Kony’s defence team in Gulu

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Defence team of elusive Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader Joseph Kony have arrived in Northern Uganda, the epicentre of the two-decade LRA insurgencies to engage with key stakeholders on the case of Kony before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Led by Peter Hayne, Kony’s lead defence lawyer, the team visited Gulu City on Wednesday where they held a closed-door meeting with the Acholi Paramount Chief David Onen Acana II at his Palace.

The defence team’s visit comes weeks after the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber III judges announced late last month it will proceed to confirm charges against Kony in his absence.

Kony is facing 33 counts of crimes comprising war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in 2003 and 2004 in northern Uganda.

Wednesday’s visit by the defence team of Kony is the first since November 2022 when ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan sought to reopen the case against the LRA commander who has evaded arrest since 2005 when a warrant of arrest was issued against him.

Michael Otim, the Prime Minister of the Acholi Cultural Institution told Uganda Radio Network in an interview Thursday that the meeting was aimed at getting the institution’s perspective on how the community views the reopening of Kony’s case.

He also noted that the defence team wanted to understand how the victims of the LRA conflicts perceived the court’s move to confirm charges against Kony in his absentia.

“They wanted to know the relevance of this Kony’s case if it commences what would the people in Acholi think about it since the suspect is absent? In most cases people would expect a suspect to be physically in court so that they watch his demeanour,” says Otim.

Otim says the visit is a good gesture for the victims of LRA atrocities who have long yearned for justice adding that their engagement highlighted the need to have the judicial process give due consideration to victims.

“Because we believe that the justice being pursued is being done on behalf of the victims of these crimes. And as such, it must be relevant to them and it should deal with their justice questions, and answer their justice questions for the harm they suffered,” he said.

According to Otim, during their engagement, they also emphasized the need for reparation, which is a crucial aspect of the healing of the victims considering many lost valuable properties, their loved ones and breadwinners in homesteads.

Kony’s defence team which included Kate Gibson, Cecille Lerolle, and accompanied by Geoffrey Boris Anyuru, a Ugandan Attorney specialist on International Crimes also yesterday visited the Gulu High Court Circuit where they engaged with judicial officers.

Initially, the ICC had scheduled to hear confirmation of charges against Kony on October 15, 2024, but postponed it. It issued a notice late last month that it had met all conditions to hold confirmation of charges hearing in the absence of the suspect, no new date has been given.

Kony who founded the LRA waged a bloody rebellion in Northern Uganda aimed at toppling the government of President Yoweri Museveni. He remains the longest-standing suspect at large nearly two decades later after an arrest warrant was issued against him by the ICC along with three other commanders. He was indicted along with Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo, and Vince Otti whose cases have since been dropped after confirmation of their death.

Meanwhile, the former commander of the LRA’s Sinia Brigade Dominic Ongwen was convicted by the ICC of 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to 25 years in jail in May 2021.

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