Uganda announces the destruction of LRA headquarters in the Central African Republic
Uganda announced that its commando forces, supported by troops from South Sudan and the Central African Republic, destroyed camps in the Central African Republic belonging to Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
The Ugandan forces stated that the operation was conducted jointly against three camps in the eastern region of Sam Ouandja, near the Sudanese border. In a statement on Platform X, they added, “All the camps were destroyed, and equipment was seized.”
Kony has been wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2005 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed over three decades across several African nations.
The Ugandan army’s statement emphasized, “The remnants of the LRA who have taken refuge in the Central African Republic or anywhere else in Africa will be pursued. Unless they surrender to authorities for proper processing and rehabilitation, they will continue to be considered criminals.”
The Ugandan army’s website displayed an image of a building engulfed in flames but did not specify if there were any casualties during the raids or whether Kony was present at the time.
Joseph Kony and the LRA
Kony founded the LRA in the 1980s to establish a Christian theocracy and waged a rebellion against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, which spread to the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan before the latter’s secession.
The ICC, based in The Hague, has accused Kony of murder, cruel treatment, enslavement, rape, and attacks on civilian populations. His forces are responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 people and the abduction of 60,000 children, who were forced into sexual slavery, soldiering, and labor.
Last week, a court in Uganda convicted a former LRA commander of crimes against humanity in the first trial of its kind in the East African nation.
Thomas Kwoyelo was found guilty of 44 charges, including murder, rape, torture, looting, kidnapping, and the destruction of internally displaced persons’ settlements.
Kwoyelo, who had awaited the verdict for years behind bars, denied all charges.
The court is scheduled to hold hearings in October to confirm the charges against the 62-year-old Kony.
The ICC, which opened its doors in 2002 to prosecute the world’s worst crimes, will be holding its first hearing to determine whether the fugitive suspect should be brought to trial.
Although suspects cannot be tried in absentia at the ICC, it is possible to hold confirmation hearings while they remain at large to expedite the process.
In 2021, the ICC sentenced Dominic Ongwen, a Ugandan soldier who rose to become a senior commander in the LRA, to 25 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court rejected his appeal in December of that year.
