The International Criminal Court upheld 39 charges against Kony, paving the way for a trial if he is arrested.
Published November 7, 2025
International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have found Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, nearly two decades after the court first issued an arrest warrant.
Kony remains at large, facing 39 charges including murder, sexual enslavement and rape, making him the ICC’s longest-serving fugitive.
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Judges in the ICC’s Third Pre-Trial Chamber said there were “substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Kony is criminally responsible” for crimes committed in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005, when he led the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
In addition to the crimes committed by the rebels, the judges said Kony could also be held responsible for 10 crimes he allegedly committed himself, related to the two women he forced to become his wives.
“Mr. Kony issued standing orders to attack civilian settlements, kill and abuse civilians, loot and destroy property, and abduct and integrate children and women into the LRA,” the judges said in their ruling.
The ruling marks the first time the ICC has confirmed the charges in the suspect’s absence, meaning Kony could formally proceed to trial if he is arrested. Under ICC rules, a full trial cannot begin unless the defendant appears in court.
Prosecutors said efforts are currently underway to track down and arrest 64-year-old Kony.
The ICC’s decision followed a three-day hearing in September. There, prosecutors and the victim’s attorney presented evidence and testimony without Connie present. This is the unusual procedure that set the stage for Thursday’s sentencing.
Years of investigation and witness testimony formed the basis of the decision.
Kony’s LRA, which emerged from northern Uganda’s Acholi region in the late 1980s, combined Christian mysticism with armed rebellion against the government of President Yoweri Museveni.
The United Nations estimates that around 100,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced during the conflict.
After being driven out of Uganda, LRA fighters continued to launch deadly attacks across South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic, burning villages, pillaging communities, and kidnapping tens of thousands of children. The kidnapped boys were forced into combat, and the girls were made into sex slaves.
Kony once again gained international attention in 2012 when videos of his crimes led to the #Kony2012 campaign on social media.
Despite worldwide attention and years of military operations to capture Kony, he remains at large.
