The government has launched an investigation into allegations against a former International Criminal Court (ICC) official, Brigid Inder, who has been accused of facilitating and financing the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader, Joseph Kony.
These allegations emerged following claims by LRA victims, represented by lawyer Joanna Frivet, that Inder funded Kony between 2006 and 2017.
According to the victims, Inder, who served as the Special Gender Advisor to former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda from 2012 to 2016, personally and through intermediaries provided funds to Kony.
Witnesses, who were former LRA abductees, have alleged meetings that occurred in the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Cash in US dollars was reportedly handed to Kony in bags and envelopes during these meetings.
Furthermore, Inder is accused of using junior staff from her organization, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ), in The Hague, Netherlands, to transfer large sums of money through Western Union. The funds were allegedly picked up by LRA members in Juba, South Sudan.
Frivet’s statement also includes accusations of human trafficking for sexual slavery, claiming that two out of five women taken to meet Kony in 2016 in Garamba were forcibly retained by LRA soldiers. These women, former “wives” of high-ranking LRA commanders, were identified through collaboration with local NGOs in Northern Uganda.
Uganda’s Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, confirmed that the government has received the allegations and has initiated an independent investigation. The government will prosecute the individual if the allegations are substantiated.
However, it remains unclear whether the government will coordinate with the ICC on this investigation.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello Oryem praised the exposure of the alleged Western sponsors of the LRA, stating that the government had previously made such claims without much international attention.
In response to the allegations, Brigid Inder issued a statement refuting the accusations, describing them as sensational and untrue. She denied ever meeting Kony or providing him with money in envelopes, as well as engaging in human trafficking or recruiting “wives” for the LRA.
The Lord’s Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, waged a violent rebellion against the Ugandan government for two decades, resulting in significant loss of life and displacement in Northern Uganda.
In 2005, the ICC indicted Kony and four other top commanders for war crimes in the region. Cases against some of the individuals were withdrawn due to their deaths, while Dominic Ongwen, another top commander, was prosecuted and sentenced by the ICC