With this withdrawal, however, the likelihood of accountability as well as redress in the form of reparations for victim communities is reduced even further. The reason that was given for the withdrawal does not help.
This is problematic because it reinforces the message to victims of the atrocities that are alleged against Kony, as well as their communities, that accountability for the crimes that were committed during the war are not a priority.
Northern Ugandan communities themselves hear and are acutely aware of the meaning of messages like these. Many have come to terms with the fact that they must look towards themselves for redress rather than depend on others. This year, for example, the Atiak memorial prayers were focused on moving towards economic empowerment for the community.
But do victims of conflict and their communities in Uganda have to exist in space where they are on their own? To respond to this, the conversation around accountability, justice and reconciliation needs to be shifted to the perspective of the people to whom it matters the most. If, for example, as much money, time and resources that was invested in the hunt for the LRA was instead used to support communities such as Atiak in their pursuit of justice then the impact would have been felt.
Accountability for the crimes that were committed cannot be another area of redress for which northern Ugandan communities cannot depend on. He can be found on twitter at oryembley. They usually stay with the same fighter during their entire time in captivity. The human toll has been most severe in northern Uganda. Between and , at least 20, Ugandan children were abducted.
More than 1. Living conditions in the camps were horrific, and for years communities were largely cut off from basic necessities. The death toll from cholera and other diseases was often higher than from the conflict itself.
Since , when the Uganda armed forces pushed the LRA into Congo and what is now South Sudan, relative peace has returned to northern Uganda, with a dramatic improvement in security. Addressing the aftermath of the war and displacement, however, remains a massive challenge. The vast majority of displaced people, more than 80 percent of the population of the camps, have returned home, though few have received government assistance.
Since September the LRA has killed more than 2, civilians and abducted more than 4, other people, many of them children. More than , people have been displaced from their homes; very few have any access to humanitarian assistance.
They and their forces are highly mobile, and it is difficult to know their exact whereabouts. Kony and other LRA leaders move on foot in small separate groups with their fighters and abductees through remote bush terrain between the borders of Congo, CAR, and South Sudan.
They do not have permanent camps, avoid roads and often make great efforts to cover their tracks. The LRA leaders used to communicate by satellite phone and two-way radios but no longer do so for fear their locations will be identified through monitoring. Instead they send messages via runners, letters posted on trees or left under rocks, or occasional face-to-face meetings at pre-determined locations in isolated areas. LRA fighters are well-trained and highly disciplined.
Currently, the LRA operates across a large and extremely remote area with poor infrastructure. Despite successive military campaigns against the group over the years, the LRA has proven remarkably resilient and able to regroup to continue attacks against civilians.
In peace agreements were negotiated in Juba, South Sudan, but Kony repeatedly failed to sign them. In December the governments in the region, led by the Ugandan army, with intelligence and logistical support from the United States, launched a military campaign against LRA bases in Garamba National Park in northeastern Congo.
The campaign, called Operation Lightning Thunder, was put into action with a surprise aerial strike on the main LRA camp where Kony was believed to be located. The strike failed to neutralize the LRA leaders, who escaped. But enhanced arrest efforts and broader and more effective measures to protect civilians endangered by the LRA—including those who may be at heightened risk from an arrest operation—are also needed.
The following steps are critical to ending LRA abuses:. Taking these actions should be part of a broader effort that focuses on other important tasks, including improving coordination and cooperation between the Ugandan army and other national armed forces, UN peacekeepers, and the US military advisers, and developing an outreach strategy to better inform people in the region about ongoing operations and areas at risk of LRA attack.
Efforts should be strengthened to ensure that victims and LRA-affected communities have access to humanitarian assistance. Efforts are under way for the African Union AU to play a greater role and to transform the existing campaign into one led by the AU, though this is unlikely to change the composition of the troops.
But the current operations have failed to apprehend Kony and other LRA leaders, and have not stopped attacks on civilians. The soldiers involved in the military operations often lack appropriate training and equipment and have minimal or no experience in apprehension operations. Soldiers from some of the armed forces involved in the operations have also committed human rights abuses against civilians.
The soldiers raped at least 35 Mbororo women and girls in late and early Some were held in army camps and raped repeatedly.
At least 12 Mbororo civilians were shot dead by Congolese army soldiers—and possibly many more, although reports have been difficult to verify. Soldiers also looted thousands of heads of livestock from the Mbororo, and forcibly evicted many Mbororo from their homes. Some of the women and girls were raped while travelling with Ugandan soldiers for security on the road as they made their way to Southern Sudan; others were raped in their homes or fields near areas where Ugandan soldiers were deployed.
All armed forces involved in operations in LRA-affected areas should take all necessary measures to ensure full respect for international human rights and humanitarian law. The United States has provided the most support of any government in the effort against the LRA by countries in the central African region.
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Immigration Activist for deported veterans allowed back to U. What does that look like, practically? These programs help protect communities from violent attacks by armed groups, recover from conflict, trauma, and exploitation, and build a thriving future that breaks cycles of violence. And we continue to be driven by our commitment to dedicated local leaders who have become close partners and dear friends.
That commitment has always pushed us to think creatively and get gritty when we have to! Case in point: Since , as international donors have shifted their resources to other crises around the world, the number of international NGOs in LRA-affected areas of DRC dropped from 19 to three.
We stayed. And we continue to work hard to keep our commitments to the safety of LRA-affected communities. As we move forward, we remain inspired by the courage and resilience of the central Africa community leaders who guide our work.
We learn from them daily, and we continue to see each challenge as an invitation to think creatively and get our hands dirty. As always, we will stop at nothing until the most vulnerable among us have the protection from violence that they deserve and the opportunity to thrive; because our liberty is bound together.
On March 3, the House overwhelmingly adopted H.
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