Uganda accuses ICC official of funding Lord's Resistance Army

Uganda is investigating allegations that a former senior advisor to the International Criminal Court was involved in funding the notorious Lord's Resistance Army.

Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) fighters at Ri-Kwangba, near what was then the border between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, on 20 September 2006. © AFP PHOTO/STRINGER

According to a press release issued by a lawyer representing former child soldiers of the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, victims alleged that between 2006 and 2017 former ICC official Brigid Inder "facilitated and financed" Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA in Uganda.

"We have received information about the alleged involvement of the named ICC official in funding the LRA activities including money to buy weapons and our relevant bodies are investigating the claims," Uganda's attorney general Kiryowa Kiwanuka told the French news agency AFP.

"These are serious criminal allegations and if they are found to be correct, the official will be prosecuted to ensure justice for the victims."

Kony and his LRA launched a rebellion in Uganda more than three decades ago that sought to impose his own version of the Ten Commandments in the north of the country.

It unleashed a campaign of terror that spread to several neighbouring countries.

'Sensational and untrue'

Between 2012 and 2016 Inder was a special adviser on gender to the then prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda.

Inder denied the claims in a statement posted on social media on 21 September, calling the allegations "sensational and untrue".

"I have never met Mr Joseph Kony. I have never handed Mr Kony envelopes full of money. I have never engaged in any activities that were intended to support the military aspirations and conflict-related activities of the LRA," she wrote, saying that the allegations stemmed from a disgruntled former employee of her organisation Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ).

My response categorically refutes all allegations made against me and WIGJ today by the Peace, Justice and Security Foundation: https://t.co/KTwefKuDQH The justice sector needs serious and discerning people, not noise and chaos. pic.twitter.com/5FBLo52gZI

— Brigid Inder, OBE (@BrigidInder) September 21, 2023

Inder was the former executive director of WIGJ and was involved in peace talks between the LRA and Uganda's government.

The ICC is responsible for investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the armed conflict between the LRA and Ugandan authorities from July 2002 onwards.

Brutal rebellion

The LRA has proved one of central Africa’s cruellest and most enduring armed groups since its inception in 1987, experts say.

During that time the LRA has abducted over 67,000 people, including 30,000 children, for use as child soldiers, sex slaves and porters.

More than 100,000 people were killed during Kony's rebellion, and the conflict then spread to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic.

Ugandan districts affected by Lord's Resistance Army. Map: Mark Dingemanse, CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

The United States and the African Union have both designated the LRA as a terrorist group and the US has labelled Kony a "global terrorist".

The ICC issued its first arrest warrants for Kony and four other LRA commanders in 2005, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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One of the LRA leaders, Dominic Ongwen, gave himself up in January 2015. After a four-year trial he was convicted in February 2021.

But the LRA has continued to operate in remote border areas of Sudan and South Sudan, and Kony remains at large despite a massive international manhunt.

(with newswires)