The ICC chief prosecutor seeks to revive case towards the Ugandan insurgent commander in his absence since he has evaded arrest for almost 20 years.
The Worldwide Prison Court docket (ICC) chief prosecutor has sought to revive the case towards fugitive Ugandan insurgent commander Joseph Kony, who stays at giant since an arrest warrant was issued in 2005 on allegations of warfare crimes.
Prosecutor Karim Khan mentioned he had requested judges for authorisation to carry a listening to to substantiate the fees towards Kony, the pinnacle of the infamous Lord’s Resistance Military (LRA), in his absence.
“That is the primary time that my workplace has made such a request because the institution of the ICC,” Khan mentioned.
Kony launched a bloody revolt greater than three a long time in the past searching for to impose his personal model of the Ten Commandments in northern Uganda, unleashing a marketing campaign of “terror” that unfold to a number of neighbouring nations.
The Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Kony in 2005 on allegations of warfare crimes and crimes towards humanity, and US president Barack Obama in 2011 launched a small variety of US troops to assist regional armies attempt to seize him.
“Nevertheless, this arrest warrant stays unexecuted to this present day. Mr Kony has sought to evade judicial proceedings at this courtroom for greater than 17 years regardless of persevering with efforts,” Khan mentioned in an announcement.
“I’ve decided it’s each mandatory and acceptable to hunt to advance proceedings towards him to the fullest extent suitable with the Rome Statute,” the constitution which governs the ICC, he mentioned.
Suspects can’t be tried in absentia on the ICC, however it’s doable to carry affirmation hearings whereas they’re nonetheless fugitives, Khan defined.
‘Significant milestone’
Confirming the fees towards Kony would make it simpler and faster to place him on trial ought to he be captured, the prosecutor added.
Any listening to involving Kony could be a “significant milestone for victims of Mr Kony’s crimes who’ve waited patiently for justice for nearly twenty years,” Khan mentioned.
Beginning with a bloody revolt in northern Uganda towards President Yoweri Museveni, the LRA’s marketing campaign of violence has killed greater than 100,000 individuals and seen 60,000 kids kidnapped.
The violence finally unfold to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic.
The allegations towards Kony within the arrest warrant embody homicide, merciless therapy, enslavement, rape, and assaults towards the civilian inhabitants, the ICC mentioned.
In 2021, the ICC convicted an LRA youngster soldier-turned-commander, Dominic Ongwen, of warfare crimes and crimes towards humanity and sentenced him to 25 years in jail.
He has appealed towards the decision and sentence, arguing that he was scarred by his personal historical past and nonetheless believed he was “possessed” by the spirit of Kony.
The ICC was arrange in 2002 to carry perpetrators of the world’s worst crimes to justice however has been criticised for selecting lots of its circumstances from African nations.