THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — International Criminal Court prosecutors will begin presenting evidence Tuesday to support their charges against fugitive Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony at the global court’s first ever in absentia hearing.
Kony, the founder and leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, faces accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The court’s so-called confirmation of charges hearing comes two decades after it issued an arrest warrant for Kony over his alleged leadership of the brutal rebel group which became notorious for atrocities, including kidnapping children and mutilating captives.
The ICC hearing is not a trial, but allows prosecutors to outline their case in court. Kony will be represented in his absence by a defense lawyer. After weighing the evidence, judges can rule on whether or not to confirm the charges against Kony, but he cannot be tried unless he is in the custody of the ICC.
Kony is facing 39 counts including murder, sexual enslavement, rape, and enlisting child soldiers allegedly committed in 2003 and 2004 in northern Uganda.
The hearing has been seen as a test case for the court moving forward with other cases where the likelihood of having a suspect detained is considered remote, such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Everything that happens at the ICC is precedent for the next case,” Michael Scharf, an international law professor at Case Western Reserve University, told The Associated Press.
Scharf added that while the whereabouts of Netanyahu and Putin are known, Kony has eluded U.S. special forces and remained at large despite a $5 million reward. He also noted that the warrants for Netanyahu and Putin were issued in recent years, whereas Kony has been wanted since 2005.
Kony was thrust into the global spotlight in 2012 when a video about his crimes went viral. Despite the attention and international efforts to capture him, he remains at large.
The LRA began its attacks in Uganda in the 1980s, when Kony sought to overthrow the government. After being pushed out of Uganda, the militia terrorized villages in Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan. It was notorious for using child soldiers, mutilating civilians and enslaving women.
The ICC proceedings against Kony will be followed by many in Uganda, where survivors welcome the charges even as they regret the failure to catch him.
“He did many things bad,” said Odong Kajumba, who escaped the LRA after he was captured and forced to carry a sack of sugar to Uganda’s border with Sudan in 1996. If they can arrest Kony, he said, “I am very happy.”
Not everyone is happy with the proceedings moving forward.
”Why do you want to try a man you can’t get? They should first get him,” said Odonga Otto, a former lawmaker from northern Uganda. “It’s a mockery.” Trying Kony while he is in custody makes court proceedings “more real” for victims and survivors of his alleged crimes, he said.
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Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala contributed to this report.
