials in absentia—meaning that unless Kony is captured, no trial can move forward.
Defense lawyers have criticized the proceedings as a waste of resources, calling it “an enormous expense of time, money and effort for no benefit at all.” Prosecutors, however, argue that pressing ahead will streamline any future trial if Kony is ever arrested. More importantly, they believe that publicly hearing the charges helps acknowledge the suffering of victims and reinforces the global court’s commitment to justice.
For survivors, even symbolic progress matters. Earlier this year, the ICC awarded €52 million in reparations to victims of Dominic Ongwen, one of Kony’s top commanders now serving a 25-year prison sentence. Many see Kony’s case as unfinished business—the figurehead of the LRA remains at large, and the world’s most prominent war crimes court has yet to put him on trial.
The Road Ahead
Kony, now believed to be 63 years old, has long denied the allegations. In a rare 2006 interview, he dismissed reports of atrocities as “propaganda” and rejected claims of child abductions.
His statements stand in stark contrast to the mountain of testimony from survivors and the charges laid out by international prosecutors.
Whether this week’s hearings will bring the world closer to seeing Kony in the dock remains uncertain. But for many, the proceedings are a reminder that accountability—however delayed—still matters.
The ICC’s move to press forward without Kony’s presence signals a message: the crimes attributed to the LRA will not simply fade into history.
As one prosecutor put it, the hearing is not only about the man who remains a fugitive, but about the victims who continue to seek recognition for the horrors they endured.
