ICC confirms 39 charges against Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed 39 charges against notorious Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, officially committing him to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but only once he is taken into custody.

In a decision delivered Thursday, judges of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber III said there are “substantial grounds to believe” Kony bears criminal responsibility for a campaign of terror carried out by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005. The alleged crimes include murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and forced pregnancy, persecution, enslavement, and the conscription and use of child soldiers.

Kony, the founder and self-proclaimed spiritual leader of the LRA, is accused of wielding absolute control over the rebel group during a conflict that displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians. Prosecutors say he enforced his authority through brutal violence and a system of indoctrination rooted in systematic abuses.

The charges relate to attacks on eight internally displaced persons (IDP) camps — Pajule, Odek, Abok, Lukodi, Barlonyo, Aboke, Atiak, and Aloi — as well as the abduction of schoolgirls from the Lwala Girls Secondary School. Survivors reported mass killings, the burning of homes, widespread abductions, and systematic sexual violence. Children were forced to fight as soldiers, while abducted girls were distributed to LRA commanders as “wives.”

The 39 counts encompass both war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute. Prosecutors argue that Kony is liable as an “indirect co-perpetrator” who devised and directed a common plan to attack civilian populations. In the alternative, he is charged with ordering or inducing the crimes carried out by LRA fighters. He also faces direct charges for the enslavement, rape, and torture of one identified schoolgirl taken from Lwala.

Kony was among the first individuals ever indicted by the ICC in 2005, but nearly two decades later he remains a fugitive. His exact location remains unknown.

Confirming the charges represents the most significant progress in the case in years. However, the International Criminal Court (ICC) emphasized that a trial cannot begin until Kony is physically present, as trials are not permitted in the absence of the accused