Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have confirmed war crimes and crimes against humanity charges against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, nearly 20 years after the court first issued a warrant for his arrest.
The decision, announced Thursday by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber III in The Hague, marks a significant step in one of the court’s longest-running cases. Kony, who remains at large, faces 39 charges including murder, rape, sexual enslavement, and forced enlistment of children during his leadership of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from 2002 to 2005.
“There are substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Kony is criminally responsible for the crimes committed in northern Uganda,” the judges said, noting that the rebel commander ordered attacks on villages, the abduction of children, and the destruction of property.
The ruling is historic, it is the first time the ICC has confirmed charges against a suspect who remains at large, allowing the case to move toward trial if Kony is ever apprehended.
Under ICC procedure, a full trial cannot begin until the accused is physically present in court.
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The decision followed a three-day confirmation hearing in September 2025, where prosecutors and victims’ representatives presented evidence and testimony in Kony’s absence. Prosecutors told the court that efforts to locate and arrest the 64-year-old continue, with cooperation from several African states.
Kony, a self-proclaimed prophet who fused Christian mysticism with rebellion, founded the Lord’s Resistance Army in the late 1980s to overthrow Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. His forces waged a brutal insurgency across northern Uganda, marked by mass killings, abductions, and sexual slavery.
According to United Nations estimates, the conflict left around 100,000 people dead and displaced more than 2.5 million. Even after being pushed out of Uganda in the mid-2000s, LRA fighters continued launching attacks across South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic, targeting villages and kidnapping civilians.
The judges also said Kony could be personally held accountable for ten additional crimes involving two women he forced into marriage, showing his direct participation in acts of sexual enslavement.
Despite numerous regional operations and international efforts, including a U.S.-backed mission under former President Barack Obama, Kony has evaded capture for nearly two decades.
He reemerged in global consciousness in 2012 after the viral #Kony2012 campaign by advocacy group Invisible Children brought renewed attention to his crimes. The ICC, which issued its first arrest warrant for Kony in 2005, has called his capture “a critical step toward justice for thousands of victims.”