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The Cult Dossier · No. 077 · Apocalyptic / Doomsday

Lord's Resistance Army

LRA; formerly the United Holy Salvation Army

1987 – present (much reduced) · Northern Uganda; South Sudan; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Central African Republic

VIII. THE 1990s — THE MILLENNIUM APPROACHES

Fully religious — spirit-medium Christian syncretism driving an insurgency

Who led it

JOSEPH KONY (b. c.1961), a former altar boy and Acholi spirit medium who claims to be a spokesman for God and to be possessed by a plurality of spirits, including an American named Who Are You, a Chinese phantom named King Bruce, and an Islamic spirit named Juma Oris. Predecessor: ALICE AUMA LAKWENA of the Holy Spirit Movement.

What it worshipped and taught

A syncretism of Acholi spirit mediumship, Catholicism and Islam. Kony's stated aim is to rule Uganda by the Ten Commandments. Practices: anointing fighters with shea butter and holy water to make them bulletproof; drawing crosses in oil on the chest; prohibitions on certain foods and on taking cover in battle; and elaborate ritual purification of abducted children. Alice Lakwena's earlier Holy Spirit Movement had taught the same bulletproofing doctrine and marched troops into machine-gun fire singing hymns and throwing stones that were supposed to explode.

Who was in it

Joseph Kony; Alice Auma Lakwena, who died in a Kenyan refugee camp in 2007; Vincent Otti, executed by Kony in 2007; DOMINIC ONGWEN, abducted as a child of about 9 and grown into a commander — later convicted at the ICC, a case that forced international law to confront a defendant who was both victim and perpetrator; Raska Lukwiya; Okot Odhiambo; the NIGHT COMMUTERS, tens of thousands of northern Ugandan children who walked into town centres every evening to sleep in safety from abduction.

How it ended, or where it stands

Reduced to a few hundred fighters in the Central African Republic and Congo; Kony still at large.

The dead

Estimates of 100,000+ killed; 60,000–100,000 CHILDREN ABDUCTED; 2 million displaced

Of note

The largest child abduction operation in modern history. Its inclusion is defensible because the LRA's cohesion rests on spirit mediumship and ritual, not on political programme — Kony has never articulated one beyond the Ten Commandments. It is also the clearest case of the perpetrator-victim problem: most LRA fighters were abducted children.

Its timeline

  1. 1986 Alice Lakwena founds the Holy Spirit Movement; her forces are destroyed near Jinja in 1987.
  2. 1987 Kony forms what becomes the LRA from the remnants.
  3. 1990s The LRA loses popular support among the Acholi and turns to ABDUCTION as its recruitment method. Children are taken at night, forced to kill — often family members or other children — to break their ties to home, and then integrated as fighters or as forced wives.
  4. 1996 The Ugandan government forces roughly 1.8 million northern Ugandans into displacement camps, where mortality is very high.
  5. 1996 ABDUCTION OF THE ABOKE GIRLS — 139 schoolgirls taken from St Mary's College, Aboke. Sister Rachele Fassera follows the rebels and negotiates the release of 109; 30 are kept.
  6. 2002–2005 Operation Iron Fist; the war spreads into Sudan and Congo.
  7. 8 July 2005 ICC issues arrest warrants for Kony and four commanders — the Court's first ever warrants.
  8. 2006–2008 Juba peace talks collapse when Kony refuses to sign.
  9. 24–27 December 2008 THE CHRISTMAS MASSACRES in Congo — around 620 civilians killed and 160 children abducted in a few days.
  10. 2012 The Kony 2012 video by Invisible Children becomes the fastest-spreading viral video to that date, with over 100 million views in six days; it draws heavy criticism for oversimplification.
  11. January 2015 DOMINIC ONGWEN surrenders; convicted at the ICC on 4 February 2021 of 61 counts and sentenced to 25 years.
  12. 2017 US and Ugandan forces end the hunt for Kony; he remains at large.
  13. 3 June 2025 ICC Appeals Chamber approves in absentia confirmation proceedings — a first for the Court.
  14. 9–10 September 2025 Confirmation of charges hearing held in Kony's absence.
  15. 6 NOVEMBER 2025 ICC CONFIRMS 39 CHARGES against Kony. He still cannot be tried until captured.

Its people

Joseph Kony

—

Commander, Lord's Resistance Army · born c.1961 · active 1987–present

A former altar boy and Acholi spirit medium who took over the remnants of Alice Lakwena's Holy Spirit Movement in 1987. He claims to be a spokesman for God and to be possessed by multiple spirits, including an American called Who Are You and a Chinese phantom called King Bruce. He anoints fighters with shea butter to make them bulletproof and forbids them to take cover. Having lost Acholi popular support in the 1990s, he turned to abduction as his recruitment method, taking between 60,000 and 100,000 children and forcing them to kill — often family members — to sever their ties to home. He has never articulated a political programme beyond ruling by the Ten Commandments.

Before the law. 39 CHARGES CONFIRMED by the ICC on 6 November 2025, following the first in absentia confirmation proceeding in the Court's history. HE CANNOT BE TRIED IN ABSENTIA — the Rome Statute requires the accused to be present, so no trial can begin until he is captured.

Where things stand. AT LARGE. Believed to be in the Central African Republic or Sudan with a few hundred fighters.

