Kony was named alongside Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya and Dominic Ongwen. The charges against Kony included 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, covering murder, enslavement, sexual slavery, rape, attacks against civilians and the forced recruitment of children into the rebel ranks.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) publicly announced arrest warrants for Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony and four of his senior commanders on 14 October 2005, marking a historic milestone in international efforts to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The warrants had been issued under seal on July 8, 2005 by Pre-Trial Chamber II to protect witnesses, victims and field operatives in northern Uganda from possible retaliation by the rebel group. Their public announcement in The Hague by ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo brought international attention to the LRA's atrocities and the pursuit of its leadership.
Kony was named alongside Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya and Dominic Ongwen. The charges against Kony included 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, covering murder, enslavement, sexual slavery, rape, attacks against civilians and the forced recruitment of children into the rebel ranks.
Moreno Ocampo called on governments and regional authorities in Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo to assist in locating and arresting the wanted commanders. The announcement marked the first public issuance of arrest warrants in the ICC's history, following the court's establishment under the Rome Statute in 2002.
However, bringing the accused before the court proved difficult. The LRA operated across remote areas and international borders, complicating efforts to apprehend its leaders. While Ongwen was eventually captured and tried by the ICC, Kony remained at large, leaving the warrant against him a longstanding symbol of the challenges of enforcing international justice.
For Uganda, the warrants represented a major international legal intervention in a conflict that had devastated communities, displaced millions and subjected civilians, including children, to grave abuses. They also established a framework for pursuing individual accountability for crimes committed during the LRA insurgency.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) itself does not directly offer or pay monetary cash bounties for fugitives, as it operates strictly as a judicial body dependent on state cooperation. However, financial rewards for Joseph Kony's capture have been issued by international partners to support the ICC arrest warrant; most notably, the United States Department of State maintains an active reward of up to $5 million under its War Crimes Rewards Program for information leading to Kony's arrest, transfer, or conviction.