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NORTHERN UGANDA |
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SPECIAL REPORT
Vol. XVIII x No. 5 JUNE 2006
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A humanitarian drama War has been ravaging Northern Uganda for the last 20 years. Result: 200,000 dead and many people brutally maimed; 40,000 abducted children, most of them bearing deep psychological scars, who find it difficult to resume a normal life. The Ugandan Army claims that the conflict is over but, on the ground, there are almost two million internally displaced persons still living in camps, unable to go back to their original homes, and suffering from intermittent chronic insecurity.
By John Baptist Odama Archbishop of Gulu (Uganda) Once described by the United Nations chief humanitarian co-ordinator Jan Egeland as “the world’s worst and most forgotten humanitarian crisis,” this war which has ravaged Northern Uganda since 1986 has attracted little international attention and has not found its way into the international media. The fact that this conflict has taken place in an area with no significant economic, commercial or geostrategic interests, together with the Government’s insistence for years that this was a small internal conflict about to be finished, accounts for its little publicity worldwide. For years, Uganda was presented as an African model of economic recovery and promising good leadership, confining this remote conflict to the dark. It has taken many years for it to come out and feature in the international agenda. Although the overall number of people killed as a direct result of violence during these 20 years may not go beyond 200,000, a figure that looks modest in comparison with death tolls in other conflicts such as Sudan and Congo, hundreds or dozens of people have been massacred at a time by the Lord´s Resistance Army (LRA). Many civilians – especially the most vulnerable, women and children – have been brutally maimed or have lost their limbs due to landmines. Travelling through many roads is a great risk because of indiscriminate ambushes, making normal social and economic life extremely difficult. 40,000 abducted Because of lack of support from the population, the LRA has always resorted to massive child abduction as a means to beef up their forces. By 2002, UNICEF estimated that, since 1994, the LRA had abducted about 30,000 persons, mostly children, and forced them to undergo military training in their bases in Sudan. Many of these young unwilling soldiers have been used also to fight the SPLA. It is estimated that since mid-2002 up to the end of 2003 the number of abductions was well over 10,000. Many ended up killed in armed confrontations with the Ugandan Army. The lucky ones who managed to escape are deeply traumatized and face a hard life of reintegration as their former communities have been destroyed. Many also find that their parents are dead and opportunities to continue with their studies are scarse. Since the year 2002, a new phenomenon known as “child night-commuters” has become an outstanding feature of this conflict. Between 2002 and 2004, humanitarian organizations on the ground estimated that about 40,000 children trek from their homes every evening into the relative safety of the main towns like Gulu and Kitgum. During the last few months, the number has reduced greatly due to some improvements in the situation in areas close to the main towns. Massive displacement In 1996, the Army started forcing thousands of civilians out of their villages in Gulu district into the so-called “protected villages.” Often they used a scorched-earth policy, including bombardments of rural arreas. Few months later, in January 1997, a five-day massacre in Lamwo county, in Kitgum, which left more than 400 killed by the LRA, forced thousands into displacement. By the beginning of 2002, there were 400,000 internally displaced persons in Acholiland, mainly in Gulu and Kitgum. In September 2002, the Army issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the civilian population to leave their homes or be considered as rebels. The whole of Pader district, which up to that time had almost no displaced camps and where people used to stay in their villages, became 100% displaced. People in few remaining villages in Kitgum, where people that had resisted leaving their homes all these years, were forced out by the Army during the last months of 2003 and beginning of 2004. When the LRA attacked Lango and Teso regions in mid-2003, hundreds of thousands more became displaced, and although the Government announced in November 2004 that plans were under way to return the displaced population to their original villages, recent ambushes on roads have convinced people that security is not yet enough for them to do so. People who used to live a self-reliant existence on farming are now idle most of the time. This unnatural way of living under appalling conditions is rapidly destroying traditional cultural and moral values. The incidence of HIV/AIDS in these camps is shocking. According to Church sources, HIV rates in Kitgum areas which never went beyond 5% befote have gone up to 30% after people were put in camps. At present, the official figure of the displaced, which the World Food Program (WFP) uses for its food distribution programme, stands at 1.6 million people but we have to keep in mind that there are tens of thousands living in informal displacements, plus tens of thousands more who have left the disturbed zones, mainly in Acholiland, and migrated to other parts of Uganda and even abroad. The origins of the conflict In spite of a peace accord signed in Nairobi in December 1985 between Musevenis’s NRA and Tito Okelo’s military regime, the former attacked and captured Kampala in January 1986, taking over