Friends
Around 300 LRA rebels attacked the Barlonyo camp, in Lira district, armed with
light machine guns, assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades. They were
dressed in brand new uniforms of the regular army, the Ugandan Peoples Defence
Force (UPDF). After ordering people at gunpoint to go inside their thatched
huts, they then burnt these to the ground. Those attempting to flee were shot,
bludgeoned or hacked to death with machetes. This attack comes just weeks after
the rebels massacred around 50 people in Abia camp, also in Lira district.
These deaths never happened for Lugbaras or Madi let alone Banubbi attacked
Acholi population. These deaths happened for Acholi decided to attack fellow
Acholi and simply decapitate them. We have spent so many years under turmoil in
our country and the only common factor in all those turmoil are Acholi. Brian
Smith went to Uganda to study Acholi violence and he wrote a piece entitled .
Uganda: Hundreds of civilians massacred by Lord’s Resistance Army. It was
Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)
Ugandans we so need to discuss Acholi violence but candidly.
Uganda: Hundreds of civilians massacred by Lord’s Resistance Army
By Brian Smith
A rebel group in northeastern Uganda, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
massacred over 250 defenseless civilians on February 21, at Barlonyo refugee
camp 400 kilometers north of the capital Kampala. It is the worst attack
against civilians in the last ten years of an 18-year-old conflict.
Around 300 LRA rebels attacked the Barlonyo camp, in Lira district, armed with
light machine guns, assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades. They were
dressed in brand new uniforms of the regular army, the Ugandan Peoples Defence
Force (UPDF). After ordering people at gunpoint to go inside their thatched
huts, they then burnt these to the ground. Those attempting to flee were shot,
bludgeoned or hacked to death with machetes. This attack comes just weeks after
the rebels massacred around 50 people in Abia camp, also in Lira district.
Barlonyo is one of the so-called “protected villages” which the government
established in order to safeguard the local population from LRA attacks. It was
home to almost 5,000 refugees, but was defended by just 30 guards, with little
experience, who failed to alert nearby troops. Several thousand Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Barlonyo camp have fled to a nearby trading
center at Oguk.
There has been much public anger at the army’s failure to protect the camp.
Accusations have been made that sections of the ruling class—in both the army
and in government—have collaborated with the rebels. The quality of arms that
the rebels have at their disposal has raised questions also.
Fear of attacks in the camps has meant that crops do not get cultivated and
economic life largely disappears. This is replaced instead by food aid. Disease
and famine are rife.
The LRA has traditionally been backed by the Sudanese government, whilst the
Ugandan government has backed the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A) which has until recently been fighting against Khartoum. This
arrangement is in something of a transitory stage as Sudan is about to conclude
a peace-deal with the SPLM/A, and the LRA has been driven from Uganda.
In order to deflect criticism, President Museveni has put the responsibility
for the massacre onto the army and its command structure, accusing it of
“negligence”. “It’s very sad, on behalf of the government, or the army, I
apologise to the people because the mistake is on the side of the army,” he
said.
Museveni has made a scapegoat of the regional commander, removing him to
headquarters for further training. This is punishment for allowing an
“unofficial” camp to be set up in his area with too little security. Museveni
has also promised further bases in the north to combat the LRA.
The LRA are a notoriously brutal outfit, of no more than a few thousand, which
operates in an area covering parts of Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic
of Congo. They are led by Joseph Kony, a shadowy recluse who claims to have
magical powers derived from the Christian Holy Spirit, and manipulates local
beliefs in witchcraft to rule by fear. He promotes his operation as a Biblical
mission.
Kony proclaims that his intention is to topple the government in Kampala, which
is dominated by southerners, and restore power to the Acholi people in the
north, whom he claims to represent. It is these very Acholi civilians that the
LRA brutalises through its operations.
The conflict has continued for almost two decades and has cost some $1.3
billion. Aid agencies estimate that over 23,000 people have died, and there are
also approximately 1.4 million IDPs in the northeast of Uganda.
The LRA operates by abducting adults and children as young as seven, largely
from the Acholi. They are then used for menial work and also to raid villages
for food, fight against the UPDF, slaughter civilians and abduct other
children. Girls as young as 12 are given as wives to LRA commanders. Children
who attempt to escape are killed, sometimes by other children who are forced to
trample on them.
The UN estimates that 30,000 children have been abducted since the 1990s. This
has accelerated over the last few years, with Human Rights Watch estimating
that around 10,000 have been abducted since mid-2002, up from one hundred in
2001. The intensification followed the return of the LRA to Uganda after the
Ugandan government’s “Operation Iron Fist” against the LRA’s bases in southern
Sudan in March 2002.
Escalating rates of abduction have meant that many children leave their homes
at night and head to the relative safety of the towns. In late 2003, figures
for Gulu municipality indicated 16,000 of these “night commuters”, many of whom
walk up to 10 kilometres each night, returning home the following morning. Some
will sleep rough, or with relatives, others may get a bed at one of the various
shelters that exist.
In July last year some 20,000 children marched through Kitgum to protest
against the abductions.
In December 2003 the Ugandan government asked the newly formed International
Criminal Court (ICC) to help prosecute LRA rebels. In January ICC Prosecutor
Luis Moreno Ocampo announced that he was considering a probe into the LRA. He
has now announced that he will investigate this current massacre.
This is the second preliminary investigation ever launched by the ICC, and the
first to involve gathering evidence “in the field”. The ICC has said that as
well as investigating the LRA it will also look at allegations made against the
UPDF.
The UPDF is notoriously corrupt, with officers happy to perpetuate the conflict
since it represents an opportunity for profit. The UPDF also uses child labour
and exploits children for fighting. Often these are children who have escaped
from the LRA. Children are also recruited into official Local Defence Units
(LDUs).
LDUs ostensibly provide security for their villages, but they are then used
also to fight alongside UPDF troops against the LRA. This is not only in
northern Uganda but also in the Congo and the Sudan.
Stay in the forum for Series two hundred and twenty five on the way ------>
EM
On the 49th Parallel
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika
machafuko"
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