US EditionICC Opens First In Absentia Hearing to Confirm 39 Charges Against Joseph Kony
- On September 9, 2025, the International Criminal Court in The Hague commenced hearings to review allegations of war crimes against Joseph Kony, the Ugandan rebel leader currently evading capture.
- The court cannot hold a trial in Kony's absence, so the hearing aims to confirm charges and expedite a trial if he is captured, though Kony has been unseen for nearly two decades.
- In the 1980s, Kony established the Lord's Resistance Army, whose violent insurgency resulted in over 100,000 deaths and the abduction of approximately 60,000 children, who were forced to fight as combatants or exploited as sex slaves across several countries.
- The prosecution brought 39 charges against Kony related to war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as killing, abuse, sexual violence, enslavement, and looting, while his defense team argued that the proceedings serve no practical purpose and unnecessarily consume resources.
- The hearing precedes a possible trial if Kony is found, reflecting ongoing global efforts to bring him to justice despite his group's reduced size and dispersed location in Central Africa.
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112 Articles
Uganda: ICC Opens War Crimes Case Against Ugandan Rebel Leader Joseph Kony
The International Criminal Court will open hearings against fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, in a landmark step for international justice nearly two decades after issuing its first-ever arrest warrant for him.
ICC to present evidence against fugitive warlord Joseph Kony in court's first in absentia hearing
International Criminal Court prosecutors will present evidence on Tuesday to back up charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against notorious fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony at the global court’s first-ever in absentia hearing.
‘All I see is blood’: Kony survivors recall horrors ahead of trial
The messianic Kony, whose case is finally being heard by the International Crime Court (ICC) from Tuesday, led one of the world’s most barbaric insurgencies, massacring and mutilating tens of thousands of people across the region, kidnapping children and turning them into child soldiers and sexual slaves.
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