Most who are on some form of social network will have likely seen the “KONY 2012” video by now, and will be aware of their campaign to raise awareness of a terrible war criminal known as Joseph Kony. A man who is responsible for rape, murder, torture and the use of children as soldiers in his Lord’s Resistance Army. This is something the campaign group, Invisible Children, wish to bring to an end by raising awareness across the globe of the actions of Kony and his army, so that the people can urge their representatives to push for intervention to ensure the capture of the International Criminal Court’s most wanted man. While I am drawn to the campaign on humanitarian grounds, and am supportive of the movement so long as it doesn’t lead to a pointless war, yet does succeed in his capture, there has grown some suspicion regarding the campaign group.

Established in 2003, the not for profit organisation is almost entirely dedicated to bringing Kony to justice, yet what has sprung up in response to the “KONY 2012” is information regarding their internal financial dealings, raising suspicions as to their true motivations. A link on Reddit provides some interesting reading regarding the financial dealings of the charity in regards to its income and the management of its finances. The provider of the information in the link labels the “KONY2012” video as “emotional porn” and suggests that it may be less moving when we see the troubling finances of the organisation. While it is a matter for concern of those who donate to the organisation, this is not something with which I am concerned, and here are my reasons why.

The “KONY 2012” video has succeeded in branching across almost all of the social network in a matter of days. If you, like me, were not aware of Joseph Kony a few days ago, you will likely be aware of him now, and you will be mightily pissed off. As someone who takes a great interest in human rights issues, I am disappointed in myself that I have only been made aware of this particular individual through this video appearing on the social networks. It is this fact, however, that make me still supportive of the video campaign and the message which they seek to portray, being “Bring Kony to Justice”. If I, a student of human rights law, and someone who takes an active interest in such matters was not aware of it, but was only broadly aware of atrocities being committed in African nations, how many other people will not even be aware of such atrocities, never mind a single man who is responsible for bringing close to 30,000 children into his army?

While their campaign is supportive of direct military intervention in Uganda to hunt down and capture Kony, I do not support this on more political grounds. Yet one does not need to support military action to offer support to the message of the campaign. We can use our diplomatic power and military knowledge to offer assistance to the Ugandan government in bringing him to justice. There are crimes being committed by the Ugandan army also, yet the message that will be sent by Kony’s capture will be a strong one to other perpetrators of such crimes in that they are not above the humanitarian law.

Humanitarian law knows no jurisdiction. It is a shame that such campaigns are necessary in order for our nations to come together and push for the arrest and trial of such an evil human being, yet it is also the beauty of democracy that is shown how our representatives react when put under pressure by the people. If you don’t feel sure about the organisation, don’t donate to it. That shouldn’t stop you from sharing the video, as it has succeeded in raising awareness, and doubts about their conduct regarding donations should not sway you from supporting the campaign on an active and moral footing. The message is simple. Make your representatives aware of Joseph Kony, and make sure the politicians know that we want this man caught and his crimes brought to an end.

This isn’t about power or imperialism, this is about humanitarianism. 30,000+ children have been forced to serve in his army, killing their loved ones and others under his rule for fear they will be killed themselves (some of which inevitably are). This isn’t about Liberal or Conservative, left-wing or right. This is a time when we need to come together, set aside our political differences and simply support what is morally right.

That is why I’m still supporting Kony 2012

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Cross-posted from The World Through My Specs