"The warlord faces 39 counts, including murder, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement and torture, allegedly committed in northern Uganda between July 2002 and December 2005. From 1986, the LRA sought to overthrow Uganda's government, saying it wanted to establish a state based on the Bible's 10 commandments. By 2006, the UN estimated that 2 million people had been displaced. The LRA was then pushed into the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan and later the Central African Republic."
"The victims had no choice when they were forced to watch killings. They had no choice when they were made to kill. They had no choice when their bodies were turned into tools of war, Sarah Pellet, a lawyer representing victims of the LRA, told the court in The Hague. Pellet cited a woman forced to abandon her child: The rebels shot at me, forcing me to throw my baby down to run for my life. I still do not know where my child is."
An ICC in-absentia hearing has begun to confirm charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Joseph Kony, though no trial can proceed without his presence. Kony is accused on 39 counts, including murder, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement and torture allegedly committed in northern Uganda between July 2002 and December 2005. The LRA began fighting the Ugandan government in 1986, claiming a goal to create a state based on the Ten Commandments. By 2006 the UN estimated two million people displaced. The LRA later moved into the DRC, South Sudan and the Central African Republic. An estimated 60,000 children were abducted and more than 100,000 people were killed. US forces and others have tried and failed to capture Kony, and his fate remains unknown. Victims report forced participation in killings, sexual violence, and family separations, leaving communities struggling to recover.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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