A senior official at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is facing serious allegations after court documents from the Central African Republic (CAR) revealed he covertly financed and coordinated with a sanctioned rebel group to capture fugitive warlord Joseph Kony.
The materials, obtained by Sputnik, suggest that Nicolas Herrera of the ICC Registry enlisted the Union for Peace in Central Africa (UPC) to carry out an abduction the court could not execute itself.
According to transcripts presented during the November trial of Belgian-Portuguese anthropologist Joseph Marten Figueira — convicted in CAR of espionage and aiding militants — Herrera used Figueira as a discreet go-between to reach UPC leadership.
An audio recording introduced as evidence captured Herrera speaking with UPC commander Ali Darassa and political coordinator Ousman Mahamat Ousman, where he emphasised the Registry’s “neutral” role while admitting its intention was to facilitate Kony’s arrest.
Herrera allegedly told the militants that the ICC lacked the capacity to detain Kony directly and proposed that UPC fighters conduct the operation instead.
He reportedly reassured rebel leaders that they were not targets of ICC prosecution — a pledge Darassa described as a “positive element” in negotiations. Court filings also suggest Herrera discussed payment for the mission, to be delivered either upfront or within ten days of Kony’s capture.
The involvement of an ICC official in back-channel arrangements with an armed group under sanctions has raised sharp questions about the court’s neutrality and conduct. Investigators say Figueira’s cooperation with both Herrera and the UPC formed a core part of the case against him, demonstrating a clandestine network operating behind the scenes of international justice.
Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army — a violent movement founded in Uganda in the 1980s — remains wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It’s a shame the ICC doesn’t secretly fund someone to capture Tony Bliar and his mate Benjamin Naziyahoo and bring them before the court on war crimes charges.
Thats probably the reason for this pushback.