Will 2012 end Joseph Kony’s reign of terror

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In 2005, the International Criminal Court at the Hague indicted Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA., under Kony’s leadership, has terrorized Central Africa with its crimes against humanity for over 20 years. But Joseph Kony manages to evade capture for one simple reason: very few people know who he is.

Last year, President Obama sent 100 troops to Central Africa to assist the military in creating a plan for capturing Kony. Kony found out about the American troops, changed his tactics and effectively disappeared. Americans are so unaware of Kony or the true nature of the LRA. that when President Obama sent those 100 troops to Central Africa, Rush Limbaugh said he was declaring war on a group of Christians. People see the name, Lord’s Resistance Army, and some assume it’s some sort of religious organization. The LRA. is as far from any god as a group can be.

In 1986, Yoweri Museveni became president of Uganda. Alice Lakwena started the Holy Spirit Movement in opposition to Museveni, recruiting followers and forming alliances with rebels. Their intent was to enter Kampala, Uganda’s capital city and free the north from government oppression. Eventually, Alice Lakwena was exiled and there was no one to lead the HSM.

Joseph Kony claimed to be related to Alice Lakwena, and took over the Holy Spirit Movement. One of his first orders of business was to change the name to Lord’s Resistance Army. Kony was unable to maintain the group’s number or regional support and began stealing food and abducting children to fill the ranks of his “army.” With these actions, Kony lost all regional support and what had begun as a rebel movement to fight the oppression of the north became itself an oppressive movement.

In 2006, the LRA indicated they were interested in peace talks. Over the next two years, the LRA was given food, clothing and medicine as signs of good faith, but Joseph Kony himself never participated in the talks; he sent delegates to negotiate on his behalf. In 2008, when it became clear that the LRA and Kony had no interest in peace, Operation Lightning Thunder was launched, a joint effort between Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Sudan, with intelligence and logistical support from the United States. The operation failed.

Somehow, Joseph Kony learned of Operation Lightning Thunder, and was able to escape. In retaliation for the attempted attack, the LRA attacked villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo on December 24th, 2008. The LRA killed 865 civilians and abducted over 160 more over the course of two weeks. The LRA were reportedly instructed to target churches, where people would be attending services for Christmas Eve.

The LRA left Uganda once the peace talks began in 2006. Since 2008, they have carried out their attacks in the border regions of northeastern Congo, South Sudan and Central Africa Republic. Joseph Kony was indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in the Hague in 2005. He remains at large to this day.

Invisible Children.com has created Kony 2012. Their hope is to make Joseph Kony “famous.” Joseph Kony is not known to many Americans. But he should be. The LRA kidnaps children, using the girls as sex slaves and forcing the boys to fight and often kill their own families. The most frightening act of violence used by the LRA is mutilation. You can find hundreds of photos of African men and women, their faces marred, limbs missing, blind and crippled from these brutal attacks.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) is one of the few legislators who has stepped up and supported the prosecution of Joseph Kony, along with President Obama. But if no one knows who Kony is, or what the LRA does, the 100 US troops assisting in Central Africa will be sent home, and Kony may once again escape justice. We need to make Joseph Kony famous.

2012 needs to be the year we end Joseph Kony’s reign of terror. Please visit www.kony2012.com for more information on what you can do to help. You can watch an astonishingly brave and hopeful video from Invisible Children filmmaker, Jason Russell, and find out why April 20th, 2012, will a day everyone finally knows know the real Joseph Kony.

Thanks to Invisible Children for information in this article

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