Terror behind the scenes
The bulk of the daily news from most African countries always serves the monotonously insidious menu of stories of starvation, disease, conflict and poverty; but nothing has made me more grief stricken than the news from the Ugandan press during the last few weeks. The 18 year conflict is a complex conglomerate of political, social and historical factors.
The 'Lord's Resistance Army' (LRA) started in 1986 when former soldiers of the Uganda National Liberation Army regrouped and started a guerrilla movement called the Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA) against the Movement Government for alleged excesses committed when they captured northern Uganda.
The organisation raids villages, towns and open markets to steal, kill, maim, rape and then torch huts and granaries leaving whole villages empty and desolate. Defenceless civilians have fled the villages, often to internally displaced peoples (IDP) camps near towns, where military despatches offer some form of security.
Reports claim the LRA have displaced roughly about one million people and killed about 500,000 people in total.
One then wonders how these heinous atrocities have been committed for almost two decades to the background of the government's promises of an end, often conditionally tagged to such trivial factors as the end of a dry season. The recent massacre of over 190 people by suspected LRA rebels in Barlonyo IDP camp in Lira district about 200km from the Sudan-Uganda border is testimony of how destructive and atrocious the LRA has been in the past.
In this episode, a group of nearly 200 rebels stormed the camp, which was home to about 4,800 homeless people, and wrecked insurmountable havoc, killing dozens and leaving many for dead and hundreds more widows and orphans. The camp was being protected by few poorly armed local militia men who couldn't protect the thousands. Barely a fortnight ago, at Abia IDP camp, a similar incident had occurred with casualty and death figures in the hundreds. The army spokesman on both occasions reiterated the army's intention to end the atrocities. Such and many other past reports of heavy casualty figures have made me ponder the factors that fuel such a useless and senseless guerrilla war.
The lack of political will on behalf of the government of Uganda in clamping this nemesis is the major proponent among many other aspects, all of which lean on historical, political and cultural divides. In such a multi-ethnic country, it is suspicious and implausible that about 40 per cent of the budget is on defence and yet the army claims insufficient funds and equipment to quell insurgents thought not to exceed 2000 over such a long period of time.
Despite claims by the government that it no longer materially and financially supports the Sudanese people's liberation army (SPLA) in the south of Sudan, counter support by the Khartoum-based government of the LRA has not helped the situation. The LRA has found a safe haven in southern Sudan, often inflicting damage in villages in northern Uganda before fleeing to southern Sudan for refuge.
Pleas by the Amnesty Commission formed by the government for the rebels to surrender in exchange for freedom from prosecution have fallen on deaf ears, the rebels citing mistrust on the government's side. On the contrary, the government has asked the International Criminal Court to begin investigations and finally issue a warrant to interdict all the leaders of this rebellion.
My final thought rests with the LRA rebels themselves. Their genesis reveals that these rebels were actually abducted kids forced to co-operate with AK47's to their heads, who have no mind of civilised society or the rule or law and order. In the event that the government eventually quashes this rebellion, should it pride in killing these 'rebels'? And then there is the million dollar question - should the leader of the Lords Resistance Army be tried in the Hague, the headquarters of ICC, or in Uganda, where he committed these crimes? What if the population from the north is willing to forgive and forget?
3rd Apr 2004