University of Nueva Caceres

College of Law

JOSEPH KONY AND THE INVISIBLE CHILDREN

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the subject CL201_LAW214b-NDa – Human Rights
Law Report 1st semester AY 2020-2021

Submitted by:

Alano, Justine Bea D.

Cadalay, Pahad D.

Cortez, Vincent Raul B.

Eboña, Cyrus P.

Francia, Mei Zhenn I.

Oporto, Hannah May D.

Submitted to:

Atty. Arlene Alangco

Human Rights Law Professor

January 2020
 Introduction
With the signing of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which aims to reaffirm

faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of every human person, people of

the world are supposed to live in a society where human rights are respected and where

everybody’s rights are recognized. As Dalai Lama once said “Peace can only last where human

rights are respected, where people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free”. Human

rights are rights which every individual has by the very reason of his humanity. It is through

human rights that man becomes human. Pope John XXIII once wrote in his papal encyclical

“Pacum In Terris” that any human society, if it is be well-ordered and productive, must lay down

as foundation this principle namely, that every human being is a person, that is his nature is

endowed with intelligence and full will by virtue of this, he has rights and duties flowing directly

and simultaneously from his very nature (Sarmiento, 2017).

However, despite the universality of human rights at present, human rights abuses and

violations remain to be one of the hot topics in deferent parts of the world. Extreme human rights

abuses are drawn by history, from the ancient time to modern era. At present, human right

violations and abuses still exist, and it is caused mainly by armed conflicts among different

parties like government forces against certain rebel groups.

In the present century, armed conflicts are often the primary root cause of extreme human

rights violations, of which children and women are the most vulnerable. Armed conflict as

defined in the international instruments refers to a contested incompatibility that concerns

government and or territory, where there is the use of armed forces between two parties, of

which at least one is the government of a state. It results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in

every calendar year. Violations of political and economic rights are the most typical root causes
of armed conflicts in many parts of the world. As for instance, when right to adequate food,

housing, employment, and cultural rights are denied and large group of people are excluded from

society’s decision processes, there is great tendency of social unrest which may leads to armed

conflicts resulting to human rights abuses. These instances often lead to justice conflicts in which

parties demand that their basic needs be met.

In present era, one of the concrete examples of armed conflicts that resulted to extreme

human rights violation in the history was the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) lead by Joseph

Kony. The LRA is a rebel group which is responsible for Africa’s long armed conflicts. They

mainly create social destruction in the central Africa. They abducted thousands of children and

forced them to be part of his army and thousands of young girls were subjected to sex slave.

Countless of innocent civilians were killed, and half a million people were displaced. Several

negotiation processes were ensued but to no avail.

Kony 2012 was a viral video that set precedence for modern viral advocacy videos. It was

released on YouTube March 5th, 2012 by the non-profit Invisible Children. In that 30-minute

film, viewers were informed about Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony and his army of abducted

children. Filmmaker Jason Russell voiced the film and discussed his personal connection with a

young African boy who had been affected by Kony’s crimes. The film included interviews with a

variety of guests from Russell’s son to international experts. The purpose of the video was to

“make Kony famous” (Russell, 2012- 23:00). Invisible Children felt that not enough was being

done by the U.S. to help Uganda stop Kony because not many Americans had ever heard of him

or the issue. The video went viral across Facebook and Youtube, reaching 100 million views in

six days. Invisible Children advertised their ‘Action Kits’ and bracelets in the video and sales of
those were extremely successful as well. Part of this widespread success was aided by the video

“trending” on YouTube; Kony 2012 ranked as the 3rd highest trending YouTube video of 2012.

In this manuscript, the authors aim to have a thorough discussion on the matter from the

creation of the LRA down to Joseph Kony’s participation in the movement together with the

crimes he committed and cases filed against him. After the presentation of the information, the

authors will give its conclusion and closing statements on the matter.
 JOSEPH KONY AND THE INVISIBLE CHILDREN

BACKGROUND

The division in Uganda began during the late 19th century British territorial rule. People

from the northern part of Uganda, in particular the Acholi, resisted against the colony which

made it difficult for them to be conquered. This resulted to the northern part being tagged as

“primitive, warlike, and comparatively less evolved” than those of the south, who were deemed

to be more cooperative with the British. Consequently, the southern Uganda was improved as

they received economic and infrastructural development. They were likewise given jobs with the

relative power attached to it. On the other hand, the northerners were used as laborers or enlisted

as part of the British army.

The colonially created regional animosity and socioeconomic division between the north

and the south were institutionalized even further after their liberation. When Id Admin rose into

power imposing military dictatorship from 1971 to 1979, the social fabric of Uganda was

destroyed, and was aggravated during the war to overthrow him. It created disputes among

political parties on who would fill the power void left after Amin’s removal. The two main

parties were the National Resistance Movement (NRM) lead by Yoweri Museveni, primarily

consisted of southerners and westerners of the country, and the Uganda People’s Democratic

Army headed by an Acholi, General Tito Okello, primarily consisted of Acholi and northerners.

Museveni’s rise to power, defeating Okello, in 1986 worsen the division among the

Uganda people. The Acholis revolted against the marginalization that they or the northerners

have felt for a long time. They created a rebel alliance named the Holy Spirit Movement lead by

a spirit medium, Alice Lakwena. In 1987, Lakwena was defeated and was exiled to Kenya, thus
Joseph Kony took over and changed the movement to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The

LRA became an alarming resistance movement when it adopted standard military tactics as

opposed to the previous methods used by Lakwena that involved cross-shaped formation attacks

and use of oil or holy water for defense.

