He claims to be God’s right hand man, but for the past almost two decades he has unleashed hell on the people of northern Uganda.
Joseph Kony, a self-styled spiritual leader and chief of the rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), is now also believed to be the object of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court.
No names have been revealed, but Kony is apparently one of five Ugandan leaders wanted by the ICC. News of the arrest warrants, the first ever issued by The Hague-based court, was confirmed by United Nations sources.
The governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda have been notified of the warrants, the sources said. The ICC has only said that the investigations are ongoing.
The world’s first permanent court to investigate war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity came into force in 2002 and can issue ”sealed” arrest warrants which are not made public.
Last year Uganda became the first state to ask the ICC to investigate a case when it requested intervention in northern Uganda.
Observers claim the Ugandan government has not been consistent in tackling the crisis. On the one hand, it has send a mediator to engage in peace talks with the rebels and promised them an amnesty, yet it has also launched a heavy-handed military campaign.
”We will try all options including that taken by the ICC, but there is still a peace option for the rebels because all doors will remain open,” said Information Minister James Nsaba Butucro in Kampala on Friday.
However it is questionable whether Kony, who has been in hiding for the last few years, will be arrested. He is reportedly living with his 40-plus wives in southern Sudan, but it cannot be excluded that he has escaped into eastern Congo.
The former altar boy has been waging a bloody rebellion against the Ugandan government in the north of the country for nearly two decades, leaving tens of thousands dead and 1,6-million displaced.
About 80% of his fighters are abducted children. Many of them were forced to kill friends or relatives to turn them into unscrupulous killers. Girls are often abused as sex slaves.
Not everyone in Uganda welcomes the ICC news. Religious leaders who have been leading a peace initiative have expressed dismay.
”We are worried about the population in the region. The people will be exposed to the LRA revenge,” said Catholic Archbishop John Baptist Odama in Gulu.
”We have been trying to build confidence among the rebels and the government so that they talk face to face. When you bring in arrest warrants, the confidence crumbles and the war will continue,” he added.
No one really knows what Kony is fighting for. He claims that he wants to overthrow the government and run the country according to the Ten Commandments. He seems to have exempted himself from the Fifth Commandment, ”Thou shalt not kill”. – Sapa-DPA