Do you recognize this face? The image is taking from “KONY 2012”--a video produced by U.S. advocacy group Invisible Children that sheds light on one of the world’s most dangerous war lords, Joseph Kony.
On Thursday the Central African Republic (CAR) announced that it was negotiating with Kony his surrender after 8 years of hiding. This has been the first kind of communication between the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) leader and government officials since the failed peace talks of 2008
Michel Djotodia, the interim president of the CAR, is currently handling the negotiations and has stated that Kony is requesting food supplies that the government is presently in charge of.
Kony, suggesting he is only under the direction of the holy spirit, has been trying to rule Uganda for decades. On top of that, Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of rape, mutilation and murder of civilians, and recruiting children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves.
His primary supporters are the members of his army, the LRA, which consists of a large number of brainwashed child soldiers. Founded in northern Uganda, the LRA is internationally known for abducting children and turning them into soldiers and sex slaves. The numbers of the LRA have decreased over the years between clashes with authorities and Kony himself killing his own troops in fits or paranoia. However, despite the decrease in number of soldiers, they still remain a big threat to the region.
After the LRA was forced out of Uganda in 2005, a team of 100 U.S. Special Forces and 5,000 African Union Military have been patrolling the forests of the CAR, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Kony was last rumored to have been sighted.
Reports have also mentioned that Kony is currently suffering from an "uncharacterized illness", which may be the reason why he is suddenly willing to surrender. However, this all seems extremely suspicious and abrupt. Kony has been on the run for years and even with an ICC arrest warrant hanging over his head he has been committing atrocities across multiple African states. An illness seems too feeble an excuse to want to face the multiple charges he has been accused of. In fact, many suspect that these sudden negotiation talks are another smoke-curtain to shift his fighters to the more fragile and war-fertile ground of the CAR.
In the meantime, the United Nations has been debating whether to send troops to the country considering how its population of 4.6 million people is being policed by only 200 officers.
Despite these suspicions, officials in CAR insist that Kony has been in talks with their government and the U.S. has offered up to 5 million USD for leads that could result in his arrest.
Photo Credit: Panorama Mercantil
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Photo Friday: Kony Reappearance Raises Suspicions
November 22, 2013
Do you recognize this face? The image is taking from “KONY 2012”--a video produced by U.S. advocacy group Invisible Children that sheds light on one of the world’s most dangerous war lords, Joseph Kony.
On Thursday the Central African Republic (CAR) announced that it was negotiating with Kony his surrender after 8 years of hiding. This has been the first kind of communication between the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) leader and government officials since the failed peace talks of 2008
Michel Djotodia, the interim president of the CAR, is currently handling the negotiations and has stated that Kony is requesting food supplies that the government is presently in charge of.
Kony, suggesting he is only under the direction of the holy spirit, has been trying to rule Uganda for decades. On top of that, Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of rape, mutilation and murder of civilians, and recruiting children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves.
His primary supporters are the members of his army, the LRA, which consists of a large number of brainwashed child soldiers. Founded in northern Uganda, the LRA is internationally known for abducting children and turning them into soldiers and sex slaves. The numbers of the LRA have decreased over the years between clashes with authorities and Kony himself killing his own troops in fits or paranoia. However, despite the decrease in number of soldiers, they still remain a big threat to the region.
After the LRA was forced out of Uganda in 2005, a team of 100 U.S. Special Forces and 5,000 African Union Military have been patrolling the forests of the CAR, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Kony was last rumored to have been sighted.
Reports have also mentioned that Kony is currently suffering from an "uncharacterized illness", which may be the reason why he is suddenly willing to surrender. However, this all seems extremely suspicious and abrupt. Kony has been on the run for years and even with an ICC arrest warrant hanging over his head he has been committing atrocities across multiple African states. An illness seems too feeble an excuse to want to face the multiple charges he has been accused of. In fact, many suspect that these sudden negotiation talks are another smoke-curtain to shift his fighters to the more fragile and war-fertile ground of the CAR.
In the meantime, the United Nations has been debating whether to send troops to the country considering how its population of 4.6 million people is being policed by only 200 officers.
Despite these suspicions, officials in CAR insist that Kony has been in talks with their government and the U.S. has offered up to 5 million USD for leads that could result in his arrest.
Photo Credit: Panorama Mercantil