the whole country. After a few months of calm, the remnants of the former Ugandan Army re-grouped and launched a guerrilla war against the new Government. Ever since, a succession of rebel movements emerged in Acholi and also in Teso. In 1988, the core insurgent group negotiated a peace deal with the Government and the population’s initial support for the rebels greatly decreased. Later on, in the early nineties, the rebellion in Teso also ended, thanks to some local initiatives. Since 1990, the rebel movement increasingly came under the command of Joseph Kony, whose group became known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). It started getting the full support of the Sudanese Government as a tit-for-tat response to Uganda’s support for the SPLA. In this way, the conflict became entangled in international military interests. A remarkable peace initiative led by the then Minister for the North, Betty Bigombe, which enjoyed much success and almost ended the war, collapsed when the President gave the rebels seven days to surrender in February 1994. Ever since, the conflict has continued unabated up to now, with the LRA launching periodical attacks in Acholiland and making the population live in terror. Operation Iron Fist The US-led war on terror had some influence in the turn that the war took in recent years. At the end of December 2001, at the request of the Ugandan Government, the US Secretary of State placed the LRA on the list of terrorist organizations. In March 2002, emboldened by this move, the Ugandan Armed Forces (known as UPDF) launched Operation Iron Fist, which was meant to root out the LRA by taking the war into southern Sudan, the LRA’s military and logistical base. This was done with the explicit support of the government of Sudan which, surely, fearing American retaliation after September 11, was anxious to be seen taking anti-terrorists measures. Operation Iron Fist has been a catastrophe for the people of Northern Uganda. Kony evaded capture and most of the LRA settled in Northern Uganda. Since then, people in the North have suffered more atrocities than in previous years. Abductions, particularly of children, have skyrocketed; displacement has more than tripled and the war has spread to Lango and Teso, northern and eastern sub-regions which, for more than ten years, had remained calm. The Government responded by creating some local militias, a move which the Church feared could create new explosive situations. Up to now, and despite official announcements by the Government every now and then that the insecurity is practically over, peace in Northern Uganda still remains an elusive and distant dream. The humanitarian situation With 1.6 million internal displaced people (IDP), Uganda still stands as one of the “worst and most forgotten humanitarian crisis.” In August 2005, a Government-sponsored report gave the figure of 1,000 deaths a week in the camps. Suicides, appalling conditions of overcrowding, lack of hygiene, family and cultural breakdowns, alcoholism and desperation continue to be the order of the day. Much has been said about decongestion programmes, so far with little to show. In practice, this tragedy doesn’t seem to be one of the Government’s high priorities. Army human rights abuses in these camps have become more than just isolated incidents. Month after month, the Justice and Peace Commission of Gulu Archdiocese receives credible reports of civilians being arbitrarily arrested, beaten up, robbed of their properties and even killed by soldiers. According to our sources, 32 civilians were killed by UPDF soldiers during 2005. Some of these cases were documented and published in a report by Human Rights Watch in September. Despite defensive statements by the Army, often the culprits are just transferred to other military units. Justice is denied to the victims. On December 27 last year, the Army shot against a crowd of displaced persons in Lalogi IDP camp who had gone to the detachment to protest the death of a young man the night before at the hands of a soldier. Six people were killed and sixteen wounded. Up to now, nobody has been held accountable for ordering the shooting. A part of the less visible side of the conflict is the worrying spread of mental disorders among IDPs, particularly depression, which seems to affect women more than men. Also, the issue of reconciliation, whatever is said in public, remains at a very superficial level and needs to be addressed seriously. During 2005, at least 180 civilians were killed by rebels in Acholi and Lango (figure is from our Justice and Peace Commission of Gulu, which is estimated to be low since many incidents, especially in Kitgum and Pader, go unreported), often in most brutal ways. This is enough to send waves of terror and continue to keep our population hostage. <WM
PROSPECTS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE Something decisive and unexpected could happen to the LRA that may turn the situation upside down in a short time. In this respect, the Government of Sudan must prove with actions that they are serious in solving this crisis. Also, the official mediator, Ms. Betty Bigombe, who is well known for her resilience, needs to be supported much more to find another track for a peaceful end so that the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) intervention would not imply closing the door, once and for all, to a peaceful negotiable solution. Unfortunately, we cannot discard the possibility of just continuing with the situation as it is, with a low-intensity conflict, with low visibility and few incidents, but bad enough to prevent the normalisation of the IDPs in the camps. People can’t understand how the Government can say every now and then that the number of the remaining rebels stands at 200, 100, 80 or even 30, with an