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11th June 2004 No 55
1. CISA:
Cardinal Censures Foreign Media for Ignoring Ugandan Conflict Cardinal Renato Martino, President
of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Meanwhile, Caritas
2.
Sunday
Vision: Govt gives Lakwena US$ 50,000 FORMER rebel leader and priestess
Alice Lakwena may soon be in the country after receiving $50,000 (sh100m) and a
satellite phone from President Yoweri Museveni as facilitation for her return
from exile. The money and the phone were on May 28 delivered to Lakwena at Ifo
refugee camp, in north-eastern According to the source, a team of
Ugandans including an Acholi cultural leader, Rwot Francis Oryang, the Amnesty
Commission chairman Justice Peter Onega, Leonard Chemonges who represented
President’s office and an official from the Oryang on Saturday confirmed Lakwena
had received the president’s offer. “It is true Oryang said Lakwena is expected to send her detailed travel plans back home by June 16. He said that the UNHCR representatives had welcomed the decision by the State to facilitate Lakwena’s return. The UNHCR is now expected to work on her repatriation documentation.
3.
Sunday
Vision: Bigombe in SUDANESE
president Omar el-Bashir moved swiftly to defuse a potential diplomatic rift
with A
member of the Bigombe team told Sunday Vision, that on arriving in Bigombe,
currently working for the World Bank, complained of lack of cooperation from
Sudanese officials despite assurances given to President Museveni by his Sudanese
counterpart that
4. IRIN:
Rebels kill 19 in fourth raid on IDP camps in a month KAMPALA: Rebels of the
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) launched a fourth raid within a month on a camp
for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda on Tuesday, killing
at least 19 people and burning over 200 huts, the Ugandan army and witnesses
said. The army spokesman in
the area, Lt Paddy Ankunda, told IRIN from Gulu town, 360 km north of the
capital, Tommy Ayieko, a teacher
in the area, told IRIN that over 100 rebels raided the camp. He said in an
exchange of fire with the army, many grass-thatched huts caught fire, burning
some of the victims inside. "Over 100 rebels attacked the camp and 10
people with bullet and fire wounds have been taken to hospital. As I talk to
you now we are preparing to bury my four-year-old niece," Ayieko said.
"We left other people in the camp digging graves to bury the others." On 3 June, at least 23
civilians were killed in the northern Kitgum District when the LRA attacked
Kalo-Obong camp, some 60 km east of Kitgum town. This preceded separate attacks
on two other camps in the district of Gulu, where over 50 people were killed. The LRA has waged war
against the Ugandan government for 18 years in the north, frequently attacking
villages and trading centres, murdering or torturing civilians and abducting
scores of children for forcible recruitment as soldiers, porters or sex slaves.
The war has displaced at least 1.6 million people who now live in camps
scattered across the region. In February, the rebels
killed hundreds of IDPs when they attacked a camp in Barlonyo, near Lira town,
south of Gulu. The army blamed the deaths on the laxity of local commanders,
who, it said, had allowed the IDPs to set up a camp in an area that was not
well protected.
The UPDF 9th Battalion
killed 12 LRA rebels in Lipan located in southern Kitgum district.
Apac:
The local Amuka militia who are believed to have come from Agwata detach, have
sent much fear down the spines of the people of Chawente, when they arrived on
01.06.2004 and started looting cattle, extorting money and torturing the locals
seriously. The LC 1 of Baradu, Francis Orech confirmed
that this incidence happened on 3.6.2004. The chairman further reported that
when he asked them where they came from and who was keeping the said guns, they
instead aimed their guns at him and threatened to shoot him.
Lira
Palow IDP: Soldiers of the UPDF mixed with LDU stationed at the
Lira Palwo IDP camp to protect the population have once again started to abuse
and flog the civilians they are supposed to protect like LRA rebels. This report was confirmed by many
inhabitants of the camp, who reported that when the soldiers are deployed in
the evening to protect the population, they instead turn to flogging them
without any justification. Once these soldiers find you seated
in front of your hut peacefully, they immediately embark on flogging you
forcing you to enter your house (Ingia
ndani). In one of the incidences, they flogged two women living in Block 8
until they were seriously injured. When this matter was reported to the
camp leader, the LC 3 Chairman, the said soldiers instead arrested these women
and took them to the barracks to the 2nd in command, of the
commander Captain Okech who is currently on leave. The 2nd in command
apologised to the women explaining that he was not informed of the event. Now
that the women have lodged their complaint, he would pursue the matter with the
suspect culprits according to the law. He also agreed to treat the injuries of
the two women. The local leaders expressed their
disappointment, explaining that if such behaviour continued, they would report
the matter to Lt. Colonel Lokech. Captain Karuma is currently in detention
following his omission which allowed LRA to kill 23 in March, 2004. The shameful abuse of civilians by
the UPDF and LDU continues unabated. The leadership of the army should open
their eyes to stop this abuse. This behaviour should be left to the idiots
of Kony’s LRA. 8.
