The International Criminal Court on Tuesday opens its first hearing against Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, who has been on the run for almost two decades.
The Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant in 2005 against Kony and several senior commanders of the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, which conducted a reign of terror in Northern Uganda in the early 2000s.
Kony, 63, is suspected of 39 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity as his rebels gained notoriety for abducting young boys and girls and turning them into child soldiers or sex slaves.
The Tuesday hearing, known as a “confirmation of charges”, is the Hague-based court’s first-ever held in absentia.
The hearing is expected to last three days and will allow prosecutors to outline their case in court, after which judges will decide whether to confirm the charges.
