LRA finds haven in Darfur says international advocacy group

March 11, 2010 (WASHINGTON) — A contingent of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has taken refuge in areas of South Darfur controlled by the Government of Sudan, claimed the Washington-based Enough Project in a statement issued on Thursday.

Ugandan special forces are in pursuit of the scattered LRA across Congo, the Central African Republic and Southern Sudan, but supposedly the Ugandans are restricted from crossing into Darfur or any other part of North Sudan.

Accordingly, an LRA reconnaissance team in late 2009 sought to make contact with the Sudanese army at their base in Kafia Kingi, near south Darfur’s border with CAR, according to Enough Project. Now, based on field research and interviews with government and United Nations officials in several countries, Enough says that it can “confirm that LRA units have reached south Darfur.”

This claim was voiced earlier by the official spokesman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, who asserted last year that LRA leader Joseph Kony himself was in Darfur. This was denied by Salah Gosh, presidential advisor and ex-chief of the intelligence and security service.

Field researcher Ledio Cakaj, citing information obtained from captured LRA commander Charles Arop and Ugandan military intelligence officers, wrote in a new report that as of December 2009 the total LRA fighting force was around 400 people, out of which approximately half were in the Central African Republic, including the units that have now crossed over into South Darfur in Sudan. Of this group, approximately 50 were operating under Gen. Kony. Major General Okot Odhiambo and Colonel Okot Odek are also part of this group.

“The possibility of rekindled collaboration between LRA leader Joseph Kony and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir—both wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, or ICC—should alarm policymakers and demands urgent international investigation and response,” the advocacy group Enough said in a statement.

“This is a very disturbing development. The move by the Government of Sudan to provide the LRA with safe haven demands a firm, rapid, and well-coordinated response from the United States and its partners in the international community,” said John Norris, Enough’s Executive Director. “A failure to bring clear and consistent pressure on President Bashir and his allies for this latest outrage will only encourage the Sudanese government to commit further abuses, with a terrible cost for civilians on the ground.”

The LRA originated in northern Uganda during the late 1980s. It committed widespread atrocities in Uganda throughout the 1990s and early 2000s and received support from the Sudanese government. In 2005, Kony publicly stated that the Bashir government supported the LRA.

Enough Project’s latest report authored by Mr. Cakaj focuses more on LRA activities in northeastern Congo. It argues that much greater efforts must be made to protect civilians from “a resurgent LRA and the predatory Congolese army.” It can be accessed here.

(ST)