Friday, June 05, 2009
Congress wants to help Uganda fight war crimes
On May 19th, Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) proposed The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, or Senate Bill 1067; in the House of Representatives, Reps. James McGovern (D-MA), Ed Royce (D-CA), and Brad Miller (D-NC) introduced the same bill, H.R. 2478. The bill requires Barack Obama’s administration to help Uganda fight the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
The LRA evolved in the 1980s as a prophetic religious movement that opposed Uganda’s government and the military. The group has attempted to purify northern villages through violence, specifically targeting non-combatants, and create a “new generation” of the northern Acholi people. In addition to its merciless massacres, the LRA is infamous for recruiting and imprisoning child soldiers, up to 80 percent of its military force. The LRA’s forces have displaced over two million during the last twenty years. In the late 1990s the LRA attempted to overthrow the government, killing and raping more civilians and destroying communities, and displacing over two million since 1990.
According to Sen. Feingold’s website, the Act “would require the Obama administration to develop a strategy to support multilateral efforts to protect the region’s civilians from the LRA and eliminate the threat it poses. The bill also authorizes funding for humanitarian assistance for those areas affected by the LRA’s brutality, including additional funds to support recovery and reconciliation in war-torn areas of Uganda.”
The bill underscores America’s dedication to human rights, but it cannot sustain Uganda’s long-term security without assessing the critical conflicts and vulnerabilities between the warlords, citizens, and the government.
The Amnesty Law of 2000 between the LRA and Uganda’s government granted amnesty to all of the LRA insurgents willing to surrender continued involvement with the LRA. The Act gained western attention from the Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Program and the World Bank, who responded to the Amnesty Act by resettling former rebels into community camps in the north. But low government resources limited the maintenance of the refugee camps and aid workers are unable to protect the security of northern Ugandan citizens and former rebels from continued LRA attacks.
The United Nations is skeptical of the Amnesty Act, proclaiming that acts of “murder, enslavement, torture, rape, and slavery” cannot be pardoned by amnesty and are subject to judicial prosecutions under international law. The LRA’s continued human rights abuses challenge the ability of the Amnesty Act in rectifying relationships among Ugandan communities, the government, and criminals. Subsequent LRA abuses and thousand of displacements reveal the failure of Uganda’s government to contain and punish the LRA.
Uganda's constitution designates a Human Rights Commission (UHRC) as the main independent government agency to monitor human rights abuses and recommend change. But the government has not consistently adopted its recommendations regarding the LRA, and parliament only held its first discussion of UHRC recommendations made over the last decade in May 2009. Thus there remains a discrepancy between President Museveni’s dedication to human rights and the pseudo humanitarian initiatives.
Congress is nonetheless optimistic that the new bill is an effective tool to empower Ugandans and Museveni against the LRA. “This bill rightly targets LRA leader Joseph Kony,” said former Africa sub-committee chairman Ed Royce. “Kony’s removal is essential to peace in the region.”
Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, has engaged in sporadic peace talks with the LRA’s commander, Joseph Kony, and other influential warlords. Negotiations between the two sides were inhibited since 2004 when Museveni summoned the International Criminal Court to investigate the war crimes by the LRA. The ICC charged Kony with crimes against humanity. Knowing that the ICC’s position outrages Kony, President Museveni has since suggested that Uganda could withdraw its case from the ICC if the leaders of the LRA were willing to stop fighting and engage in reconciliation measures. But the LRA has not stopped fighting.
IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, recorded this month that northern Ugandans still suffer from fear of rebel attacks. For example, up to 90 percent of schools have not opened since January due to LRA attacks on schools and teachers, according to Charles Uma a Gulu government leader.
"Most of our people here are not living, but existing,” Uma told the IRIN. “Marriages are also breaking. Men are running away from responsibilities. When life becomes hard, you feel you have nothing to offer your children. The war has a lot of effects. We have lost a whole generation.”
The bill can help alleviate poverty by providing clean water, health care, and schools in addition to enhancing the accountability of local governance and police forces. It says,
It is the policy of the United States to work vigorously for a lasting resolution to the conflict in northern and eastern Uganda and other affected areas by eliminating the threat posed by the Lord's Resistance Army to civilians…to apprehend or otherwise remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield, and to disarm and demobilize Lord's Resistance Army fighters.
Although the bill could develop an effective mechanism in repairing Uganda’s livelihood, it mentions little about Yoweri Museveni's role in repairing the country. Museveni has ruled Uganda for 23 years; whether or not he can garner peace is imperative to both Uganda’s reconciliation with the LRA as well as the future of its citizenry. The bill is nonetheless a good foundation for giving Uganda's impoverished victims the tools for subsistence and culture, and for punishing Joseph Kony and LRA insurgents.
