Center for the Prevention
of Genocide

 

 

Large-Scale
Massacres in Northern Uganda:

LRA-Perpetrated Violence
Escalates

 

 

The Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA), a cult rebel insurgency, has terrorized the northern
regions of


Uganda
since its emergence in 1987. The guerrilla tactics
employed by this Christianity-inspired militia have threatened Ugandan
stability and hindered development for the past seventeen years. In March 2002,
the Ugandan government commenced Operation “Iron Fist,” an offensive against
LRA bases in southern


Sudan
. Although the government has declared this offensive a
success, LRA activity has since escalated in the region.  The
operation forced the rebels to relocate to northern


Uganda
, where they have intensified their efforts and increased
their sphere of influence. 

 

The
proclaimed objective of the LRA is to overthrow the current Ugandan government
and institute rule according to the Ten Commandments.  Nonetheless,
it is the civilian population, not the Ugandan government or military, which is
victimized by LRA attacks.  The
rebels murder, mutilate, and rape civilians, abduct children to utilize as
soldiers and sex slaves, and loot and burn villages and refugee camps. Most
recently, the LRA commenced large-scale ambushes on internally displaced
persons camps in the Lira district.  Such
attacks have claimed nearly 300 lives in February 2004  alone. 

 

Additionally,
the LRA initiated systematic assaults on Roman Catholic missions, clergy, and
schoolchildren during the spring and summer months of 2003.  LRA
leader Joseph Kony reportedly ordered his followers to destroy Catholic
missions and kill Roman Catholic clergy. As discussed in Articles 2 and 3 of
the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
Genocide, such activity constitutes the incorporation of a genocidal campaign
into this violent political rebellion.

 

 

History

 

            The
government of

Uganda

has been engaged in a civil war with the Lord’s Resistance Army since 1987. The
LRA was founded in the Acholi region of northern

Uganda

by rebel leader Joseph Kony and was originally composed of former members of
other resistance organizations and recruited Acholi youths (HRW: “Stolen
Children”).  For nearly two decades,
the rebels have committed atrocities against Ugandan civilians in their quest
for political control.     

In 1994, the LRA
began to collaborate with the government of

Sudan

(HRW: “Abducted and”).  This
relationship was established by the Sudanese as retribution for the support
provided by Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni to the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLM/A), a Sudanese rebel group. 
For six years, the government of

Sudan

supplied the LRA with direct military support while allowing the organization
to maintain bases in the Eastern Equatoria Region of southern

Sudan
.  It is from
these bases that the LRA conducted its cross-border raids on northern Ugandan
villages.  In return for this favor,
the LRA provided the Sudanese military with manpower for their battles against
the SPLM/A (HRW: “Abducted and”).  Meanwhile,
the Ugandan rebels continuously replenished and increased their numbers by
abducting thousands of children from the Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader districts of
the Acholi region (ReliefWeb: “Eyewitness: Children”). This forced recruitment,
paired with the support of the Sudanese government, perpetuated the rebel
movement.           

            In
1999, the Ugandan and Sudanese governments signed a bilateral agreement,
pledging to withdraw support from their respective rebel benefactors (HRW:
“Stolen Children”).  Sudanese
commitment to this pledge was reinforced in 2001 when the LRA was declared a
“terrorist organization” by the U.S. State Department (HRW: “Abducted and”).
Consequently, the governments agreed upon a military plan for the definitive
eradication of LRA forces.  Under
the plan, the Sudanese government “would permit the Ugandan People’s Defense
Force (UPDF) to enter

Sudan

for the purpose of wiping out the LRA. The Sudanese government itself would not
engage in any military action for that purpose, nor would it tolerate a
UPDF-SPLM/A collaboration” (HRW: “Abducted and”).

            The
planned military offensive, Operation Iron
Fist, commenced in March 2002 (AP: “Archbishop: Ugandan”
16 Jun 2003).  The
UPDF deployed nearly 10,000 troops to southern

Sudan

where they attacked numerous LRA camps (BBC News: “Uganda
’s rebels”).  Although
the offensive demonstrated the government’s commitment to addressing the LRA
issue, the operation itself proved to be ineffectual (ReliefWeb: “Eyewitness:
Children”).  A number of the camps
attacked by the UPDF were already deserted, and many of the LRA rebels
remaining in the region successfully evaded the UPDF due to their familiarity
with the territory.  It has also
been reported that the success of Operation Iron
Fist was hindered by low morale and corruption within the UPDF itself
(HRW: “Abducted and”). 

