14 DAY TRIAL // Anonymous hacktivists revealed their intention of going after Joseph Kony, the leader of a Ugandan guerilla group, accused of kidnapping innocent children and forcing them to join his army.
The hackers, in solidarity with the Invisible Children’s movement, have initiated an operation called OpKony2012, which is aimed at raising awareness on Kony’s deeds and brining him to justice.
“Joseph Kony, a man from Uganda, has been kidnapping children for over twenty years, forcing them to join his army of terror. These kids are not only forced to kill others, they're forced to kill their own parents as well,” the digitized voice from the video statement says.
For now, this operation is more about spreading the message and raising awareness with flyers and signs, and there is no mention of any hack targets, but since Anonymous became involved, no one should be surprised if websites are defaced to host protest messages and support for the campaign.
“Therefore, Anonymous has announced solidarity with the Invisible Children organization in announcing Operation Kony Twenty Twelve. Every Anon needs to take part in this operation. We must band together to stop evil or else we are hypocrites,” the hacktivists explain.
Shortly after the first video was released, a second statement clarified that the campaign was launched only in support of the initiative of the Invisible Children, no direct affiliation existing between the groups.
“We would like to emphasize that we are not allying with the Invisible Children organization based on their charity funds or their shady linking with suspected factions. We are standing side by side with them only to spread the word on Joseph Kony,” they said.
Joseph Kony was indicted for war crimes in 2005 by an international court in Hague, Netherlands, but he evaded capture. He is suspected of forcing around 66,000 children to fight under his leadership to help him maintain the power of his pseudo-Christian extreme religious group.
