https://sputnikglobe.com/20251207/icc-official-compromised-court-neutrality-by-hiring-rebels-to-seize-joseph-kony-1123239299.html
ICC Official Compromised Court Neutrality by Hiring Rebels to Seize Joseph Kony
ICC Official Compromised Court Neutrality by Hiring Rebels to Seize Joseph Kony
Sputnik International
High-ranking ICC official Nicolas Herrera secretly financed the sanctioned UPC armed group in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to court materials obtained by Sputnik.
2025-12-07T04:00+0000
2025-12-07T04:00+0000
2025-12-07T04:00+0000
world
international criminal court (icc)
uganda
central african republic
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neutrality
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) is under fire for allegedly recruiting Central African Republic (CAR) guerrillas to seize fellow rebel and alleged war criminal Joseph Kony.Nicholas Herrera, a senior member of the ICC Registry Office, compromised the court's neutrality by asking the Union for Peace in Central Africa (UPC) to kidnap Lord’s Resistance Army leader Kony.Herrera used US NGO employee Joseph Marten Figueira as a secret intermediary, according to an analysis of CAR court documents obtained by Sputnik.Details of the contacts emerged during the trial in of Figueira, a Belgian-Portuguese anthropologist, who was convicted by a CAR court in November of espionage and collaboration with militants.A key piece of evidence was an audio recording of his conversation with Herrera, UPC leader Ali Darassa and the group’s political coordinator Ousman Mahamat Ousman.According to the transcript, Herrera began the meeting by stressing that he worked in the ICC Registry, which he described as a neutral body.The evidence also shows that Herrera acknowledged the court had no way to detain Kony by itself, but said UPC militants should carry out the operation.He assured them that the ICC had no plans to prosecute their leaders — which Darassa called a “positive element” in thee negotiations.Those actions, according to Sputnik’s analysis, call into question the ICC’s official neutrality.The documents say Herrera discussed payment for the operation, either immediately or within ten days of delivering Kony.Figueira’s cooperation with Herrera and the UPC — captured in the conversation — was a key element of the case against him, according to the CAR court ruling.The Lord’s Resistance Army was founded in Uganda in the 1980s by self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony with the stated aim of establishing a regime based on the Ten Commandments. Kony remains wanted by the International Criminal Court.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20251205/icc-official-secretly-funded-armed-group-in-car-1123232364.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20250606/iccs-legitimacy-appears-increasingly-discredited---expert-1122201650.html
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icc official undermined court neutrality, icc official nicolas herrera, militants in car operation
icc official undermined court neutrality, icc official nicolas herrera, militants in car operation
ICC Official Compromised Court Neutrality by Hiring Rebels to Seize Joseph Kony
High-ranking ICC official Nicolas Herrera secretly financed the sanctioned UPC armed group in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to court materials obtained by Sputnik.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is under fire for allegedly recruiting Central African Republic (CAR) guerrillas to seize fellow rebel and alleged war criminal Joseph Kony.
Nicholas Herrera, a senior member of the ICC Registry Office, compromised the court's neutrality by asking the Union for Peace in Central Africa (UPC) to kidnap Lord’s Resistance Army leader Kony.
Herrera used US NGO employee Joseph Marten Figueira as a secret intermediary, according to an analysis of CAR court documents obtained by Sputnik.
Details of the contacts emerged during the trial in of Figueira, a Belgian-Portuguese anthropologist, who was convicted by a CAR court in November of espionage and collaboration with militants.
A key piece of evidence was an audio recording of his conversation with Herrera, UPC leader Ali Darassa and the group’s political coordinator Ousman Mahamat Ousman.
According to the transcript, Herrera began the meeting by stressing that he worked in the
ICC Registry, which he described as a neutral body.
“I do not work for the Prosecutor’s Office. I work in the Registry — it is a neutral body," Herrera allegedly said. "We do not conduct investigations. Our task is to facilitate the arrest of Joseph Kony.”
5 December 2025, 03:03 GMT
The evidence also shows that Herrera acknowledged the court had no way to detain Kony by itself, but said UPC militants should carry out the operation.
He assured them that the ICC had no plans to prosecute their leaders — which Darassa called a “positive element” in thee negotiations.
Those actions, according to Sputnik’s analysis, call into question the ICC’s official neutrality.
The documents say Herrera discussed payment for the operation, either immediately or within ten days of delivering Kony.
Figueira’s cooperation with Herrera and the UPC — captured in the conversation — was a key element of the case against him, according to the CAR court ruling.
The Lord’s Resistance Army was founded in Uganda in the 1980s by self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony with the stated aim of establishing a regime based on the Ten Commandments. Kony remains wanted by the International Criminal Court.
