Joseph Kony, the elusive commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), faces 39 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed.
This marks the first time in the court’s history that charges have been confirmed in absentia.
The charges include murder, rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, enslavement and the conscription of child soldiers.
But the court said the trial cannot proceed until the rebel leader is taken into custody.
Mr Kony, who gained notoriety after launching a rebellion in northern Uganda, waged a campaign of terror across the region for more than two decades.
His fighters abducted tens of thousands of children—boys forced to fight and girls turned into sex slaves—while massacring civilians and displacing millions.
Human rights groups estimate that more than 100,000 people were killed during the LRA insurgency, which spread from Uganda into South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
Reacting to the ICC’s confirmation of charges, victims and survivors welcomed the move but urged renewed international efforts to bring Mr Kony to justice, according to the BBC.
It quoted one survivor as saying: “He should first be arrested, and all these charges be brought against him. However, the victims who suffered the torture cannot wait—some of these victims are also dying.”
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Kony was first indicted by the ICC in 2005, becoming one of the court’s most wanted fugitives.
Despite multiple international operations, including US-supported missions to capture him, he has not been seen in public for nearly two decades, and his whereabouts—and even whether he is still alive—remain unknown.
Analysts say the ICC’s decision to confirm charges in his absence underscores both the court’s frustration and the symbolic importance of maintaining accountability, even when suspects evade capture.
Top LRA commanders have either been killed, captured or defected.
In 2021, Dominic Ongwen, one of Kony’s former lieutenants who was abducted as a child, was convicted by the ICC on 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
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