Finally, it doesn't matter where Father Rodriguez comes from, his activities are illegal and unlawful. As i said earlier, he cannot dare do what he is doing anywhere in the developed world and not get arrested. This has nothing to do with the personality of Father Rodrieguez, rather it has everything to do with the rule of law. It is even for his own safety. Supposing he was secretly meeting with the rebels without the army's knowledge and the army simultaneously launched an attack at the same location and he got killed or seriously injured, you guys will be on this forum flooding us with all sorts of conspiracy theories against government. No matter what people like you may say, the fact of the matter is that Kony and the LRA are responsible and are indeed carrying out the killing, maiming, destruction, raping and enslavement of innocent people in the north of Uganda. Spin it all you want, but unfortunately for you and your ilk, facts don't lie. facts are facts.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. Rodriguez Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 08:45:21 -0700
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--- Begin Message ---My dear Musaazi,In so many words, you've sadly said nothing new or illuminating, beyond the claptrap of the "correct line" we've been hearing for the last 18 years. If the Museveni administration were genuinely interested in peace in northern Uganda, we wouldn't be shedding tears about the victims of Kony's savagery.Unlike you, I see a lot of parallels between what happened in West Nile and the ongoing tragedy in Acholi. The Acholi and Ma'di have been neighbors for centuries. I have lived in both communities in their hour of need and I can tell with a reasonable degree of authority that the Acholi people are neither savages nor suicidal to want this war to continue until all of them are wiped off the face of the earth. Unfortunately, the subtext of the string of excuses from the NRM aparatchik and statist creatures like yourself is that the victims are to blame for what's happening to them.As for Fr. Rodriguez, would you have reacted differently to what he did if he were Ugandan?vukoniPS. BTW, I don't believe that a peace maker needs the permission of a government that has clearly failed to protect its citizens and done its best to thwart any serious attempts to end the atrocities in Acholi. Ask Betty Bigombe what happened when Museveni undercut her efforts to bring the LRA out of the bushes. Ask the two Acholi elders who were murdered by suspected state agents when they seemed to be making some headway in their mediation efforts. No, for some reason that psycho-analysts might one day help us unravel, Museveni has sabotaged every genuine effort to end the suffering of the people in Acholi.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. Rodriguez
From: "emmanuel musaazi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wed, May 12, 2004 11:13 am
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mr. Lupa-Lasaga, as much as i sympathize with your people for the
brutalization they suffered at the hands of UNLA/UPC, i have to regrettably
disagree with you for using that unfortunate situation as an analogy to the
present situation in the north. You are comparing apples and oranges.
Firstly it is not the government of Uganda that is doing the massacring,
maiming, abduction and raping of our fellow citizens in the north, it is the
LRA/Kony. Now, there may be some truth in saying that the government needs
to do more to protect potential victims in the north, and indeed the
government has acknowledged that, and has followed up by beefing up security
in the north, hence the relative peace now prevailing at the moment. Now,
UPDF is in the north to protect innocent Ugandan citizens against the terror
of LRA and many brave Ugandan soldiers are making the ultimate sacrifice to
achieve that goal. The whole world is aware of the evil exploits of the LRA.
The LRA is an internationally known terrorist organization. The LRA is an
enemy of the state of Uganda and indeed the world, and as such anyone guilty
of aiding and abating there actions is automatically an enemy of the state
of Uganda if not the world. The notoriety of the LRA is comparable to that
of Alqida.
Mr. Lupa-Lasaga, this is serious bussiness. The LRA is responsible for
messing up the lives of a generation of people and the loss of many more.
Anybody who is interested in sincerely ending the suffering of our fellow
citizens in the north, should join the crusade of those who want to stop
them in concert with the government of Uganda. This father Rodriguez does
not care more for the suffering people of the north than Ugandans. There are
northern politicians and other Ugandan politicians who are working hard
within the confines of the law to bring about an end to the problem. ARLPI
including you, Mr. Lupa-Lasaga, seem to be of the view that father rodriguez
cares most for the suffering people of the north and i am saying that, that
is not true. Father Rodriguez is a controversial figure, given that he has
been making unauthorized contacts with the LRA...let us remember that there
is a government in Uganda, which is responsible for the security of
Ugandans, so no matter what good intentions father Rodriquez may have, it is
unlawful to make contact with an enemy of the state of Uganda, without the
authorization or knowledge of the Ugandan government. What he is doing in
Uganda, he can not dare try it in Italy (or wherever he comes from). Can he
go to Italy and make unauthorized contacts with alqida operatives without
the knowledge of the Italian government and not get arrested as an
accomplice? We like to critisize government about there unlawful behaviour
as indeed we should, however it is hypocritical to choose and cherry-pick
when to critisize unlawful behaviour as exhibited by people like father
Rodriguez.
If the ARLPI is realy sincere in brokering peace in northern Uganda, it
should dissociate itself with unlawful people like father Rodriguez who are
already, apparently biased towards the LRA. The ARLPI even seems to
acknowledge that father Rodriguez is on the other side by warning people not
to critisize him in fear that it will offend the LRA.
>From: Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. Rodriguez
>Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 00:01:53 -0500
>
>Dear Musaazi,
>
>To illustrate a point that's best driven home anecdotally, I was going
>to tell netters a story about a tragic event that happened in 1981 in my
>neck of the woods. But it occurred to me that I could simply redact
>your small polemic to good effect. My insertions are in brackets.
>
>".hmm if father [Osmundo Bilbao] is not a part of the UNRF (or at least
>a sympathizer), then why are the Ma'di elders afraid that criticizing
>him will "could
>frustrate and damage the whole peace process currently in place,". If it
>is
>okay to accuse the government of not adequately protecting people in
>[Moyo district],
>why is it wrong to accuse those who appear to aid and abate the [UNRF],
>which
>is the main culprit in the [West Nile] saga. There is no smoke without a
>fire.
>Whose side [are the Ma'di elders] on anyway and why is father [Osmundo
>Bilbao] in there
>ranks...afterall he is neither [a Ma'di] nor a Ugandan."
>
>Peace.
>
>vukoni
>
>PS. For those curious to know the full story of Osmundo Bilbao, read
>on. Bilbao was one of several courageous indigenous and foreign
>Catholic priests who stood up to condemn the atrocities committed by the
>UNLA in West Nile. After the UNLA massacred close to 100 IDPs in Ombaci
>Catholic parish/secondary school complex in early 1981, Osmundo traveled
>to Kampala to bring to wider national and international attention what
>was really going on in West Nile. While Bilbao was on his way,
>apologists for the UPC/UNLA cabal condemned him in words that could have
>come straight out of the mouth of our illustrious Emmanuel Musaazi.
>Bilbao never made it back to Moyo alive. UNLA soldiers assassinated him
>in Kampala. To this day, the Ma'di people remember him as a martyr,
>like many of their own, who died opposing armed violence.
>
>Unfortunately, the same tragic history is repeating itself in northern
>Uganda. I wonder when we will learn that we do not have to belong to the
>same religion, nationality, or race, to stand up for the rights of the
>victims of brutal power struggles.
>
>vll.
>
>
>
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