Monitor:
LRA rebels kill 25 in Lira APAC - The Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) rebels last night struck Apok camp in, Oyam North and
killed 25 people. The LC-V of Apac, Ben Chwa visited the scene of the attack in
Otwal-sub county, 30 miles northwest of Apac town. He told The Monitor
yesterday that he had counted 25 dead bodies. “We counted 19 bodies of
which six were children. Six other bodies were found on the way,” he said. The
Gombolola Internal Security Officer, Tony Okello, said the rebels who were
dressed in army fatigue, duped the wananchi in the camp, before staging the
attack. “The UPDF soldiers had
been deployed in the night patrols and the camp was left vulnerable,” he said.
Mr Okello said the LRA then rounded up the camp firing bullets in all
directions and torching huts in the camp accommodating about 11,000 people. Okello said the rebels
had dodged the army as they headed to the camp. “They were well armed with
guns,” he said. He expressed fear that the rebels may attack Achokora camp that
is next to Apok camp. Another witness who visited the attacked scene, the
Speaker of Otwal sub-county said the number of the dead had gone up to 34. The UPDF northern region
spokesman Lt. Paddy Ankunda, however, said that 19 had been killed. “Rebels
attacked and killed 19 people and left about ten seriously injured. They burnt
about 200 huts,” he said. He said that the UPDF
pursued the group and rescued three captives. We also captured one rebel with a
rifle, he added. Ankunda said the rebels were under the command of Dominic
Ongwen. He said that the UPDF commander whose name he had not yet established,
was arrested for laxity. The LRA has sown mayhem
in the north and northeast
(a) Rupiny: CARE donates refrigerators and soap CARE International in Gulu has
donated 15 refrigerators and 96 cartons of soap to the department of health of
Gulu district to help preserve immunisation vaccines in the different IDPs.
CARE received the money for these donations from USAID to help save the lives
of children. Dr. Onek on his part thanked and praised
CARE for all the assistance they have been giving to Gulu to save lives. (a) Gulu women shun their partners
for musicians According
to Rupiny, the local weekly newspaper, musicians are now in great demand in
northern The
paper reported that this development became a social concern recently when
young boys started complaining that young girls and some elderly women whom
they have been courting over a long period have left them in the cold and
instead fallen for the musicians. These
boys say they have no stones to grind with the musicians because they sing and
play music which pleases them too. They absolve them of any gilt for the
behaviour of their lovers, because they might not be aware that those women who
always like dancing with them already have lovers. They instead blame their
girl and women friends, because they are the ones who force themselves on these
musicians so that they can have an affair with them. (b) Rupiny: Immorality on the rise
in the camps According
to the Regional Police Command, Northern Region, ACP Jorum Byayanya, immorality
is getting out of control in the IDPs. Mr Byayanya made this observation while
addressing the inhabitants of Palaro IDP last Friday when he paid them a visit. He
said that the police was receiving a lot of complaints about defilement which
has become rampant in the different IDPs in northern The
police commander warned the residents of Palaro IDP against defilement which
he said was a very serious offence according to the law of
KM E-Newsletter
55:
Sources: The New Vision, The Monitor, BBC, IRIN, Rupiny Note: G= Gulu, K= Kitgum, P= Pader; L=LRA, U= UPDA &
LDU, O= Others *The data is extracted from
different sources + Refers to killing of civilians unless otherwise
stated (2 of the 25 killed in Kitgum were local militia) ++ Refers to killing of LRA (the overwhelming majority
of whom are Acholi) unless otherwise stated 12. Recent
Publications on the Conflict in 1. International Crisis Group, “ www.icg.org/publications/077_Uganda_Conflict
2. Conciliation Resources, “
Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative: http://www.acholipeace.org/index.html Amnesty International: http://web.amnesty.org/report2004/uga-summary-eng Christian Aid: http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/uganda/ Human rights watch: http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=uganda International Crisis Group (ICG): http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm Oxfam: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/where_we_work/uganda/emerg.htm Peace and Conflict Monitor: http://www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=112 Quaker
United Nations Office (QUNO): http://www.afsc.org/quno/emergingcrises/uganda/ US State Department: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/29637.htm
Friends for Peace in Africa (FPA) The Human Disaster in Northern Uganda Conference Organised by Friends for Peace in Africa (FPA), Toronto, Canada 1st – 4th July 2004: http://www.friendsforpeaceinafrica.org/
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