  1. 1987 Forms the LRA.
  2. 1996 Abduction of the Aboke girls — 139 taken from St Mary's College.
  3. 8 July 2005 ICC issues its first-ever arrest warrants, for Kony and four commanders.
  4. 2006–08 Juba peace talks collapse when he refuses to sign.
  5. December 2008 The Christmas Massacres in Congo — ~620 killed, 160 children abducted in days.
  6. 2012 The Kony 2012 video reaches over 100 million views in six days.
  7. 2017 US and Ugandan forces end the hunt.
  8. 3 June 2025 The ICC Appeals Chamber upholds the decision permitting confirmation proceedings IN ABSENTIA under Article 61(2)(b) — a first in the Court's history.
  9. 9–10 SEPTEMBER 2025 Confirmation of charges hearing held at The Hague in his absence.
  10. 6 NOVEMBER 2025 PRE-TRIAL CHAMBER III CONFIRMS 39 CHARGES of war crimes and crimes against humanity, for conduct in northern Uganda between at least 1 July 2002 and 31 December 2005.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

Alice Auma

Alice Lakwena

Founder, the Holy Spirit Movement · 1956 – 17 January 2007 · active 1986–1987

A former fish seller and spirit medium in northern Uganda who in 1985 was possessed by a spirit she called Lakwena — 'messenger' — an Italian military officer who had died at the Nile. She raised an army of Acholi fighters and anointed them with shea butter she said would stop bullets, forbidding them to take cover or aim at individuals. They marched to within 80 kilometres of Kampala before being destroyed by machine-gun fire. Her surviving framework and fighters became the basis of Joseph Kony's LRA.

Before the law. Never charged.

Where things stand. Deceased 2007. Her doctrine and remnant fighters became the LRA.

  1. 1985 Claims possession by the spirit Lakwena.
  2. 1986 Raises the Holy Spirit Mobile Forces; anoints fighters with shea butter to make them bulletproof.
  3. 1987 Her army is destroyed near Jinja; she flees to Kenya.
  4. 1987–2007 Lives in the Ifo refugee camp in Kenya.
  5. 17 January 2007 Dies in the camp.

Checked

Dominic Ongwen

—

LRA brigade commander — abducted as a child · born c.1975 · active c.1987–2015

THE HARDEST CASE IN THIS DOSSIER. Abducted by the LRA at around nine years old while walking to school, he was forced to kill, was raised entirely within the group, and rose to command a brigade. He was charged with the same crimes that had been committed against him. The ICC convicted him on 61 counts in 2021, holding that his own victimisation as a child did not excuse crimes committed as an adult commander, while treating it as mitigation in sentencing. He is the only person ever convicted at the ICC of a crime he was also a victim of.

Before the law. CONVICTED AT THE ICC — FULLY VERIFIED AGAINST COURT RECORDS. On 4 FEBRUARY 2021 Trial Chamber IX found him guilty of 61 CRIMES, crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed in Northern Uganda between 1 JULY 2002 AND 31 DECEMBER 2005. On 6 MAY 2021 he was sentenced to 25 YEARS. On 15 DECEMBER 2022 THE APPEALS CHAMBER CONFIRMED BOTH GUILT AND SENTENCE — THE CONVICTION IS NOW FINAL, with no further appeal available. Trial Chamber IX has separately ordered REPARATIONS FOR VICTIMS.

Where things stand. Incarcerated in Norway, AND THIS IS A SETTLED RATHER THAN A MOVING STATUS. On 9 NOVEMBER 2023 the ICC Presidency designated NORWAY as the State of enforcement under ARTICLE 103 OF THE ROME STATUTE, and he was TRANSFERRED TO A NORWEGIAN PRISON ON 18 DECEMBER 2023. Time already spent in ICC detention is deducted from the 25 years. Because the conviction and sentence are final and the enforcement state is fixed, this entry is far more stable than most custody claims in this dossier.

  1. c.1987 Abducted aged about nine while walking to school.
  2. 1990s–2000s Rises to brigade command within the LRA.
  3. 2005 ICC issues an arrest warrant.
  4. January 2015 Surrenders in the Central African Republic.
  5. 4 FEBRUARY 2021 CONVICTED on 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
  6. 2021 Sentenced to 25 years, reduced in consideration of his abduction.
  7. 2023 Transferred to Norway to serve his sentence.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

Sister Rachele Fassera

—

Italian nun who followed the LRA to recover abducted schoolgirls · born c.1948 · active 1996

Deputy headmistress at St Mary's College, Aboke, northern Uganda. When the LRA abducted 139 girls from the school on 10 October 1996, she followed the rebels on foot into the bush with a teacher, found their camp, and negotiated directly with the commander. She secured the release of 109 girls. Thirty were kept, and she was made to choose — an impossible act she has described as the defining wound of her life. She campaigned for the remaining thirty for years; some were eventually recovered, some were not.

Before the law. —

Where things stand. NO SOURCE CONSULTED CONFIRMS HER STATUS AS OF 2026, and none records her death; she would be about 78. THE EVENT ITSELF IS FIRMLY DOCUMENTED. On 10 OCTOBER 1996 the Lord's Resistance Army abducted 139 GIRLS from ST MARY'S COLLEGE, ABOKE, in Kole District. Sister Rachele, an Italian nun and the school's DEPUTY HEAD MISTRESS, FOLLOWED THE REBELS INTO THE BUSH AND NEGOTIATED FACE TO FACE FOR THE CHILDREN. She was allowed to leave with 109 OF THEM. THE REBELS KEPT THIRTY. Some of the thirty were eventually recovered; not all.

  1. 10 OCTOBER 1996 139 girls abducted from St Mary's College, Aboke.
  2. 11 October 1996 She follows the rebels on foot into the bush and negotiates with the commander.
  3. 11 October 1996 109 girls released. THIRTY ARE KEPT.
  4. 1996–2000s Campaigns internationally for the remaining thirty; the Concerned Parents Association is formed.

Checked 2026-08-24

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