International court issues first warrants (The Hague)

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued its first arrest warrants since its inception in 2002.

The leader and four members of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda are now wanted on charges of killing, raping and robbing civilians and kidnapping children to use as fighters or slaves, The New York Times reports.

Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group fighting the Ugandan Army for two decades, is wanted along with Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen and Raska Lukwiya.

Although applauding the court for its measures, Human Rights Watch director Richard Dicker has criticized it for ignoring alleged atrocities by the Ugandan Army.

Very little more: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20051015-101742-3032r

[Enhancer]

1. I bet DUers have no idea who these guys are. Oh the ignorance!

Just think of Joseph Kony as a christian version of Osama Bin Laden, only with a well trained and mechanized army of some 200,000 that happens to control more than half of Uganda, and happen to be on a militant quest to baptize Africa. Did I mention this guy is batshit crazy yet maintains the support of many western governments? Or that his movement and similar ones in the region were funded by American churchgoers and christian clergy during the 1980s? It probably still is. I am looking at you, Des Moines, Iowa.

I think the word "christian" in the paragraph above is the reason name Joseph Kony is so obscure.


Here is some info on Joseph Kony from Wikipedia:

"Joseph Kony is the primary leader of a guerilla paramilitary group called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), engaged in a violent campaign to establish a theocratic government in Uganda purportedly based on the Bible and the Ten Commandments . A high-school dropout, he made his first appearance in January of 1987, at age 26. His group was one of many millenarian groups that sprang up in Acholiland in the wake of the wildly popular Holy Spirit Movement of Alice Auma. The primary spirit said to be channeled at this time was Juma Oris, formerly a government minister under President Idi Amin who at the time was leading the rebel West Nile Bank Front in the northwestern Uganda."

"Kony claims to be a spirit medium. One of his assertions is that one of his mentors is the spirit of a Chinese general. He is also known to be a practicing polygamist."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kony

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. Welcome to DU, Enhancer! What a great first post.

Hope to see you more on board and thanks for pointing out the details on Kony.

:toast:

[Enhancer]

5. Thanks.

Long time reader (3-4 weeks?), first time poster.

[KAZ]

3. UR right! Thanks for the info. n/t

n/t

[TroglodyteScholar]

4. Thanks for the info, Enhancer...

And welcome to DU :hi:

Hope you'll stick around. Every informed user helps the community greatly -- especially when it comes to subjects that don't get a lot of attention.

[Gman]

8. Get ready for

"They hate Christians."

[Enhancer]

10. Whatever.

Fact is that crimes committed by Joseph Kony easily surpass anything "Osama" and his "affiliates" have done or have been accused of doing. His "Lord's Resistance Army" is a rather large and sophisticated army that basically consists of psychotic Christians bent on continental genocide. If Osama lived two hundred years he could not commit more atrocities in scale and horror Joseph Kony has already committed. Yet his name is simply not known among the western "enlightened" and "reformed" masses.

[nodehopper]

11. why woud you assume that?

I mean, thanks for posting useful information, but such a preemtive confrontational/haughty way isn't the best foot to start on in a community, don't you think?

I am a DUer and I knew about everything you wrote. I don't know about some other stuff having to do with US politics.

It's great that you are aware and want to share your awareness, but there is no need to get on a high horse about it.

[MaineDem]

6. Not the names I expected

But a good start.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

7. I think we all feel that way....

[Mnemosyne]

9. When are they issuing some

for the war criminals in DC?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

12. Soon, I hope.

They will be deserved.

[Mnemosyne]

13. Deserved and very well earned. n/t