The Ugandan government is investigating allegations that a former senior ICC official was involved in financing the LRA, known for its human rights abuses, the country's attorney-general Kiryowa Kiwanuka said on Monday.
Brigid Inder, who served as Special Gender Advisor to former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda (2012-2016), is accused of funding the LRA personally and through intermediaries between 2006 and 2017. According to a press statement released on 21 September by Joanna Frivet, a lawyer representing former child soldiers of the LRA, a whole host of victims alleged that Inder facilitated and financed Joseph Kony, the leader of the organization.
Kony, who remains at large, launched a bloody rebellion in 1987, fighting against President Museveni's government to establish a theocratic regime in Uganda based on his version of the Ten Commandments in the Bible. Since then, his campaign of terror has spread to several other countries, including South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"We have received information about the alleged involvement of the named ICC official funding the LRA activities including money to buy weapons, and our relevant bodies are investigating the claims," Kiwanuka told the media, adding: "These are serious criminal allegations and if they are found to be correct, the official will be prosecuted to ensure justice for the victims."
According to the lawyer's press release, Inder's first contact with Kony allegedly occurred in October 2006 in the DRC through the intermediary of a known LRA supporter in the UK. During this meeting, Inder is said to have handed over $25,000 in "appreciation" for hosting her. In addition to financial assistance, the victims also accuse Inder of two incidents of human trafficking for sexual slavery.
However, Inder, the founder and former Executive Director of Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ), who was involved in peace talks between the LRA and Uganda's government, responded to the allegations, stressing that she "categorically refutes" them.
"The allegations are sensational and untrue. I have never met Joseph Kony and never handed him envelopes full of money. I have never engaged in any activities that were intended to support the military aspirations and conflict-related activities of the LRA," she said.
The former ICC official elaborated that the accusations are based on the statements of a disgruntled employee who was fired from the WIGJ in 2014 for misconduct. She denied all the allegations, insisting that she has never been involved in any crimes committed by the LRA.
More than 100,000 people are reported to have been killed and 60,000 children abducted during Kony's rebellion. The ICC issued a warrant for Kony's arrest in 2005 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Similar allegations against an unnamed ICC official were made by Dominic Ongwen, a former LRA commander who was convicted of 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICC in February 2021. He accused the official of providing the extremist organization with money and satellite phones between 2005 and 2006, when Ongwen was an active member.
The ICC's Office of the Prosecutor responded by saying that it was aware of the allegations and was in the process of reviewing the situation. For his part, Uganda's Minister of Justice, Ephraim Kamuntu, said that the government takes these allegations seriously and has launched an investigation.
The ICC has been repeatedly accused of being biased against the African continent. Pointing to the fact that the majority of its investigations involve situations in African countries, some African leaders and politicians pointed out that the ICC practices selective justice and violates the sovereignty of post-colonial states.