Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1459 EAT on Friday 7 November 2025

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have confirmed war crimes and crimes against humanity charges against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, nearly two decades after the court first issued a warrant for his arrest.

Kony, who remains at large, faces 39 counts, including murder, sexual enslavement, and rape, making him the ICC’s longest-standing fugitive.

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have found substantial grounds to believe that Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005, during his command of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber III said Kony not only directed attacks by his fighters but also personally committed 10 crimes against two women he forced into marriage, according to the ruling released on Thursday.

“Mr. Kony issued standing orders to attack civilian settlements, kill and mistreat civilians, loot and destroy their property, and abduct children and women to be integrated into the LRA,” the judges wrote.

The decision marks a historic first for the ICC — confirming charges against a suspect in their absence. It means the case can advance to trial if Kony is ever captured, although under court rules, proceedings cannot begin without his presence.

Kony, now 64, remains at large. Prosecutors said international efforts to locate and arrest him are continuing.

The decision followed a three-day hearing held in September, where prosecutors and victims’ lawyers laid out evidence and testimony despite Kony’s continued absence — a procedural first that underscored the case’s exceptional nature.

Years of investigations and witness testimonies formed the foundation of the court’s decision.

Originating in northern Uganda’s Acholi region in the late 1980s, Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) blended Christian mysticism with a violent insurgency against the government of President Yoweri Museveni.

According to United Nations estimates, the conflict left around 100,000 people dead and displaced some 2.5 million others across the region.

Even after being driven out of Uganda, fighters from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) continued to launch deadly cross-border raids across South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic — burning villages, looting communities, and abducting tens of thousands of children. The boys were forced to fight, while girls were subjected to sexual slavery, according to Al Jazeera.

Kony returned to global attention in 2012 after a viral documentary about his crimes sparked the #Kony2012 social media campaign.

Despite years of international military operations and widespread public pressure, Kony remains at large.

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