Uganda, Sudan, Congo should coordinate security – UN Annan
July 6, 2006 (UNITED NATIONS) — Uganda, Sudan and Congo should coordinate the activities of their security forces to deal with the lingering threat from the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a new report.
In the report to the Security Council, Annan said U.N. peacekeepers in Sudan should focus on implementing a still fragile peace agreement between the government and southern rebels and peacekeepers in Congo should concentrate on supporting “a credible and violence-free electoral process” which will likely extend into September.
The U.N. missions in Sudan and Congo can provide limited assistance to the governments in the two countries within their capabilities “but should not be seen as an alternative to authorities in the LRA-affected region in the maintenance of law and order,” he said.
The report was a response to a Security Council resolution in March asking Annan for proposals on how U.N. agencies and missions, especially in Sudan, could more effectively address the problem of the LRA. That resolution urged the U.N. force in southern Sudan “to make full use of its current mandate and capabilities” to pursue LRA rebels in Sudan.
Annan’s report said once fully deployed the U.N. force could make southern Sudan “less benign for the LRA and other bandit activity.” But he said it has no mandate to arrest and can only detain people who attack or threaten to attack U.N. personnel or installations or people nearby.
“It should be emphasized that the regional countries have an overwhelming capacity to address the LRA threat,” the report stressed. “If a mutually agreeable way is found by the governments in the region to strengthen cooperation on the ground among its security forces, it could create a solid basis to deal more effectively with the lingering threat from the LRA.”
During the LRA’s 20-year conflict, an estimated 100,000 people are reported to have died as a result of the conflict and about 2 million have been displaced, primarily in northern Uganda, the report said.
At the moment, Annan said attacks by the LRA “are at their lowest recorded levels for several years and there is evidence of its diminished military capacity.” While its exact strength is unknown, the LRA currently appears to have “no more than several hundred active combatants, and does not seem to be a credible military force,” he said.
Nonetheless, Annan said, “LRA violence against civilians continues, including abductions of children and adults, extrajudicial killings, (and) sexual and gender-based violence, mostly rape and torture.”
In the 1990s, the LRA was alleged to have moved its activities into southern Sudan and later into the Garamba National Park in Congo, which borders Sudan, Annan said. There are indications that following the redeployment of a group headed by Vincent Otti to Garamba Park and the border area between Congo and Sudan, other LRA leaders including Joseph Kony have moved there seeking a safe haven, he said.
Five LRA leaders including Otti and Kony have been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
While the indictments were believed to make the leaders less approachable, Annan said the government of southern Sudan’s recent contacts with Kony and Otti – with the apparent knowledge of the Ugandan government – “suggest the possibility of a negotiated solution with the LRA.”
“However, such contacts also raise the issues of impunity and the responsibility of the southern Sudanese authorities to apprehend the individuals indicted by the ICC,” Annan said.
LRA negotiators have gathered in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba for talks mediated by southern Sudanese leaders that will begin next week. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni is joining the talks and might grant amnesty to Kony if negotiations go well, his spokesman said Tuesday.
Annan’s report urged the Ugandan government to finalize a National Peace, Recovery and Development Plan in consultation with leaders in the north affected by the LRA violence and to promote the economic and social reintegration of former LRA combatants.
It also called for U.N. agencies to work with member states in gathering and sharing intelligence about the LRA, saying this was essential to limit and possibly prevent rebel activities.
(ST/AP)