ICC opens war crimes hearing against Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony

Kony faces charges for the Lord’s Resistance Army run of torture and maltreatment successful Uganda successful the aboriginal 2000s.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is slated to perceive grounds against fugitive Ugandan rebel person Joseph Kony 2 decades aft his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) gained planetary infamy for atrocities successful bluish Uganda.

The Tuesday hearing, known arsenic a “confirmation of charges”, is the Hague-based court’s first-ever held successful absentia.

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Kony faces 39 counts of warfare crimes and crimes against humanity successful transportation to the LRA’s run against the Ugandan authorities betwixt 2002 and 2005, which prosecutors allege was rife with rape, torture, and abductions of children.

Kony has eluded instrumentality enforcement since the ICC archetypal issued an indictment successful 2005, making the proceeding a litmus trial for others successful which arresting the fishy is considered a far-off prospect, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The proceeding is expected to past 3 days and volition let prosecutors to outline their lawsuit successful court, aft which judges volition determine whether to corroborate the charges. Kony cannot beryllium tried unless helium is successful ICC custody, however.

“Everything that happens astatine the ICC is precedent for the adjacent case,” Michael Scharf, an planetary instrumentality prof astatine Case Western Reserve University, told The Associated Press quality agency.

Kony was calved successful 1961 successful bluish Uganda’s colony of Odek, wherever helium was a Catholic altar lad and took up an involvement successful spirituality. He aboriginal claimed to beryllium a tone mean and utilized spiritual rituals – alongside unit and torture – to support power of followers.

The LRA’s attacks against the Ugandan authorities day backmost to the 1980s, but the radical was not thrust into the planetary spotlight until 2012, erstwhile a #Kony2012 campaign went viral connected societal media.

By then, the LRA had been forced retired of Uganda and was operating successful the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, wherever it continued its convulsive crusade. The LRA’s activities killed astatine slightest 100,000 radical and displaced astir 2.5 cardinal successful Africa, according to the United Nations, on with the kidnapping of children.

Survivors successful Uganda program to travel the ICC proceedings, including Everlyn Ayo, a 39-year-old whose schoolhouse was archetypal attacked by LRA fighters erstwhile she was 5 years old.

“The rebels raided the school, killed and cooked our teachers successful large drums and we were forced to devour their remains,” Ayo told the AFP quality agency. “Many times, connected our instrumentality to the village, we would find blood-soaked bodies. Seeing each that humor arsenic a kid traumatised my eyes.”

The ICC has been nether dense unit from Washington for its pursuit of cases surrounding Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.

United States President Donald Trump’s medication had antecedently sanctioned the ICC successful effect to its probe and consequent apprehension warrants issued for Netanyahu and erstwhile Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged warfare crimes committed successful Gaza.

Last month, the US announced a caller circular of sanctions targeting members of the ICC, the latest lawsuit of a pressure campaign against the court.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies