The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he has "no doubt" that fugitive African warlord Joseph Kony will be arrested this year because the international spotlight has helped boost the hunt for the Lord's Resistance Army leader.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the fact that 100 million people watched the first video about Kony's crimes in just six days showed that "the world today understands that justice has to be done" and he expressed hope that the world will put a spotlight on other fugitives including Sudan's president and a Congolese army general to help bring them before the court.
"Twenty years ago, no one was talking about justice," he said in an interview with the Associated Press. "Now it's a new thing."
There are now 121 countries that are parties to the International Criminal Court, or ICC, but Moreno-Ocampo said even countries that are not parties, like the United States, Russia, China and India, have supported referrals to the permanent war crimes tribunal and the US is supporting the collection of evidence for possible future prosecutions of crimes in the Syria conflict.
"We are moving to a new world," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"We are moving to a new world," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Moreno-Ocampo cited three key decisions in the ongoing hunt for Kony the Ugandan government's renewed commitment of troops, the Central African Republic giving a green light for Ugandan soldiers to operate there, and US President Barack Obama's dispatch of 100 US military advisers mostly Army Special Forces to help the Ugandans with logistics including helicopters and intelligence.