            This
offensive, however, provoked extreme retaliation by the LRA (BBC News: “Uganda
’s rebels”).  Having
lost its means of support and place of refuge, the rebel group was forced to
relocate to northern

Uganda
, where it has intensified its terrorization and
brutalization of Ugandan civilians (HRW: “Uganda
: Child”).  Isolated
villages, internally displaced persons camps, humanitarian relief convoys, and
missions are especially susceptible to targeting by LRA forces.  Additionally,
the LRA has infiltrated further into the country and has commenced operations
in eastern

Uganda
.  Human Rights
Watch reports that the LRA has abducted over 20,000 children since 1990, with
8,400 of these abductions occurring between June 2002 and May 2003 (HRW:
“Abducted and”).  Furthermore, over
1.1 million Ugandan civilians have been displaced as a result of the conflict
(New Vision:  “Rebels displace”
26 Sep 2003).

            Civilians
in the region hold little hope that LRA forces will soon be quelled by the
UPDF, especially since new evidence indicates that the rebel movement is once
again enjoying support from Sudanese military officials.  Army
officers have reportedly delivered truckloads of military supplies to Kony and
his contingent in recent months (AP Worldstream: “Archbishop: Ugandan”
16
June 2003). These reports were verified by the Sudanese minister of defense, who
“conceded that some army officers had resumed contact with Kony for purely
personal profit” (New Vision: “Sudanese Official”
31 Jul 2003).  The
Ugandan government has accused

Sudan

of sanctioning this activity in return for LRA support for the Sudanese
offensive against the SPLM/A.  The
Sudanese government has denied these allegations, promising that those military
officials collaborating with the LRA would be punished (New Vision: “Sudanese
Official”
31 Jul 2003). 

The Ugandan
government continues to battle the LRA rebellion. Last fall, the Ugandan and
Sudanese governments renewed the bilateral agreement that authorizes UPDF
access to southern

Sudan

for limited military actions against LRA rebels.  The
two governments agreed upon a three-month extension of this protocol on
September
12, 2003
(IRIN: “Operation Iron”
15 Sep 2003).  In
addition to this international military effort, the Ugandan government remains
committed to its national offensive against the rebellion. The UPDF has
enlisted the assistance of local volunteer militias, such as the “Arrow Group”
in the Teso region, to more effectively pursue LRA forces active in northern
and eastern Uganda (New Vision: “Arrow Group” 20 Aug 2003).  The
continuing violence, however, has led some to question the effectiveness of
current military efforts.  Although
the government claims to have “nearly defeated” the rebel insurgency, the
recent large-scale attacks on IDP camps indicate otherwise (IRIN News: “Rebels
Kill”
5 Feb 2004).                      

 

 

Key Players

The Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) has developed over nearly two decades and is
rooted in earlier Ugandan rebel movements. 
Alice Lakwena, a young Acholi native of northern

Uganda
, founded the primary predecessor to the LRA in 1985 (HRW:
“Abducted and”).  Claiming to be
empowered by the native spirit Lakwena, she ordered her “Holy Spirit Movement”
(HSM) to take up arms against the Museveni government. Lakwena’s spiritual cult
received extensive military assistance from the Ugandan People’s Democratic
Army, another rebel group composed of Acholi supporters of fallen Prime
Minister Tito Okello Lutwa.  Despite
this support, HSM was quickly defeated by the Ugandan military, and Lakwena
fled to

Kenya

in 1986. 

Joseph Kony, claiming to have
inherited the spiritual powers of Lakwena, formed his own rebel contingency in
1987 (HRW: “Abducted and”).  Initially
entitled the Lord’s [Salvation] Army and later named the United [Salvation]
Christian Army, the movement developed into the Lord’s Resistance Army in 1994
(HRW: “Abducted and”).  The
proclaimed objective of the LRA is to overthrow the current Ugandan government
and institute political rule according to the Ten Commandments and its version
of Christianity (BBC: “Timeline

Uganda
”). The atrocities that Kony and his followers have
committed in their pursuit of this end include numerous civilian massacres, the
abduction and forced military recruitment of thousands of children, and the
looting and destruction of hundreds of private homes and businesses (Reuters:
“A voice” 4 Jul 2003).