KONY AND THE LRA

Illuded by Kony’s influence that they are fighting in the name of God to overthrow the

government and to establish a regime based on the Ten Commandment, the LRA sowed terror

among the Uganda people. Joseph Kony committed countless of crimes during the period he led

the LRA. Thousands of people have been violated of their human rights when the LRA

committed violations involving sexual violence, targeting of civilians, ethnic- or religious-based

attacks, attacks on schools and hospitals, and abduction and forced displacement. It was alleged

that they have been recruiting or using more than thirty thousand (30, 000) children that they

have abducted in armed conflict. Kony was known for his brutal acts of murdering, abducting,

mutilating and burning of properties of the civilians in Uganda. LRA wreaked havoc and dread

over the years to villages and nearby countries which caused some to move to protected camps.

Thereafter in 2005, warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court against

Kony and some of his commanders for the crimes against humanity which included murder,

enslavement, sexual enslavement, and rape. There were also warrants against them for twenty-

one (21) counts of war crimes including murder, cruel treatment of civilians, intentionally

directing an attack against a civilian population, pillaging, inducing rape, and forced enlisting of

children into the rebel ranks.

 Unimaginable number of innocent victims, of all ages, have suffered from the group of

Joseph Kony which prompted not only the government of Uganda, but the international bodies to

take a step to fight for the rights of the people who have been violated. The government of

Uganda tried numerous times to make peace talks to solve the clash between them and rebel

group but to no avail. As a result, operations and missions for the apprehension of Kony and the

other commanders of the group have been formed with the help of US armies. One of the most

notable actions created in 2004 for the purpose of informing the whole world of what has been

happening in Uganda and to help the victims of LRA was “The Invisible Children” (TIC). In

2012, the founders thereof created an awareness advocacy which was called Kony 2012, a social

media campaign, to make the world notice of the violence caused by Kony and his group. The

said program was successful in its mission which includes the gathering of donation to help the

victims of LRA’s crisis. It was in 2014 when the TIC focused on the places of Central African

Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan on its awareness campaign,

being one of the prone areas of violence as it lacks governance and as it is an isolated area.

The Uganda and the US armies stopped the search for Joseph Kony in 2017 after

evidence showed that the LRA is no longer a threat to the community. The US military ended

their mission to capture or kill Kony whose fighting force of 3000 soldiers dwindled down to

only about 100 soldiers. With this, the LRA was not considered as a threat anymore to the

surrounding countries where they previously operated with notoriety. Some of the members were

apprehended and turned themselves in to the government. Some of them were indicted however

Joseph Kony was not yet arrested thus the cases filed against him remain open. Nevertheless, US

will only declare the mission accomplished once Kony is captured or dies.
 At present, it was said that LRA only constitutes a few dozen members, including the

children of Kony. They are now living as refugees, as Kony would describe them, who are just

striving for survival. The African government, with the assistance of United States and other

organizations are continuously helping the affected areas and victims of LRA atrocities.

The survivors of Kony and his LRA, their family, and their lives were never the same.

Some of these survivors, whose nose, lips, and ears were mutilated, tried to go back to a normal

life but are forced to face a stigma due to their malformed appearance and the trauma that they

have suffered under Kony’s LRA. The survivors, now adults, do not have parents as they were

forced to kill their own parents when they were kidnapped, and most of them try to lead a normal

life.

As of December 2020, Uganda’s real GDP grew at 2.9 percent in Fiscal Year 2020, less

than half the 6.8 percent recorded in Fiscal Year 2019, because of COVID-19 crisis, and is

expected to grow at a similar level in Fiscal Year 2021, but downside risks are high. Economic

activity stalled during the latter part of the fiscal year due to a domestic lockdown that lasted

over four months. During the “Kony2012,” The world’s attention was turned to the gruesome

situation in Uganda, thanks to the overwhelming effects of social media back then. At present,

Uganda is still rebuilding its trade and economy after enduring the attacks of LRA in its land and

people, while the world has its eyes set on the on-going pandemic.
References:

750, 224, 228, & 3. (2020, March 24). Kony's rebels remain a threat, but they're also selling honey to get

by. Retrieved December 22, 2020, from https://africanarguments.org/2020/03/joseph-kony-lra-

rebels-threat-selling-honey/.

Bank, W. (2020, December 01). Uganda Economic Update, 16th Edition, December 2020. Retrieved

January 04, 2021, from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/34893?show=full.

History of the war. (2016, October 11). Retrieved December 19, 2020, from

https://invisiblechildren.com/challenge/history/.

Joseph Kony - child kidnapper, warlord, 'prophet'. (2018, July 27). Retrieved December 22, 2020, from

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17299084.

Joseph Kony. (n.d.). Retrieved December 19, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-

Kony.

Lord's Resistance Army. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2021, from

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lords-Resistance-Army.

Melander, E. (2015). Organized Violence in the World 2015. Uppsala Conflict Date Program.

Retrieved on December 28 from http://www.pcr.uu.se/digitalAssets/61/61335_1ucdp-

paper- 9.pdf

McKay, H. (2020, February 19). Where is Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony? Retrieved January 04, 2021,

from https://www.foxnews.com/world/viral-vanish-what-happened-to-joseph-kony.

Raghavan, S., & Whitlock, C. (2013, April 03). Hunt for Joseph Kony, elusive African warlord, is halted.

Retrieved December 22, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hunt-for-elusive-

african-warlord-halted/2013/04/03/833cc0dc-9c81-11e2-9219-51eb8387e8f1_story.html.

Sanders, S. (2014, December 15). Organization Behind 'Kony 2012' Set To Close Its Doors In 2015.

Retrieved December 28, 2020, from http://www.npr.org/section/thetwo-

way/2014/12/15/370824018/organization-behind-kony-2012-set-to-close-its-doors-in-2015
Sarmiento, R (2017). Human Rights Law, Human Rights Culture. Rex Book Store.

www.rexpublishing.com.ph.