By Imane Rachidi
The Hague (EFE).- The ICC opened a historic hearing on Tuesday in absentia for Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, who has been a fugitive since 2005. During the hearing, the prosecution presented 39 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Victims demanded recognition, while the defense questioned the process’s legality, arguing that Kony’s absence prevents a fair trial.
The session was unprecedented as Kony, the founder and leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), was not present in court; however, his legal rights were represented by a legal team.
The judges emphasized that this is a preliminary proceeding to determine if there is sufficient evidence to support the charges, not a trial. It has always been done in the presence of the accused.
The Prosecutor’s Office presented a long list of atrocities committed in northern Uganda between Jul. 1, 2002, and Dec. 31, 2005. These included the murder of at least 618 civilians in attacks on seven camps for internally displaced persons, as well as torture, persecution, slavery, looting, and destruction of property.
The Prosecutor General’s Office also accused Kony of recruiting thousands of children under the age of 15 and using them as combatants and sex slaves.
They further accused Kony of forcing girls and women into marriage and pregnancy and of systematically raping them.
The ICC’s longest-standing fugitive
«Joseph Kony is not present here today. 20 years ago, the Court issued an arrest warrant for him. He has been a fugitive for the past 20 years,» Mame Mandiaye Niang said.
The Prosecutor’s Office stressed that Kony is «the ICC’s longest-standing fugitive» and that the crimes committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) «are part of the darkest pages of Uganda’s history.»
Presiding Judge Althea Violet Alexis-Windsor recalled that Kony is presumed innocent «until and unless proven guilty before the court,» and a trial cannot be held without his physical presence.
In 2024, the Court authorized this hearing in absentia, considering that the suspect had evaded the authorities for two decades, despite multiple military operations involving United States troops and international campaigns for his arrest.
The case file contains testimonies from children who were abducted and forced to carry rifles, women who were forced to become «wives» of LRA commanders and were subjected to rape, abuse, and forced births in the jungle, and entire villages that were razed by the armed group that Kony led since the 80s, which was made up of child soldiers.
«After 20 years of searching in vain, we now ask your honors to confirm the charges in the suspect’s absence. It does not mean that we have been able to list all the crimes, which is impossible. But at least the most serious ones,» the prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Dignity, not revenge
Kony’s defense argued that the hearing is «inconsistent with the legal framework» of the ICC and that real justice cannot be served in the suspect’s absence.
«It is important to understand how that empty chair has impacted the defense preparations,» said Peter Haynes, the head of the legal team.
Haynes stressed the ethical and strategic dilemmas of acting without instructions from the fugitive accused.
The legal representatives of the victims, who spoke on behalf of the 5,795 people authorized to participate in the proceedings, emphasized that the victims «deserve to know that the world has heard them and that those responsible will be brought to justice.»
They added that the victims «have found the strength to raise their voices not to seek revenge but to reclaim their dignity.» They asked that Kony be «named clearly and without hesitation as one responsible for their suffering.»
The case against Kony dates back to 2005, when the ICC issued its first arrest warrants for several high-ranking LRA commanders.
Only Dominic Ongwen, who was first abducted as a child soldier and then promoted to commander, went to trial. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2021.
«The vicious circle of this criminality meant that the victim became the executioner or perpetrator,» recalled the Prosecutor’s Office.
The hearing, which will last until Thursday, aims to prepare the case for trial once Kony is arrested and handed over to the court.
Uganda considers that Kony is still alive and hiding in remote areas between the Central African Republic and South Darfur.
The US offers a reward of up to five million dollars for information leading to his arrest.
«Many victims who had the strength to survive the horrors of a devastating civil war have not survived this long wait. Others have lost patience, but there are still those who, against all odds, have waited for this moment,» the Prosecutor’s Office added. EFE
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