The KONY 2012 campaign has spread like wildfire across the internet today, reinforcing how powerful social media has become. While some of us are still wondering what the hell the KONY 2012 campaign is, others are now asking the question, Who is Joseph Kony?
- Joseph Kony was born 1961 in Odek, Uganda; he is the leader of a Ugandan guerrilla group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
- The violent group aims to establish a theocratic government based on the Ten Commandments throughout Uganda.
- The LRA say that God has sent spirits to communicate this mission directly to Kony.
- Since the rebellion started in 1986, the group has abducted and forced an estimated 66,000 children to fight for them.
- In 2005 the International Criminal Court charged Kony with crimes against humanity, which include: murder, enslavement, sexual enslavement and rape, cruel treatment of civilians, intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population, pillaging, inducing rape, and forced enlisting of children into the rebel ranks.
- After the September 11th attacks, the United States declared the Lord’s Resistance Army a terrorist group.
The KONY 2012 campaign was started by the Invisible Children organisation, they state:
KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.
Read more about the Kony 2012 campaign here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdBcypx1DfE
