While KONY 2012 has become the most viral video of all time, some are debating whether we need to be searching for a war criminal who as disappeared. For the answer I think we should all remember the work of Simon Wiesenthal bringing Eichmann to justice.
The recent video KONY 2012 (which you should see right now if you haven’t watched it yet) is essentially a plea to the world to be aware of a man who committed atrocities and bring him to justice. Kony is a Ugandan warlord who committed an untold amount atrocities and war crimes. Apparently, he hasn’t been very active over the last few years and he was mostly defeated- some even say he is dead (but that seems to be untrue).
An organization called "Invisible Children" was created in 2005. You can read more about them here. Because Kony has been quiet, there are people who are criticizing the movement, or the funds they raised or the way they are operating and saying that there work isn’t relevant. This is a response which they put on their website. As a long time non profit professional, I can say that their use of funds and accountability are both transparent and reasonable. But, let''s not get side tracked here- let''s talk about what they are trying to do...
They are trying to bring a war criminal to justice. There are people who are now coming forward to say that this is a waste of time but I beg to differ. After the Holocaust, most Jews went about rebuilding their lives but we didn’t forget the SS officers and Hitler’s henchmen. Simon Wiesenthal spent his life hunting Nazi war criminals and bringing them to justice and that is what the Invisible Children''s movement is asking us to do with Kony. Our motto is NEVER FORGET because if we allow people commit atrocities without impunity then we empower then next generation of dictators. Our way, the Israeli way is to bring them to justice- and a Ugandan Warlord who abducts thousands of children, murders, mutilates, and displaces millions deserves no less.
The world ignored most of these atrocities while they were happening, but Kony was considered the #1 war criminal by the UN. Just because he is under the radar now doesn’t mean that he should be given the right to disappear and face no consequences. It is worse than naive to think that he will never try to rise up again and take power. He is laying low and he should not be allowed to live out the rest of his life without paying for his crimes.
What is the point of KONY 2012? Their mission is clear- make Kony famous, find him and bring him to justice for the crimes he committed.Let’s do that.
Sarah Nadav is an entrepreneur, thinker, journalist, university lecturer, and writer. Sarah is the mother of two and CEO of BUKIT a financial sector start up in stealth mode. You can contact Sarah through email sarahnadav@gmail.com or find her on twitter @sarahnadav