"Victims recount harrowing accounts of being compelled to consume their educators: Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony confronted with an international tribunal"

In the northern Ugandan town of Gulu, Everlyn Ayo, now 39, follows the war crimes hearing of Joseph Kony, the notorious leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), from her home. Ayo, a former night commuter, was a child during Kony's brutal attacks on her school in Nwoya district.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Kony led one of the world's most barbaric insurgencies, committing massacres, mutilations, and kidnappings across the region. Night commuters, such as Ayo, were children who left their villages every evening to escape the horrors of Kony's LRA.

For Ayo, the daily trek through forests and jungle to find safety in towns or shelters was a constant fear of kidnap by Kony's army. Returning to her village each morning, she was met with the traumatic sight of blood-soaked dead bodies.

Stella Angel Lanam, the director of the War Victims and Children Networking Initiative, can relate to Ayo's story. Lanam, 38, was captured by the LRA at the age of 10 and spent nine years as a child soldier. Today, her organisation offers counselling, training, and support to those seeking to rebuild shattered lives in the region.

Wilfred Lalobo, 60, lost his four-year-old daughter, Akello Lalobo, and 69 other family members in an attack by Kony's forces on May 19, 2004, in Lukodi. His brother's wife and six other relatives were also killed in the attack. Lalobo believes the trial offers some justice to Kony's many victims.

Joseph Kony was the first person ever issued with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC), though he has never been caught. The trial, which will be in absentia, is closely followed by those seeking justice for the atrocities committed during Kony's reign of terror.

Ayo, like many others, expresses concern that the world has forgotten the extreme trauma suffered at the hands of Kony's forces. She hopes that one day, Kony will face severe punishment for his crimes.

The War Victims and Children Networking Initiative, a non-profit organisation based in Gulu, was founded in 2016 by a group of men and women who survived captivity by the LRA. Their work continues to provide hope and healing to those affected by Kony's brutal regime.

"Victims recount harrowing accounts of being compelled to consume their educators: Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony confronted with an international tribunal"