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IRIN Web Special on the crisis in Northern Uganda
I N T R O D U C T I O N - Continued
Thousands of children now crowd into empty buildings to seek safety from nightly LRA raids.
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Abductions
Until the Ugandan army offensive pushed the LRA back over the border into Uganda, the rebels would typically abduct children from schools, boarding schools, homes and villages, and force them to walk, often carrying LRA loot, to LRA rear bases inside southern Sudan. For children unable to manage the long trek through the bush, the prospects were frightening - some would simply be left behind while others would be punished for lagging behind the group. One 10-year-old girl told IRIN recently how she had had part of her foot cut off by a rebel commander for failing to keep pace.
Of those able to complete the arduous journey to Sudan, many of the girls would be forced to become the slaves or 'wives' of LRA commanders, while many of the boys, some as young as seven, would then be initiated into the rebel army.
However, since the destruction by the UPDF of several LRA rear bases in Sudan and the consequent mid-June 2002 upsurge in rebel attacks, many captives are not taken to camps in Sudan, but are kept with LRA units inside Uganda. While this has enabled escapees to return home more easily, the harsh treatment meted out to abducted children can be just as brutal.
According to UN estimates, some 8,400 children have been registered as abducted during LRA raids between June 2002 and June 2003. This represents a sharp increase in the level of abductions, and brings to over 20,000 the total number of registered child abductions since 1990. Fewer than 100 children were reported to be abducted during 2001, a period when hopes were high that the conflict was slowly dying out.
Initiation
Once captured, abducted children are often forced to take part in horrifying initiation practices, including the torture and murder of others. Many other children are forced to watch helplessly the beatings, killings, abductions, rape and murder of other people, who are sometimes their close relatives.
These dehumanising practices serve as a warning to them about their fate should they attempt to escape. "The practice of using the recently abducted children and adults to collectively kill fosters guilt and fear among them," HRW says.
HRW quoted one abducted child as saying he had been forced to mutilate the corpse of a boy beaten to death by other child abductees. "One time I was ordered to cut up a dead body with a knife. I was then forced to pick up the pieces of flesh and throw them down on the ground to show my loyalty," HRW quoted the 17-year-old Samuel B. as saying.
Night Commuters
In a desperate attempt to avoid abduction and subsequent abuses in captivity, thousands of northern Ugandan children are now forced to 'commute' from their villages and the IDP camps to spend the night in the relative safety of the towns.
In Gulu town, for example, this phenomenon of 'child night commuters' involves large numbers of children walking several kilometers from their home villages to crowd into empty buildings, and to seek refuge on verandahs, in the bus park, on church grounds and in local factories before returning home each morning.
According to HRW, the number of 'night stayers' in Gulu town tripled between February 2003 and May 2003 to stand at over 13,000. While their daily journeys make them a little safer from LRA attacks, they have become increasingly vulnerable to abuse from adults and older children, and do not receive any official assistance.
The international community
Apart from the Ugandan army's troubled campaign against Kony, there have been some, so far unsuccessful, attempts to bring a peaceful end to the war. These peace initiatives have included a presidential peace team, which was established by Museveni with a view to starting serious negotiations.
However, the initiative has floundered after a ceasefire agreement was dishonoured, and it is now a widely held view in the north that the Ugandan government is primarily interested in wiping out the LRA by force, rather than reaching a settlement through dialogue.
Some civil society groups, most notably the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARPLI), have tried to fill the vacuum left by the failure of government-led initiatives. However, members of this team have also been frustrated by an apparent unwillingness on the part of the rebels to come out of the bush to negotiate, and by the difficulties in talking peace while war is still being waged.
Fr. Carlos Rodriguez, a high-profile member of the ARPLI, says the time has come for international mediation to resolve the conflict, and that the LRA would also respond positively to such engagement.
This is a sentiment shared by Baker Ochola, the retired Bishop of Kitgum. "Those being targeted are the children, women and the elderly. This is why we feel there is a need for the international community to put pressure on the Ugandan government and Sudan in order to give a break to the people," he told IRIN.
Links:
Human Rights Watch Report
Humanitarian Information Network Uganda
World Food Programme
Government of Uganda
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