‘LRA and Kony in Sudan border area’: campaign groups

Joseph Kony, the fugitive war crimes suspect wanted by the International Criminal Court has sought refuge in Kafia Kingi, an enclave controlled by Sudan, according to a report. Kony, commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and originally from Uganda, has been accused of crimes for decades and has evaded an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in October 2005. LRA defectors, corroborated by satellite imagery and civilian testimony, provide “strong evidence” that he has frequently camped in Kafia Kingi on the border of Sudan and South Sudan and in neighbouring areas of Central African Republic since 2010. The report by the US-based campaign groups the Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative and Invisible Children, released this week, provides the most comprehensive public record of Kony’s movements since 2005. Joseph Kony first travelled to the Sudanese-controlled Kafia Kingi enclave in late 2010, where he sought to re-establish ties with his old patron, the Sudanese military. For the past two years, Kony has operated primarily in Kafia Kingi and neighboring areas of the CAR, escaping several Ugandan military strikes. Sudanese troops based in Kafia Kingi, which is controlled by Sudan but claimed by South Sudan, have reportedly provided LRA groups with limited amounts of supplies and munitions and allowed the rebels to access local markets, it added. ‘Extricate Kony from Sudan’ “There can be no doubt any more that Kony frequently uses Kafia Kingi as a safe haven,” said Paul Ronan, director of the Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative. “Denying Kony safe haven in Kafia Kingi and bringing him to justice are just the first step in [the] long road to recovery for LRA-affected communities.” But the prospects of extricating Kony from Kafia Kingi are remote. Relations between Sudan and the US are tense. Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, who has ruled the country for 25 years, is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes in Darfur. Kony has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, and accused of leading a campaign of rape, mutilation and murder, and of kidnapping boys to serve as child soldiers and girls as sex slaves.The full report ‘Tracking Joseph Kony’ can be found here. (The Guardian) File photo: Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) (Adam Pletts) Related: SLM-MM claims LRA and Kony are in South Darfur (23 April 2012)