average figure of 15 to 20 rebels killed every week by the Army which, at the same time, people are still kept in displaced camps. The supposedly military weakening of the LRA is not translated on the ground in the improvement of the life conditions of the population – helping them to normalize their lives and go back to their homes. In Northern Uganda, we have had enough of displacements. It is high time that the Government came up with a clear and consistent policy on resettlement. To speak of decongestion which, in practice, means to create more camps, only sends more confusing signals to the people in the North, many of whom harbour a suspicion that their land will be taken away, making them even poorer. A gradual resettlement of all IDPs could begin by helping people living in a radius of few kilometres around the camps voluntarily resettle in their original homes, with adequate provisions for security and essential services. This radius could gradually be increased as trust is built until, in a matter of months, all displaced persons can go back to their homes and live in their land. For all these to happen, we cannot do without the much-overdue help of the international community at the highest level, the UN Security Council. <WM / JBO
In 2000, soon after signing a peace agreement with the Sudan Government, brokered by the Carter Center, the Ugandan Government passed an Amnesty Law which has enabled an estimated 10,000 persons to return home from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The Church has always supported this Law and it has encouraged rebels to benefit from it. Also, in August 2002, the Government appointed a Presidential Peace Team, which was active during March and May 2003 but later on left Gulu after a one-month ceasefire collapsed. Since 2002 up to mid-2003, some religious leaders under the leadership of Gulu Archbishop John Baptist Odama, together with some cultural leaders, held a number of meetings with top LRA commanders in an effort to bring the rebels and the Government to the negotiating table and end the conflict peacefully. Later in 2004, former Minister Betty Bigombe took the lead of the mediation which looked very promising after two ministers met with LRA spokesman, Brig. Sam Kolo, in the bush at the end of December 2004. Nevertheless, the shaky ceasefire collapsed again at the beginning of 2005 and eventually talks entered into a stalemate after Kolo defected to the Government in February. There is no doubt that, at the beginning of 2005, the LRA was militarily weak. During the last two years, they lost thousands of their fighters. Almost 30 of their top commanders have been killed, captured or they have surrendered. Yet, while they can’t pose any serious threat to the Government, their continuous attacks on civilians prevent the normalisation of their lives. Judging from what recent returnees say, they may not be more than a few hundred individuals spread over a very vast area in zones of Northern Uganda, South Sudan and Eastern Congo. The Sudan Comprehensive Agreement was always considered a crucial factor in bringing the Northern Uganda war to an end, yet it is almost one year since it was signed and here (in Northern Uganda) we are still to see any results. Of late, a number of sources have expressed concern that Kony may still be receiving some support and shelter from elements of the Sudan Armed Forces. The SPLA makes a lot of display of rhetoric stating that they will crush them but in fact the LRA continues to disturb the populations of South Sudan and Northern Uganda, preventing the normalisation of the lives of most ordinary people. At the beginning of October 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) made public the arrest warrants for five top LRA commanders (one of them already dead). These warrants had been signed in July but kept secret. The chief prosecutor was very optimistic that the arrests would be implemented in less than six months. In Acholi there are many different views about the ICC’s intervention, although many people don’t feel free to talk openly about them. Surely, most of the population would be happy if the arrests took place and the war could come to a speedy end. While the Army has said once again that it will finish the rebels before the end of the dry season, most people in Northern Uganda recall that similar announcements have been made many times in the past and their attitude continues to be one of deep skepticism. <WM / JBO SPARKLES OF LIGHT Stories of courage, compassion and love amidst war. Aboke girls The most famous story of abduction happened in Aboke, Lira District. On 9 October 1996, 139 girls – between 12 and 15 years old – were abducted from St. Mary’s College, one of the best schools in Northern Uganda run by the Comboni Missionaries Sisters. In an act of extraordinary courage, Sister Rachele, the Italian deputy headmistress, with a school teacher, pursued the children’s abductors. Her journey took her to the guerrillas of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by the religious fanatic, Joseph Kony. She secured the release of the majority of her girls; thirty had to be left behind. What happened to the thirty girls also happened to more than 40,000 other children who disappeared from their homes and schools in the region – Gulu, Kitgum, Lira and Apac districts – since the emergence of the LRA. This story gave rise to the book, Aboke Girls - Children Abducted in Northern Uganda, written by Els De Temmerman (Fountain Publishers. Kampala-Uganda). The author, a journalist, reconstructs the journey of two Aboke girls who managed to escape from the LRA. She also tells the story of one of the abductors, a fourteen-year-old boy, who was part of Kony’s elite troops. And she describes Sister Rachele’s tireless search for her missing pupils.
