The International Criminal Court (ICC) will on Tuesday begin hearings against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, almost two decades after issuing an arrest warrant for him.
Judges in The Hague are scheduled to review 39 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, sexual slavery, and pillaging. The proceedings will be the first hearings in absentia at the court, a measure aimed at preparing for a full trial if Kony is apprehended.
Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), is accused of directing a violent insurgency that killed more than 100,000 people and led to the abduction of some 60,000 children across Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. Many of the abducted children were forced into combat or subjected to sexual exploitation.
The LRA, which originated in northern Uganda in the late 1980s, expanded its activities across the region before being significantly weakened by regional military operations. Kony remains at large despite international efforts to capture him.
The ICC has said the hearings are intended to safeguard evidence and ensure that a trial can proceed without delay should Kony be detained. Court officials have described the case as a test of the court’s ability to pursue accountability even in the absence of a defendant.
The hearings come after years of unsuccessful attempts to locate Kony, who remains one of the world’s most wanted fugitives.