 

The Government of Uganda and the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) have been
intensively targeting the LRA since the launch of Operation
Iron Fist in March 2002.  The
success of this initial offensive into southern

Sudan

was limited, and the UPDF has yet to eradicate the LRA from northern and
eastern

Uganda

(ReliefWeb: “Eyewitness: Children”).  In
March 2003, the government ordered another full-fledged offensive against the
rebels after the LRA disregarded a unilateral ceasefire proclaimed by Kony and
continued attacking civilians in the Acholi region (BBC: “Timeline:

Uganda
”).  Attempts
at peace talks between the Ugandan government and the LRA have thus far proven
unsuccessful.

            The
purpose of the UPDF and its affiliate defense units is the protection of
Ugandan civilians against the abuses characteristic of LRA attacks.  Recent
reports, however, accuse UPDF soldiers of committing some of the same crimes
for which the LRA is condemned, such as rape, torture, and the recruitment of
children for military purposes.  Human
Rights Watch reports,

 

“UPDF forces and
officials of other government-related military security agencies have committed
multiple abuses of the rights of northern Ugandans, including summary
execution, torture, rape, child recruitment, and inhuman living conditions of
detention in unauthorized detention locations. 
They are rarely prosecuted for crimes committed against civilians.  Even when UPDF abuses have been investigated,
the investigations have sometimes been kept internal and therefore have created
an appearance of impunity, which has not improved public trust” (HRW: “Abducted
and”).

 

In response to this report, a UPDF
spokesman questioned the reliability and credibility of Human Rights Watch
sources, although President Museveni himself has “admitted that the Army is not
entirely made up of angels” (BBC: “Uganda army” 16 Jul 2003).     

 

The Government of Sudan provided military assistance to the LRA from 1994 to 1999
(HRW: “Abducted and”). 
In 1999, however,

Sudan

signed an agreement with

Uganda

in which it pledged to revoke its support from the LRA.  This
agreement eased diplomatic tensions between the two countries, and in 2002,

Sudan

allowed the Ugandan government to launch Operation Iron Fist, a cross-border offensive against the rebel group.  Recently,
evidence has arisen that indicates renewed collaboration between Sudanese
military officials and the LRA (VOA News: “Allegations of”
27 Aug 2003).  Although
the Sudanese government admits that some officials have resumed relations with
the LRA for “personal profit,” it denies authorizing this activity.

 

The Acholi People, an ethnic group
constituting only four percent of the Ugandan population, comprises the
majority of persons in the Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts of northern Uganda,
a region commonly referred to as “Acholiland” (U.S.: “Background Note”).  Because
of its geographic proximity to LRA bases in southern

Sudan
, members of the Acholi ethnicity have been the primary
victims of LRA attacks.  Furthermore,
it is this region that was infiltrated by LRA rebels upon the commencement of
Operation Iron Fist, subjecting the
area to intensified rebel activity since March 2002 (HRW: “Uganda
: Child”).  The
perpetrators of LRA attacks are also principally Acholi since the rebel
movement originated in this region (HRW: “Abducted and”).  Consequently,
Acholi on Acholi violence has become commonplace since the advent of the LRA
insurgency, and it is this ethnic group that has suffered the greatest losses
as a result of the current conflict. 

 

Roman Catholic Missions, Clergy, and their Affiliates
are
the most recent targets of LRA aggression.  Historically,
the Roman Catholic Church has played a key diplomatic role in the conflict. 
On numerous occasions, church leaders have acted as mediators between the LRA and the
government in negotiating the terms of ceasefires and peace talks (AP:
“Archbishop: Ugandan”
16
Jun 2003).  Individual church officials,
as well as organizations like the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative
(ARLPI), also possess some of the most prominent voices in advocating for peace
nationally and internationally.
 Church missions provide the
unstable northern region of

Uganda

with many of its social services, including education and health care.  Moreover,
thousands of Ugandan civilians have sought refuge in church compounds after
being displaced by LRA violence (BBC: “Uganda
’s atrocious”
12 Jun 2003).

            In
recent months, however, the prominent role of the Roman Catholic Church in the
Acholi region has attracted the LRA’s hostility. In June 2003, LRA leader Kony
shifted away from his traditionally political agenda and ordered violence
against the Church, bluntly declaring,

 

“Catholic
missions must be destroyed, priests and missionaries killed in cold blood, and
nuns beaten black and blue” (BBC: “Church fears”
17 Jun 2003).

 

In response to this threat,
missionary leader Fr. Carlos Rodriguez stated, “We have no reason to doubt the
message was authentic…In the last five weeks the LRA has burned, bombed and
desecrated churches on nine occasions” (BBC: “Church fears” 17 Jun 2003).  Furthermore,
Catholic seminarians and schoolchildren have been targeted for abductions, and
numerous missions have been looted and destroyed. 

