Kony Case: ICC hearing over Ugandan rebel leader to proceed in absentia

Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday gave their final greenlight for proceedings against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony to carry on.

The court scheduled a confirmation of charges hearing for September. Prosecutors will present evidence to back up charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Kony.

The hearing will be held in absentia, a first for the tribunal, as Kony’s whereabouts remain unknown. The Appeals Chamber's judgment confirms several decisions made by the ICC over the past two tyears.

Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a violent rebel group that tried to overthrow the Ugandan government in the 1980s.

The militia was pushed out of Uganda in the mid-2000s, but it continued to terrorise villages in Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It was notorious for using child soldiers, mutilating civilians and enslaving women.

Kony was indicted in 2005, and Interpol issued a Red Notice for his arrest on behalf of the ICC in 2006, but the rebel leader has evaded capture.

Kony faces dozens of counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, sexual enslavement and rape.

The ICC's rules do not allow trials entirely in absentia but can in some circumstances move forward with a confirmation of charges even if the suspect is not in custody.

Kony's court-appointed lawyers had argued his fair trial rights would be violated if the proceedings continued without their client.

ICC judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin said the court had "adequately robust safeguards” to allow the confirmation of charges hearing to be held in absentia.

The case had been seen as a trial balloon for the court moving forward with other cases where the suspect is not in custody, such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Russian President Vladimir Putin.