/-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\
THE DREAMERS - NOW PLAYING
Set against the turbulent political backdrop of 1968 France when the
voice of youth was reverberating around Europe, THE DREAMERS is a story
of self-discovery as three students test each other to see just how far
they will go. THE DREAMERS is released uncut with an NC-17 rating.
Watch The Dreamers trailer at: http://www.thedreamers.com
\----------------------------------------------------------/
Survivors Recall Uganda Attack; 206 Dead
February 23, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:59 p.m. ET
BARLONYO CAMP, Uganda (AP) -- Okao Lujino was herding his cattle at sunset when he saw rebels of the feared Lord's Resistance Army walking single file toward a refugee camp in northern Uganda. A whistle sounded and the guerrillas fanned out -- hacking, shooting and burning alive more than 200 unarmed civilians, including Lujino's wife and their 5-year-old daughter. Lujino and other survivors gave horrific accounts Monday of the rebel raid on Barlonyo camp, where the stench of burned flesh hung in the air and huts smoldered two days after one of the worst rebel attacks of a 17-year-old insurgency. Government forces swept through the countryside Monday in pursuit of the Lord's Resistance Army, regional army spokesman 2nd Lt. Chris Magezi said. In the town of Lira, 15 miles south of the camp, doctors treated dozens of wounded, some of whom writhed on the ground in pain. ``I heard dogs barking ... all of a sudden I looked back and saw many, many rebels in uniform,'' Lujino said, as nurses dressed a bullet wound to his thigh. ``When they saw me they stopped. One of them blew a whistle, then they started moving in a cow-horn shape around the camp. Then they started firing.'' Crawling on his knees, Lujino took cover behind a tree before fleeing into the swamp as the rebels clashed with about 30 members of a local defense force charged with protecting the camp, home to some 5,000 people. The defense force was quickly overwhelmed, and the rebels began burning alive entire families as they cowered in their homes, witnesses said. An Associated Press reporter saw six charred bodies Monday. Lawmaker Charles Angiro said camp officials calculated 206 civilians died. Lujino, 42, said the rebels beat his wife, covered her with grass and set her on fire. They took a machete to his young daughter's neck, he said, mortally wounding her. Three of his children survived. On Monday, the hospital in Lira was overflowing with wounded, including two badly burned young boys who sat in silence as doctors pulled dead skin from their bodies. ``When we tried to run outside the hut, they would shoot you, when you remain inside, they burn you,'' said George Okot, as he winced in pain from gunshot wounds to his leg. The violence raised questions about the government's claims that it is defeating the rebel group, which has said it wants Uganda to be governed by the Ten Commandments. ``This is a real massacre ... we appeal to the international community to come in to intervene and to bring this carnage to an end ... The government has tried its best, but it seems it has failed,'' Angiro said while visiting the camp. Acting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan condemned the attack, saying ``such a barbaric act'' could fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Magezi, the army spokesman, said army attacks on the rebels prompted the deadly raid. ``They have been losing heavily and so they had to revenge by killing civilians,'' he said, adding that soldiers killed 26 rebels in a neighboring district over the weekend. The group rose from the remnants of a revolt by soldiers from the Acholi tribe after President Yoweri Museveni, a southerner, seized power in 1986 after leading his own five-year bush war. The Acholi is the dominant tribe in northern Uganda. The Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, has abducted thousands of children to use as fighters, smugglers and sex workers, and estimates of its size range from hundreds to a few thousand. Government and army officials often claim to be crushing the rebellion, and Museveni regularly visits the north to oversee military operations. But the attacks continue, and more than 1 million people from northern and eastern Uganda live in camps for fear of rebel raids. In 2002, the Sudanese government -- which Museveni had accused of supporting the insurgents -- agreed to permit Ugandan troops to enter neighboring southern Sudan to destroy rebel bases. But the operation drove the rebels into northern Uganda, where the attacks intensified, causing thousands of children to flee to towns each night. ``We are seriously pursuing the attackers, that's the only way, because they have refused to talk peace,'' Magezi said. ``We shall hunt them militarily and kill them wherever they will be hiding.'' http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Uganda-Rebel-Attack.html?ex=1078583238&ei=1&en=705a5f0a0a490efb --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Stay informed on Election 2004 and the race to Super Tuesday. -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
