The office of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has affirmed that it will have to continue with charges against Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony.
This was according to the office of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Dahirou Santana, the international cooperation advisor in the office of the ICC chief prosecutor asserted that although Kony is already charged with 33 cases they are considering adding more.
“A warrant of arrest was issued against Joseph Kony in 2005 and it referred to 33 charges that he committed in Northern Uganda. We are exploring the possibility to add additional charges to the 33 that were given against Kony,” Dahirou said.
He noted all the above while addressing journalists in Kampala Today Friday 27 January 2023.
It should be remembered that in 1987, Kony waged a rebellion against the Ugandan government basing his war in Northern Uganda leaving multitudes of civilians killed, and raped to mention but a few.
The above prompted the office of chief prosecutor Karim Khan and the ICC Pre-trial Chamber to confirm 33 charges against Kony in November 2022.
The charges include rape, the attack against the civilian population, sexual enslavement murder, enslavement, among others.
“We will be showing the court that there is a good cause for confirmation of charges against Joseph Kony. He has been evading justice for over 17 years now and these proceedings will be an opportunity for victims to make their views known to judges, raise their concerns and also to move forward with proceedings,” Dahirou noted.
“Kony fled and cannot be brought to court despite all reasonable efforts undertaken to have him appear. Court states and other organisations have over the past decade tried to locate him and bring him without success.”
According to the official from the office of the ICC prosecutor, charges against Kony take certain steps to present kony to court as soon as possible to be convicted.
