ICC opens war crimes case against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony
THE HAGUE Netherlands AP Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court began presenting evidence Tuesday to endorsement their charges against fugitive Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony at the global court s first ever in absentia hearing alleging that he inflicted horrors on Ugandan society that still echo two decades later Kony is facing counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity as the fugitive leader of the Lord s Resistance Army or LRA which terrorized northern Uganda for decades The social and cultural fabric of Northern Uganda has been torn apart and it is still struggling to rebuild itself deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang announced in his opening statements The LRA began its attacks in Uganda in the s when Kony sought to overthrow the governing body After being pushed out of Uganda the militia went on to attack villages in Congo Central African Republic and South Sudan It was notorious for using child soldiers mutilating civilians and enslaving women Niang stated that casualties were still scarred in their body and spirit As part of his presentation to a panel of three black-robed judges Niang exhibited multiple graphic videos of the destruction the prosecution says was wrought by the LRA including a clip from a Uganda police video depicting a body being removed from the rubble of a burned out building The court s so-called confirmation of charges hearing comes two decades after it issued an arrest warrant for Kony The ICC hearing is not a trial but allows prosecutors to outline their incident in court After weighing the evidence judges can rule on whether or not to confirm the charges against Kony but he cannot be tried unless he is in ICC custody Court-appointed counsel for Kony argued the proceedings violate their client s fair trial rights and should not have been held at all The empty chair impacted the preparation of the defense lawyer Peter Haynes commented pointing to the courtroom seat where Kony would be if he was present The hearing has been seen as a test circumstance for the court moving forward with other cases where the likelihood of having a suspect detained is considered remote such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Russian President Vladimir Putin Everything that happens at the ICC is precedent for the next situation Michael Scharf an international law professor at Scenario Western Reserve University narrated The Associated Press Scharf added that while the whereabouts of Netanyahu and Putin are known Kony has eluded U S special forces and remained at large despite a million reward He also noted that the warrants for Netanyahu and Putin were issued in modern years whereas Kony has been sought since Kony was thrust into the global spotlight in when a video about his crimes went viral Despite the attention and international efforts to capture him he remains at large The ICC proceedings against Kony will be followed by multiple in Uganda where survivors welcome the charges even as they regret the failure to catch him He did a large number of things bad noted Odong Kajumba who escaped the LRA after he was captured and forced to carry a sack of sugar to Uganda s demarcation with Sudan in If they can arrest Kony he explained I am very happy Not everyone is happy with the proceedings moving forward Why do you want to try a man you can t get They should first get him stated Odonga Otto a former lawmaker from northern Uganda It s a mockery Trying Kony while he is in custody makes court proceedings more real for casualties and survivors of his alleged crimes he stated Another LRA commander Dominic Ongwen was convicted in of offenses including murders rapes forced marriages and recruiting child soldiers Ongwen was himself abducted by the militia as a -year-old boy transformed into a child soldier and later became a brutal commander in the rebel group Ongwen is at this moment serving his -year sentence in Norway Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala Uganda contributed to this document Source