Charles was forced to become a rebel. He became close to their chief, Joseph Kony, whose chair he used to carry in his incursions through the bush. One day Charles was sent to a village with a group of other child-soldiers to abduct children. The order was to kill all those who would try to escape. He was entrusted with the task of executing a girl. He drove the girl away from the group. But, out of compassion, he had decided to spare her. He pulled out his dagger and stabbed her slightly near the neck so that there will be blood and avoid suspicion. Then he told the girl to run away as fast as she could and shot into the air. Arriving home, she recounted the story to her parents who said: “You’ll be his wife.” One month later, Charles managed to escape. The girl’s parents came to offer him their daughter’s hand. He refused the offer for more than one year. She was very young and she decided to wait. In the end, he accepted the proposal and married her. They now have two nice kids. Charles is the cook of Kitgum Mission run by the Comboni Missionaries who built him a brick house. The wife still carries the scar of their first encounter. <WM / Jose Antonio M. Rebelo Recuperation process St. Monica Girls Tailoring Center is one of the institutions in Gulu helping the recuperation of formerly-abducted girls. It is run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a congregation founded in Juba (South Sudan) by the late Comboni Bishop Sisto Mazzoldi. Two-hundred-fifty-nine girls are attending the school this year, “half of them come from the bush,” says Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, the director of the school. Most of them are mothers. Therefore, they come along with their children who are cared for while the mothers try to mend their brokenness and aspire for a better future. The recuperation process is done through counselling, group therapies and a variety of activities such as cultural activities (dancing and singing), religious education, sustainable agriculture, attendance of courses and sports (sponsored by the Spanish rivals Soccer Clubs Real, Madrid and Barcelona, at the request of a Comboni missionary, Fr. José Carlos Rodríguez). In preparing for a better life, the girls are given tailoring and catering courses, both in practical (aimed at developing basic skills) and academic (requires national examination) forms. Secretarial course and basic computer training are also available. The girls practice reading and writing, take measurements, learn about hygiene, food and nutrition, religion, how to take care of the house and of the children and are taught to develop business skills in order to sell what they produce. Those who have completed the tailoring course are employed by the Sisters to make uniforms for schools. In this way, while they make a living, they also help the Center by generating income.
The exile in Sudan lasted for six long years. She tried to escape twice: the first time she was caught and beaten up badly; the second time she was caught in a crossfire between soldiers and rebels. A bomb explosion damaged her jaw. The soldiers brought her to a recuperation center. Later on, the Lacor Hospital (Gulu) referred her to the Community of St. Egidio in Italy. She stayed there for two years and underwent five plastic surgeries that, at least, enabled her to eat with her mouth. Then she came as a student for skills training. She is doing practical tailoring. But she is also very helpful in cooking and baking – to the delight of the Sisters!
After five years, they brought her to Northern Uganda, to the Operations Theater. During an ambush, the soldiers killed many of her colleagues but she managed to escape. She left the gun behind and ran for her life until she was caught by government troops. Her mother was also killed by the LRA. The uncles took care of her as is the custom in Africa. <WM / Jose Antonio M. Rebelo Copyright©2003-2006 World Mission Magazine |
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