The LRA evolved in the 1980s as a prophetic religious movement that opposed Uganda’s government and the military. The group has attempted to purify northern villages through violence, specifically targeting non-combatants, and create a “new generation” of the northern Acholi people. In addition to its merciless massacres, the LRA is infamous for recruiting and imprisoning child soldiers, up to 80 percent of its military force. The LRA’s forces have displaced over two million during the last twenty years. In the late 1990s the LRA attempted to overthrow the government, killing and raping more civilians and destroying communities, and displacing over two million since 1990.
According to Sen. Feingold’s website, the Act “would require the Obama administration to develop a strategy to support multilateral efforts to protect the region’s civilians from the LRA and eliminate the threat it poses. The bill also authorizes funding for humanitarian assistance for those areas affected by the LRA’s brutality, including additional funds to support recovery and reconciliation in war-torn areas of Uganda.”
The bill underscores America’s dedication to human rights, but it cannot sustain Uganda’s long-term security without assessing the critical conflicts and vulnerabilities between the warlords, citizens, and the government.
The Amnesty Law of 2000 between the LRA and Uganda’s government granted amnesty to all of the LRA insurgents willing to surrender continued involvement with the LRA. The Act gained western attention from the Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Program and the World Bank, who responded to the Amnesty Act by resettling former rebels into community camps in the north. But low government resources limited the maintenance of the refugee camps and aid workers are unable to protect the security of northern Ugandan citizens and former rebels from continued LRA attacks.
The United Nations is skeptical of the Amnesty Act, proclaiming that acts of “murder, enslavement, torture, rape, and slavery” cannot be pardoned by amnesty and are subject to judicial prosecutions under international law. The LRA’s continued human rights abuses challenge the ability of the Amnesty Act in rectifying relationships among Ugandan communities, the government, and criminals. Subsequent LRA abuses and thousand of displacements reveal the failure of Uganda’s government to contain and punish the LRA.
Uganda's constitution designates a Human Rights Commission (UHRC) as the main independent government agency to monitor human rights abuses and recommend change. But the government has not consistently adopted its recommendations regarding the LRA, and parliament only held its first discussion of UHRC recommendations made over the last decade in May 2009. Thus there remains a discrepancy between President Museveni’s dedication to human rights and the pseudo humanitarian initiatives.
Congress is nonetheless optimistic that the new bill is an effective tool to empower Ugandans and Museveni against the LRA. “This bill rightly targets LRA leader Joseph Kony,” said former Africa sub-committee chairman Ed Royce. “Kony’s removal is essential to peace in the region.”
Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, has engaged in sporadic peace talks with the LRA’s commander, Joseph Kony, and other influential warlords. Negotiations between the two sides were inhibited since 2004 when Museveni summoned the International Criminal Court to investigate the war crimes by the LRA. The ICC charged Kony with crimes against humanity. Knowing that the ICC’s position outrages Kony, President Museveni has since suggested that Uganda could withdraw its case from the ICC if the leaders of the LRA were willing to stop fighting and engage in reconciliation measures. But the LRA has not stopped fighting.
IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, recorded this month that northern Ugandans still suffer from fear of rebel attacks. For example, up to 90 percent of schools have not opened since January due to LRA attacks on schools and teachers, according to Charles Uma a Gulu government leader.
"Most of our people here are not living, but existing,” Uma told the IRIN. “Marriages are also breaking. Men are running away from responsibilities. When life becomes hard, you feel you have nothing to offer your children. The war has a lot of effects. We have lost a whole generation.”
The bill can help alleviate poverty by providing clean water, health care, and schools in addition to enhancing the accountability of local governance and police forces. It says,
It is the policy of the United States to work vigorously for a lasting resolution to the conflict in northern and eastern Uganda and other affected areas by eliminating the threat posed by the Lord's Resistance Army to civilians…to apprehend or otherwise remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield, and to disarm and demobilize Lord's Resistance Army fighters.
Although the bill could develop an effective mechanism in repairing Uganda’s livelihood, it mentions little about Yoweri Museveni's role in repairing the country. Museveni has ruled Uganda for 23 years; whether or not he can garner peace is imperative to both Uganda’s reconciliation with the LRA as well as the future of its citizenry. The bill is nonetheless a good foundation for giving Uganda's impoverished victims the tools for subsistence and culture, and for punishing Joseph Kony and LRA insurgents.
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Have you seen the new book on Kony and his army? It's titled, "First Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army," and is available at Amazon.com. Thanks.
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