Matek
In a message dated 7/10/2003 10:34:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Clergy Tell Government to End Northern War
The Monitor (Kampala)
July 10, 2003
Posted to the web July 10, 2003
Elizabeth Agiro
Kampala
The Inter-Religious Council is appealing to the government to protect people in war-torn northern Uganda.
"Many innocent people, including women and children, have endured untold suffering. Some have been killed, maimed, raped and displaced from their homes," reads a statement signed by the Church of Uganda Archbishop Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo; Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala of the Catholic Church; Orthodox Church Archbishop Jonah Lwanga and the Mufti of Uganda Sheikh Shaban Mubajje.
The religious leaders noted that the fighting has recently spread from Acholi to Teso and Lango.
They described the Lord's Resistance Army rebellion under Mr Joseph Kony as senseless and atrocious.
"To what lengths will the perpetrators of these heinous crimes go before attaching value to human life and dignity?"
The country's top clergy said that the LRA rebels are not only killing ordinary people but also attacking religious institutions and threatening the lives of religious leaders who have been the source of hope for the suffering population.
"We appeal to government to scale up its vigilance in protecting the vulnerable people; and to support the efforts of the ARLPI [Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative] to bring this war to the end," the statement said.
