Allegations against Joseph Kony are being heard in the ICC. But the Ugandan warlord won’t be there

The International Criminal Court has started pre-trial proceedings against Joseph Kony, the Ugandan rebel leader catapulted into public consciousness by a viral campaign in 2012.

So what? Kony isn’t in the dock, making this the court’s first ever hearing in absentia. The trial itself will not commence until the warlord is present, but the three-day hearing could

• set a precedent for how the ICC’s chief prosecutor pursues cases against other suspects;
• help the beleaguered institution demonstrate its continuing relevance; and
• deliver a small measure of redress for Kony’s numerous alleged victims.

Evading justice. With no police force of its own, the ICC relies on members to apprehend suspects. Most elude the court, which has 30 outstanding arrest warrants, including those for Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin. Only two of its suspects are in custody awaiting trial: former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and a senior Libyan official.

Why? ICC suspects generally hold positions of power and are shielded by allies. In January, for example, Italy released a Libyan warlord wanted for alleged war crimes. The chief prosecutor has secured the convictions of just seven suspects since the court was established in 2002.

High and wide. Kony’s case is different. As leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, he was the subject of a lengthy manhunt spanning a vast swathe of central Africa. American special forces joined the search in 2011 and the US placed a $5 million bounty on Kony’s head.

Fizzled out. The manhunt was wound up in 2017. By then the LRA had just 100 fighters left, with Uganda concluding the group no longer posed a threat. One of Kony’s most senior commanders, Dominic Ongwen, was captured and handed over to the ICC. In 2021 he was given a 25-year jail sentence for various crimes in a rare victory for the court’s chief prosecutor.

Charge sheet. The arrest warrant for Kony is among the oldest issued by the ICC. Dating back to 2005, it relates to 36 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in a campaign that killed north of 100,000 people, displaced another two million and saw the LRA abduct more than 20,000 children to become soldiers and sex slaves as it sought to establish a biblical state in Uganda.

Going viral. In 2012 activist group Invisible Children released a 30-minute film called “Kony 2012” which documented the LRA’s atrocities. Within days it gained a million likes and 100 million views on YouTube, a record at the time, after it was shared by Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie and other celebrities. The campaign was an early lesson in the potency of social media.

But Kony wasn’t captured. It is not known if he is alive, but the pre-trial hearing gives alleged victims a chance to tell their stories, albeit briefly. It also signals the court is still active and pursuing cases despite multiple crises, including

• cyber attacks;
• sexual misconduct allegations against chief prosecutor, Karim Khan; and
• sanctions imposed by the Trump administration over its warrant for Netanyahu.

Test case. Kony’s case is uncontroversial. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether there is enough evidence to believe he committed the alleged crimes, following an example set by the Yugoslavia tribunals of the 1990s. It could pave the way for similar hearings against Netanyahu, Putin and others who are wanted by the ICC but may never be brought to court.

What’s more… this would be an important gesture from an institution keen to show it remains able to deliver justice for some of the world’s worst crimes.

Photograph by Adam Pletts via Getty Images / Observer Design