US differs with Uganda on amnesty for LRA rebels – US Embassy
July 6, 2006 (KAMPALA) — The United States believes rebels who committed atrocities during the 19-year civil war in northern Uganda should be held accountable for their deeds, the embassy said, two days after Uganda’s president said he might grant amnesty to insurgents if they abandon terrorism and upcoming peace talks go well.
President Yoweri Museveni has agreed to begin peace talks next week in neighboring Sudan with the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group. If those talks go well, he promised the group’s leader, Joseph Kony, would not be arrested to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.
“The United States respects Uganda’s decision on this matter, but we believe those who have committed atrocities in this long-standing insurgency should be held accountable for their deeds,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
The Ugandan rebels, who have set up rear bases in neighboring southern Sudan and eastern Congo, are the remnants of an uprising that began in 1986 after Museveni took power in Uganda.
The Lord’s Resistance rebels were once backed by the national Sudanese government. But southern Sudan, which has its own administration, is preparing to rebuild after a 21-year civil war of its own. It is now eager to help end the conflict because it wants to stop Ugandan insurgents from killing, abducting and attacking civilians in the region.
Lord’s Resistance Army negotiators have gathered in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba for talks that will begin next week. They will be mediated by southern Sudanese leaders, who are keen to ensure that Ugandan rebels do not derail the peace deal that ended the conflict in southern Sudan.
The Netherlands-based International Criminal Court last July issued arrest warrants for Kony and four of his lieutenants for crimes against humanity including the killing of thousands of civilians and enslaving thousands of children. The court called on Congo, Sudan and Uganda to arrest the five.
“The U.S. Government recognizes that the initiative of the Government of Southern Sudan to broker peace talks between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda is based on the hope that these talks will put an end to the LRA insurgency that has been ongoing in northern Uganda for nearly 20 years,” the U.S. Embassy said.
The peace initiative is fueled by “the desire to resolve a conflict that has displaced millions and killed thousands and that threatens to destabilize the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan,” it added.
Museveni has assured Kony that his government will not renege on its promise of amnesty even under international pressure. He said the United Nations mission in Congo should have arrested him because it knew his location in the country’s Garamba National Park.
(ST/AP)