ICC prosecutor to slap more charges against LRA’s Kony

The Office of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said they are considering slapping more charges against the rebel leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony.

Mr Dahirou Sant-Anna, the International Cooperation Adviser, from the office of the Chief Prosecutor, revealed that more investigations are being carried out to back up the new charges and also support their case against Kony when the hearing of the confirmation charges session starts.

“We are also exploring the possibility of bringing more charges against Kony to the earlier 33 charges that were brought against him. The idea is to extradite those charges and identify other locations that will be featured in his case at the trial at any stage,” Mr Dahirou said while addressing the media on Friday in Kampala.

Kony, who is wanted by the ICC in connection with the two-decade war in northern Uganda, is facing 33 charges. He is also the longest suspect at the ICC at large.

Mr Dahirou also said as the prosecution, they are waiting for the judges of the court to inform them of when they will start the hearing of the confirmation charges.

On November 24, last year, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC led by Mr Karim A.A. Khan, made an application to the judges of the court seeking to have Kony tried in absentia for having eluded justice for the past 17 years.

The Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Kony in 2005 on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But according to Mr Dahirou, they are now awaiting the judges of the court to give them the timelines of when the hearing of the confirmation charges will be conducted.

“After the prosecution submitted the request for confirmation charges against Kony in absentia, there is an independent office representing the accused within the court, it’s called the public office of the defence, which has also made submissions to the judges in respect to the Office of the Prosecutor’s request. So we are still waiting on the judges of the court to give us timelines on when the hearing of the confirmation charges will take place. It may be next week, next month…” Mr Dahirou said.

“As you may recall, a warrant of arrest was issued against Joseph Kony in 2005 and that warrant is bearing 33 charges for crimes he allegedly committed in Northern Uganda,’’ she added.

“If the charges are confirmed, but Kony is not arrested, we [will] just stop there because we can’t prosecute a non-existing person.’’

Article 61 (2)b of the Rome Statute allows the prosecutor to request the chamber to carry out the hearing when the suspect has fled, or cannot be found and that all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that he appears before the judges.

Kony terrorised northern Uganda for more than three decades, a rebellion that left more than 100,000 people killed and more than 2 million others displaced.

One of his top commanders, Dominic Ongwen, had his 25-jail term upheld by the appeals chambers of the ICC late last year. The ICC investigation into the situation in Uganda was opened in 2004.

This saw an arrest warrant issued against Kony, the founder and leader of the LRA issued in 2005 for 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The allegations against Kony, who is believed to be hiding in the jungles of the Central African Republic, include murder, cruel treatment, enslavement, rape, and attacks against civilian population. 

However, this arrest warrant remains unexecuted to this day, and it is why the ICC chief prosecutor is seeking court’s indulgence to have his charges confirmed even in his absence.