Criticism[edit]
In an article analyzing why the Obama administration sent US troops to Central Africa in October, 2011, the Council on Foreign Relations (C.F.R.) criticized groups like Invisible Children for "manipulat[ing] facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders".[7]
Resolve, one of Invisible Children's partner organizations addressed the Council on Foreign Relations' accusation as a "serious charge...published with no accompanying substantiation."[18]
Jedidiah Jenkins, the director of idea development for Invisible Children, asserted that the numbers of child abductions the charity uses "are often the same numbers as the ones used by Human Rights Watch and the United Nations".[19]
The C.F.R. article went on to say that organizations such as Invisible Children "rarely refer to the Ugandan atrocities or those of Sudan's People's Liberation Army."[7] These ideas were echoed in the Huffington Post by Michael Deibert, author of Democratic Republic of Congo: Between Hope and Despair. Deibert further explained that the Ugandan government itself used child soldiers to gain power.[6]
The Washington Post brought up criticism of the organization for its role in the passing of the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. The law was designed to help bring peace and stability to the region, however, according to the article, "[Critics say] it has strengthened the hand of the Ugandan president, whose security forces have a human rights abuse record of their own".[19] In response, Jenkins said, "If we had the purity to say we will not partner with anyone corrupt, we couldn't partner with anyone."[19]
The organization has been criticized for oversimplifying a complex and multi-faceted issue. Of major concern is that US troops are already deployed in an operation that should be secret. The attention that is being brought the region now may actually do harm. It is assumed that Joseph Kabila, the President of the Congo, would not respond favorably to foreign troops crossing his borders. For this reason, the attention that the Kony 2012 film is bringing could incite violence. "If you want to catch Kony, I can't think of a dumber thing to do,"[12] said Africa expert, Peter Pham. Following the release of the film Kony 2012, the group asserted that it hoped to explain the conflict in "an easily understandable format", with CEO Ben Keesey adding that "There are few times where problems are black and white. There's lots of complicated stuff in the world, but Joseph Kony and what he's doing is black and white."[20]
Scrutiny of the distribution of the organization's funds have also emerged, specifically due to information reported by charity watch group, Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator currently has Invisible Children rated three out of four stars overall (two out of four in the category of "financial" and four out of four in the category of "accountability and transparency").[21] Other critics claimed that the group spends most of the money they collect from their charity on staff salaries and "making films that attract much publicity, but don't do much to help people on the ground."[13] The organization responded to critiques of its spending by providing a breakdown of its finances on its website, which claimed that 80.46% of its money raised was spent on "its mission", with 16% going to administration and management costs.[12]
Another locus for criticism of the organization has been a photograph of the three founders holding weapons and posing with armed members of the SPLA.[22] Invisible Children responded on their website with founder Jason Russell explaining that it was a joke photo taken at the 2008 Juba Peace Talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo that would have been "funny to bring back to our friends and family".[23]
Glenna Gordon, the photographer who took the picture, is not associated with the organization and was on assignment for the Associated Press at the time. Gordon explained the context of the photograph as the Invisible Children founders being bored at the stalled peace talks and deciding to have some fun posing with weapons and SPLA members. Gordon later published a story about what she saw as their questionable practices.[24]
A documentary made by Jean-Baptiste Renaud, aired on Arte, claimed multiple issues concerning the aims and methods of Invisible Children. It was shown how the NGO cooperated with the Army of Uganda by monitoring rebel movements and collecting reconnaissance from remote villages via radio. The film makers further alleged that the organisation deliberately named a former local supporter as a coupist leading to his arrest and torture at the hand of the state. Additionally, the claim of the organisation being a grassroots movement was dismissed due to strong links with US evangelical fundamentalists which lay the financial foundation of the organisation and stay committed to this day.[25]
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