Post by Sivvy on May 25, 2008 19:52:17 GMT -6
When Hell Came To Earth.
{The War}
The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today. For the past 21 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government have been waging a war that has left nearly two million innocent civilians caught in the middle. The Ugandan government has failed to protect its citizens from this rebel militia that has murdered mothers and buried the young, leaving an entire generation of youth that has never known peace.
The LRA rebel movement can be traced back to a woman named Alice Lakwena. In the 1980s, Lakwena believed the Holy Spirit spoke to her and ordered her to overthrow the Ugandan government for being unjust to the Acholis. Lakwena and her followers, known as the Holy Spirit Movement, gained momentum as resentment toward the government increased. When Lakwena was exiled and no clear leader of the movement was left, Joseph Kony, who claimed to be Lakwena’s cousin, took control and transformed Lakwena’s rebel army into the LRA.
Kony’s LRA did not receive the same support as the Holy Spirit Movement because of their extreme tactics. With dwindling support for their cause and heightened government offensives, the rebels resorted to abducting children and indoctrinating them into their ranks. It is estimated that more than 90% of the LRA’s troops are children.
In 1996, as a response to the LRA attacks in the villages, the Ugandan government forcibly evicted thousands from their homes and relocated them into overcrowded camps in hopes of providing protection. But over a decade later roughly 1.5 million individuals live in these camps and struggle to survive among the effects of abject poverty, rampant disease, and near-certain starvation.
In recent years more and more international attention has been focused on this crisis. In 2001, the US Patriot Act officially declared the LRA to be a terrorist organization, a huge step in drawing attention to the conflict and the atrocities committed by the LRA. In 2004, Congress passed the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act, the first piece of American legislation to address this disaster. And in 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and four of his top commanders.
Pressure from the international community and a strong desire to realize peace has brought the Ugandan government and the LRA to the negotiating table on numerous occasions, though they have yet to find a peaceful resolution. The most recent talks commenced in Juba, Sudan in July 2006, and a cessation of hostility agreement was signed the following month. In July 2007, the US appointed Tim Shortley as Senior Advisor to Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer for Conflict Resolution with his immediate focus on northern Uganda, an action that solidified the US’s dedication to ending this conflict. For the talks to come to a peaceful resolution, five agenda items must be agreed upon between the LRA and the Ugandan government. With only two agendas remaining, these negotiations represent the best chance this war has seen for peace.
*Taken from the official Invisible Children website:
invisiblechildren.com/
{The War}
The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today. For the past 21 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government have been waging a war that has left nearly two million innocent civilians caught in the middle. The Ugandan government has failed to protect its citizens from this rebel militia that has murdered mothers and buried the young, leaving an entire generation of youth that has never known peace.
The LRA rebel movement can be traced back to a woman named Alice Lakwena. In the 1980s, Lakwena believed the Holy Spirit spoke to her and ordered her to overthrow the Ugandan government for being unjust to the Acholis. Lakwena and her followers, known as the Holy Spirit Movement, gained momentum as resentment toward the government increased. When Lakwena was exiled and no clear leader of the movement was left, Joseph Kony, who claimed to be Lakwena’s cousin, took control and transformed Lakwena’s rebel army into the LRA.
Kony’s LRA did not receive the same support as the Holy Spirit Movement because of their extreme tactics. With dwindling support for their cause and heightened government offensives, the rebels resorted to abducting children and indoctrinating them into their ranks. It is estimated that more than 90% of the LRA’s troops are children.
In 1996, as a response to the LRA attacks in the villages, the Ugandan government forcibly evicted thousands from their homes and relocated them into overcrowded camps in hopes of providing protection. But over a decade later roughly 1.5 million individuals live in these camps and struggle to survive among the effects of abject poverty, rampant disease, and near-certain starvation.
In recent years more and more international attention has been focused on this crisis. In 2001, the US Patriot Act officially declared the LRA to be a terrorist organization, a huge step in drawing attention to the conflict and the atrocities committed by the LRA. In 2004, Congress passed the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act, the first piece of American legislation to address this disaster. And in 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and four of his top commanders.
Pressure from the international community and a strong desire to realize peace has brought the Ugandan government and the LRA to the negotiating table on numerous occasions, though they have yet to find a peaceful resolution. The most recent talks commenced in Juba, Sudan in July 2006, and a cessation of hostility agreement was signed the following month. In July 2007, the US appointed Tim Shortley as Senior Advisor to Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer for Conflict Resolution with his immediate focus on northern Uganda, an action that solidified the US’s dedication to ending this conflict. For the talks to come to a peaceful resolution, five agenda items must be agreed upon between the LRA and the Ugandan government. With only two agendas remaining, these negotiations represent the best chance this war has seen for peace.
*Taken from the official Invisible Children website:
invisiblechildren.com/