Peace in southern Sudan might spell the end of the war in northern Uganda
NAIROBI, Jan 31, 2004 (IPS/ST) — The signing of a wealth-sharing agreement earlier this month between Sudanese officials and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army was hailed an important step towards peace in that country. Now, hopes are growing that the accord might also spell the end of another conflict: that in northern Uganda.
Since 1986, this region has been plagued by fighting between government forces and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Headed by Joseph Kony, the group says it wants to establish a new government in Uganda based on the Biblical ten commandments.
The LRA is believed to operate from bases in southern Sudan, using arms allegedly supplied by Khartoum. Sudan’s apparent support for the LRA has been linked to the fact that Uganda has, in its turn, been accused of supplying aid to Sudanese rebels.
However, with a final peace deal expected in Sudan within a month, the LRA might find itself cut adrift.
“The peace process in Sudan is creating hope for the situation in northern Uganda,” says Daouda Toure, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Uganda.
“We hope that control of circulation of arms to the LRA from Sudan’s government will stabilise the volatile situation in northern Uganda, which is spilling over to the eastern and central parts of the country,” he added.
Toure made the comments this week during a visit to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to attend the launch of a new book on the LRA conflict. It is titled “When the sun sets, we start to worry” – a reference to the LRA’s infamous practice of abducting children, many of whom are forced into combat or prostitution.
“Every sunset, thousands of people move from their villages and camps to go to towns, to sleep in corridors of schools and hospitals because of fear that they will be abducted,” says Toure.
Published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), the 69-page book includes first-hand accounts from women and children who have suffered abuse at the hands of the LRA.
“Abductees are made to carry heavy loads over long distances. Those who lag behind or fall ill are beaten or killed. Some are forced to kill, maim, beat, or abduct innocent victims, or to look on as such abuses are committed,” it recounts.
“Sexual violence against girls and women is rampant. They are used as domestic servants or forced into sexual slavery as LRA commanders’ ‘wives’. They are subject to rape, unwanted pregnancy and the risk of infection, including HIV.”
According to the book, more than 20,000 children have been kidnapped since the start of the war. UN officials say the conflict has also pushed over a million people into refugee camps which lack adequate water and sanitation.
Eliane Dutoit, head of OCHA in Uganda, says “The LRA rebels are moving from one area to another and so the IDP’s (internally displaced persons) are scared to return to their villages.” She has just returned from a visit to eastern Uganda.
The war has taken a particular toll on the Acholi ethnic group. Out of a population of 1.2 million, up to 850,000 Acholis have been displaced from their homes, according to relief agencies.
Critics have sometimes accused Uganda’s government of not doing enough to end fighting in the north of the country – a charge Kampala denies.
“The Uganda government has been trying to set up a meeting to negotiate with the LRA for over two years now,” said Charles Wagaba, Uganda’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in a statement this week.
“(We have been) waiting for a response from LRA leader Kony, in vain,” he added. The statement was presented during a UN meeting on the situation in northern Uganda.
The government has extended by three months an offer of amnesty to LRA combatants who surrender to authorities, (the offer took effect on Jan. 17). This is the fourth extension.
“The government calls upon the LRA to take advantage of this amnesty and surrender. However, the amnesty is provided for by law and cannot be extended indefinitely,” said Wagaba.
Efforts by religious leaders to negotiate peace with Kony have also been unsuccessful.
“We have had 20 peace meetings with the LRA since July 2002 and nothing has changed,” Father Carlos Rodriguez of Minakulu Catholic Parish in Gulu, northern Uganda, told IPS in an earlier interview.