US Senators Ask for Kony Backers
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The Monitor (Kampala)
April 14, 2004
Posted to the web April 14, 2004
Badru D. Mulumba
Kampala
Powell given 6 months
American senators have asked for a report detailing the operations of the Joseph
Kony-led rebel Lord's Resistance Army.
The senators have given Secretary of State Colin Powell six months to produce the
report before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives.
The directive is contained in a bill titled, Conflict in Northern Uganda.
"The report," the bill says, "should include...the individuals or entities that are
providing financial and material support to the LRA - including a description of any
such support provided by the Government of Sudan or by senior officials of such a
Government."
It would also include "the activities of the Lord's Resistance Army that create
obstacles that prohibit the provision of humanitarian assistance or the protection of
the civilian population in Uganda."
The senators also want to know what practices the UPDF employs to ensure that children
and civilians are protected - that civilian complaints are addressed, and that any
member of the armed forces who abuse a civilian are held accountable.
Democratic Senator Russel D. Feingold introduced the bill that is co-sponsored by
Republican Senator Lamar Alexander (Tennessee).
The bill was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Last evening, The Monitor could not reach Mr Mark Schlachter, the director for public
affairs at the US embassy here.
But an official explained that when a bill is referred to a committee, it possibly
means that the committee will panel beat and table it for a vote before it becomes an
Act.
The senators also want to know what actions their government, Uganda and the
international community have taken to protect civilians "especially women and
children, who have been displaced by the conflict in Uganda - including women and
children that leave their homes and flee to cities and towns at night in search of
security from sexual exploitation and gender-based violence".
The bill was tabled days after ambassador Jimmy Kolker revealed US plans to talk to
the LRA.
The 16-year old rebellion, the senators note, has displaced more than 26,000 people
from their homes, and rendered some 26,000 children abductees of the LRA.
Quoting the Human Rights Watch, the bill notes that since the mid-1990s the only known
sponsor of the LRA has been the Khartoum government, though Sudan denies it.
The bill wants the US to make clear to Sudan that relations between the two countries
will depend on its severance of links with the murderous rebel outfit.
Relevant Links
East Africa
Civil War and Communal Conflict
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Uganda
"The conflict has resulted in a lack of security for the people of Uganda and as a
result of such each night more than 18,000 children leave their homes and flee to the
relative safety of town centres, creating a massive 'night commuter' phenomenon that
leaves already vulnerable children subject to exploitation and abuse," it says.
But, it adds, the military solution, including the arming and training of local
militia forces, has not ensured the security of the civilian population in the region.
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