Part 1: What you need to know about Joseph Kony’s trial

Key Points

• It is now 19 years after his arrest was ordered
• Joseph Kony is suspected of 36 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed between at least 1 July 2002 until 31 December 2005 in northern Uganda

By Editor

Dear readers, we shall publish a series of what the trial of Joseph Kony means to Northern Uganda from the documents from the ICC.

Kony is alleged to have committed several atrocities in North and Eastern Uganda for decades. He was fighting the NRM government where several people were killed, maimed, abducted and left injured.

Since then, a case has been instituted against Joseph Kony at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Who is Joseph Kony?

Joseph Kony was born in September 1961 in Uganda. He is of Acholi ethnicity and a national of Uganda. He is the alleged founder and leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (“LRA”), a Ugandan rebel group that originated in 1987 in northern Uganda among ethnic Acholi communities.
Is Kony in the ICC custody?

No, the suspect, Joseph Kony, is still at large, 19 years after his arrest was ordered.

Since the issuance of the arrest warrant against him in 2005, the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “Court”) has been seeking the cooperation of all relevant national authorities to arrest and surrender him to the Court.

What are the charges against Joseph Kony

Joseph Kony is suspected of 36 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed between at least 1 July 2002 until 31 December 2005 in northern Uganda.

The allegations against Mr Kony concern having a common plan together with other Lord Resistance Army’s (‘LRA’) members to commit jointly and through others the following conduct, as well as ordering and inducing LRA fighters to:

Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such; murdering civilians and attempting to do so; torturing, and/or severely abusing and mistreating civilians and treating them cruelly; enslaving abducted civilians; pillaging and destroying property; and persecuting civilians on political grounds as well as based on their age and gender (counts 1-14).

The alleged crimes

These alleged crimes were committed in the context of the LRA attacks on the Lwala Girls School on or about 24 June 2003 and the following attacks on internally displaced persons’ (‘IDP’) camps: (i) Pajule IDP camp on or about 10 October 2003; (ii) Abia IDP camp on or about 4 February 2004; (iii) Barlonyo IDP camp on or about 21 February 2004; (iv) Odek IDP camp on or about 29 April 2004; (v) Pagak IDP camp on or about 16 May 2004; (vi) Lukondi IDP camp on or about 19 May 2004; and (vii) Abok IDP camp on or about 8 June 2004.

The prosecution

The Prosecution also charges Kony with having perpetrated in the same manner crimes against hundreds of women and against hundreds of children allegedly integrated into the LRA, in the period of 1 July 2002 until 31 December 2005 in Northern Uganda.

It is alleged he is involved in enslaving the women and children; sexual slavery of and forcing women and girls into marriage; raping women and girls; forced pregnancy, torturing and/or severely abusing and mistreating and cruelly treating women and children.

This conduct is also charged as together amounting to persecution on the grounds of gender and/or age. In addition, the Prosecution charges the conscription of children into the LRA and using them to participate actively in hostilities (counts 15-29).

Finally, the Prosecution charges Mr Kony with directly, that is himself, perpetrating the crimes of enslavement, forced marriage, torture, and sexual slavery in relation to a young woman in the period from July 2003 until September 2004 in northern Uganda and/or Sudan (counts 30- 36).

Editor’s note: This is part one of the series we will run on this site. Keep with us for more