On the run for 20 years, Ugandan warlord Kony still 'active' within the Lord's Resistance Army

Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, has been wanted by the ICC for more than 20 years. 

A former altar boy and self-proclaimed messiah, prophet and messenger of God, Kony founded the rebel group in 1987 with the aim of overthrowing Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and establishing a theocratic regime based on the ten commandments in the Bible.

The LRA's bloody insurgency is one of Africa's longest and most brutal conflicts. 

It has claimed more than 100,000 lives and displaced more than two million people, mainly in northern Uganda, according to the UN.

The group carried out numerous massacres and kidnappings of children, who were recruited by the thousands to fight or to satisfy Kony's commanders' sexual appetites.

Resurgence in the Central African Republic

Driven out of the country in 2006 by the national army, the group gradually faded from the public eye, although it remains active in isolated border areas of Central Africa.

But in recent months, the LRA has once again made headlines. Central African authorities are concerned about a resurgence of attacks in the east and southeast of the country. At least 25 children have been abducted there during several raids on villages in attacks attributed to Kony’s notorious militia.  

FRANCE 24 spoke to Leonie von Braun, Senior Trial Lawyer at the ICC and lead investigator in the Joseph Kony case, about the group's resurgence. 

The Lord’s Resistance Army seemed to have virtually disappeared in recent years. How do you interpret these new attacks?  

Leonie von Braun: The LRA is much less powerful than it was in the 2000s. The organisation used to be highly hierarchical, with four brigades, each estimated to have several hundred fighters. Today, they operate on a much smaller scale.  

However, they remain active, employing a survival strategy very similar to the one used in northern Uganda and, later, when they were driven out of their country, in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In the Central African Republic, we are seeing attacks on villages located in the region where they have set up their camps. Civilians are being abducted and enslaved.

This information shows that they are still armed and ready to commit acts of violence. The more people they abduct, the stronger they become. They have always acted this way. They kidnap children because they are easy to indoctrinate, and they turn them into fighters. Within a few years, they have soldiers capable of handling rifles and throwing grenades.

Even though the LRA has been weakened, the risk remains very high for local populations due to these kinds of organisations, which are willing to commit the worst atrocities to ensure their survival.

Read moreVideo: Ugandan city still scarred by Lord's Resistance Army atrocities

You mention the recruitment of children, yet this movement defines itself as Christian. Is this recruitment based on religious grounds?

The LRA has its origins in another Ugandan rebel movement, the “Holy Spirit Movement", founded in the 1980s by a woman named Alice Auma. She called herself Lakwena, after the “spirit” from whom she claimed to receive orders. This group had already attempted – and failed – to overthrow the government.

Joseph Kony subsequently took control of it. The LRA is not a Christian movement in the strict sense but a syncretic movement that blends Christianity with local beliefs. Its leader uses belief in spirits to instill fear among his troops. But indoctrination is carried out primarily through violence.

Children are subjected to initiation rites – extremely violent acts that literally break them – and then the rules are explained to them. For example, dropping a pot of food is punished with severe beatings, just as is refusing to have sex with a commander. An escape attempt is tantamount to death or a near-death experience. Children are subjected to a system of the most severe disciplinary measures, with numerous rules designed to extract total obedience from them.

Read moreFormer Ugandan child soldier-turned-rebel commander sentenced to 25 years at ICC

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Joseph Kony in 2005. He has been the subject of an intense manhunt, including by the United States, which offered a $5 million reward for any information leading to his capture. How can we explain the fact that he is still on the run?   

There have been massive media campaigns on social media calling for his arrest, particularly around 2012 and when the United States deployed US special forces to Central Africa to track him down.  

His ability to stay under the radar can be attributed to several factors. On the one hand, his knowledge of the terrain and his in-depth understanding of the region’s geography; on the other hand, his ability to endure hardship.

This is not, of course, meant to praise him, but it must be acknowledged that Joseph Kony has demonstrated extreme physical and psychological resilience. He has taught the members of his group how to survive in the bush under extremely difficult conditions, how to anticipate changes in the area, and has managed to set up an intelligence network – technologically unsophisticated but highly effective – to evade surveillance and, above all, continue carrying out criminal operations.

Furthermore, the very nature of this group poses a major problem because it includes a large number of children. Any planning for an operation must take into account the risk faced by those who are unarmed, who are not combatants, and who are in no way responsible for their situation. It is therefore essential to find the right moment to act. The situation is made all the more complicated by the fact that it is difficult to obtain reliable and up-to-date information about this group.

Read moreOvercoming the trauma: Singing lessons help former child soldiers in Uganda

What do we know today about Joseph Kony? He is reportedly 65 years old. Are you certain he is still alive?

We are monitoring the Lord’s Resistance Army very closely and are doing everything in our power to secure the surrender and arrest of its leader. The latest information we have indicates that he is still alive. He is not the only leader within this group. There is a hierarchy. And given his age, we might infer that he is not on the front lines in terms of operations. But he is still active and very much present within the LRA.

After 20 years of investigation, do you think it is still possible that Joseph Kony will one day be brought to justice? What does this case mean for the ICC’s credibility? 

This case is particularly significant because of the gravity of the crimes committed against the most vulnerable members of society. The evidence shows that thousands of children and women were abducted during the period falling within our jurisdiction alone – from July 1, 2002, to December 31, 2005. This is a case of considerable magnitude – the largest we have ever handled involving crimes against children.

In a sense, this case tests the limits of the ICC, as we do not have our own police force. We issue arrest warrants, the recognition and execution of which depend on the cooperation of States. But it is extremely important for us to finally bring him to justice, and we are convinced that this is still possible. No one could have imagined that Milosevic, Charles Taylor, and many others would be held accountable for their actions before international justice. We are therefore continuing our efforts.