Two decades of violence have drenched Uganda in blood. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have captured children, forced them to become soldiers, and brainwashed them with terrible lies. They define training as killing another child, murdering those who refuse to comply. They rub shea nut oil on the children’s skin, and say the bullets will bounce off.
Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), caused this pain and chaos when he seized power two decades ago. He claimed a relation to Alice Lakwena, who allegedly was a prophetess. According to a 2006 BBC News profile, Kony has 50 “wives,” or girls he has abducted. He also insists the LRA is fighting for a government based on the Ten Commandments.
Apparently, Kony overlooks “thou shalt not kill.” 12,000 Ugandan people have perished at his hands, according to a 2005 estimate from The Seattle Times, which does not include the countless Ugandans who have starved or died of disease because of the displacement the conflict has caused.
Hope for an end to this brutal war resides in the peace negotiations between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army. They recently established a permanent ceasefire. The LRA agreed and signed the last agenda item on March 1st. They only needed to sign the final peace agreement. But according to Resolve Uganda’s web site, the LRA representatives left and refused to agree on a date for the final peace agreement signing. They demanded that the International Criminal Court, which accused Kony of the unspeakable crimes he has committed, lift their indictments. Now Resolve Uganda reports that the Ugandan government is asking the International Criminal Court to do so, in hopes of restoring peace as a result. Recently, Uganda president Museveni implied that if Kony did sign the peace agreement, the ICC indictments would no longer be valid, according to the Uganda Conflict Action Network.
In the hour of hope, reports surfaced that the LRA rebels supposedly killed 11 people and abducted 27 in southern Sudan. However, according to a March 2008 report from the Sudan Tribune, the leader of the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team concluded that the LRA was not in the area during the attacks. Since then, local officials accused the LRA of attacking a town in Central African Republic and abducting 80 people last week. If true, the attack suggests that the LRA may not abide by the peace agreement.
Uganda is closer to peace than it ever has been in the past two decades. During this critical time period, it’s imperative that other nations ensure that fragile Uganda reaches peace and stability, instead of slipping back into chaos. The February 2008 Lobby Day for Northern Uganda was the biggest Lobby Day for an African issue in all of U.S. history, according to Resolve Uganda’s web site. Almost 1,000 people came to Washington D.C. to speak out about what the United States can do about the LRA and the war in Northern Uganda.
A record 23 Senators and 16 representatives from the House signed a letter addressed to the United Nations Secretary General, as mentioned on Resolve Uganda’s web site. The letter, posted on the Democracy in Action web site, calls for “more diplomatic and material support from the United Nations” in Northern Uganda.
Even if long-awaited peace does descend upon Uganda at last, the nation still has a long way to go after decades of inhumane violence and suffering. Lisa Dougan, a Regional Manager for humanitarian organization Invisible Children, traveled to Uganda this past summer and witnessed the tragedy up close.
“My time in Uganda revived in me the understanding of the urgency of the situation there,” said Dougan when I spoke to her over the phone this fall. “You see the kind of damage that has been done, especially to the children there. It made me understand how important it is to stay committed to these people and help them heal. There is a potential for another war if the children from the war don’t rebuild their lives.”
Invisible Children, a nonprofit organization that has made groundbreaking improvements in Northern Uganda, is currently encouraging supporters to participate in the TRI Campaign to invest in peace for the Ugandan people.
The TRI Campaign video, available on YouTube, asks, “How much time would you spend to end a war? How much talent would you give to save a life? How much money would you raise to change the world? What if it only cost this much?” A cup of Starbucks flashes in front of the camera.
Invisible Children then urges supporters to give up one coffee a week to donate three dollars to Invisible Children, in order to give peace a TRI.
The video asks: “If you don’t TRI, who will?”
Watch the TRI Campaign video here.
For more information, visit www.invisiblechildren.com/blog or www.resolveuganda.org. To reach your Congress representative regarding action in Uganda, dial (202) 224-3121.
All photos are from Lisa Dougan's trip to Uganda. Read my full interview with Lisa Dougan, published in the April issue of Teen Ink magazine, here: http://www.teenink.com/Interviews/article/17859/Aid-Workers-Lisa-Dougan-....
What are your thoughts on the situation in Uganda? Leave comments and share your ideas below.
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A REAL peace in Uganda...almost too hard to believe, isn't it?
But I'm definitely hoping for it with all my heart.
And I think it's a brilliant point that war might begin again--even with a peace treaty--if the kids scarred by the conflict aren't protected and nurtured and given a hand up. For everyone who cares about a peaceful Uganda, we have to remember that even if the Ugandan government and the LRA actually sign a peace deal, we still have to remain involved...we can't fail to focus on the post-war refugee kind of situation and all the emotional trauma just because a piece of paper says everything will be okay.