Additional
evidence of an LRA campaign against Roman Catholics was discovered in July 2003
when UPDF soldiers recovered a map from an abandoned LRA campsite in the
Katakwi district (New Vision: “Rebels target”
31 Jul 2003).  The
locally drawn map highlights most of the Catholic missions in the area, thus
suggesting a pre-planned targeting of Roman Catholics. This organized pursuit
of the destruction of a specific religious group indicates that Kony has begun
infusing his political rebellion with acts of religiously motivated genocide,
as it is defined by Article 2 of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (see Legal Appendix).

 

 

The Nature of LRA Abuse

 

Raids on civilian populations
constitute the principal method of terrorization employed by the LRA
(ReliefWeb: “Eyewitness: Children”).
Rural villages and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps are highly
susceptible to LRA infiltration and are therefore the primary targets of rebel
attacks.  During these assaults, the
LRA kills civilians, abducts children, torches huts, and loots homes,
businesses, and humanitarian organizations for food, medical supplies, radio
equipment, and other valuable items.  Since
the advent of Operation Iron Fist,
the attacks have reached epidemic levels in Acholiland and have spread to
districts in eastern

Uganda

(New Vision: “Uganda
: LRA”
8 Jul 2003).  The
raids have victimized and displaced over a million civilians while jeopardizing
road safety, food security, and humanitarian activity in the region. 
UPDF efforts have thus far been unsuccessful in effectively protecting civilians against
these LRA aggressions (IRIN: “Uganda
: Civilians”
2 Apr 2003).

 

 

Massacres:  Civilians are frequently
massacred as the LRA continues its reign of terror across the northern and
eastern regions of

Uganda

(Reuters: “Uganda
’s Lords”
25 Aug 2003).  Killings
most often occur during LRA assaults on villages, refugee camps, and vehicle
convoys.  LRA rebels murder
civilians indiscriminately: children, adults, and the elderly are victimized
during attacks.  Recently, the LRA
commenced large-scale attacks on IDP camps in northern

Uganda
.  In its most
devastating attack in the past ten years, the LRA massacred over 200 civilians
during the
February 21, 2004
assault on the Barlonyo IDP camp in the Lira district.  Maintaining
or increasing regional instability and creating a “climate of crisis” seems to
be the sole purpose of these massacres, as they have proven fruitless in
furthering the LRA’s declared political objectives (IRIN: “Army says” 5 Jul
2002). 

 

Recent Instances of Abuse:

 

Date:  February 21, 2004

Location:  Barlonyo IDP camp, Lira district

Victims:  At least 200 killed

Description:  LRA rebels killed over 200 people during its
most deadly massacre of civilians in the past ten years.  Approximately 300 rebels ambushed the
Barlonyo IDP camp in the Lira district dressed as regular army soldiers and
armed with assault rifles and artillery. 
The group overwhelmed the local defense force posted to protect the camp
and subsequently massacred the camp’s inhabitants.  Numerous civilians were burned alive when
rebels torched their homes after ordering them inside at gunpoint.  Many fleeing the assault were shot,
bludgeoned, or hacked to death.  Local
leaders counted 192 bodies at the scene, while Roman Catholic missionaries
reported the discovery of 32 bodies near the campsite.  Additionally, five victims injured during the
attack have since died at the Lira hospital. 
These reports bring the unofficial death count to nearly 260 (IRIN
News:  “Uganda

: Fear” 24 Feb 2004
).

 

Date:  February 14, 2004

Location:  Odek and Acet sub-county border, Gulu
district

Victims:  5 killed

Description:  Five civilians were hacked to death after
being abducted by the LRA.  The bodies
were discovered in the jungle of the northern Gulu district four days after the
victims were reported missing (News24.com: “Five hacked” 14 Feb
2004
).

 

Date:

 
February 10, 2004

Location:  Ojul parish, Lira district

Victims:  15 killed

Description:  Fifteen people were killed during an LRA
ambush on Apatonyanga in Abako sub-county of the Ojul parish.  Ten of the victims were residents of the
village while the other five were abductees from other areas (New Vision:  “LRA Kills” 10 Feb 2004
).

 

Date:  February 9, 2004

Location:  Ojuru village, Abako sub-county, Lira
district

Victims:  10 killed

Description:  LRA rebels clubbed ten farmers to death after
abducting them from Ojuru village in the Lira district.  The farmers were assaulted after returning to
the village to tend their gardens (The Advertiser:  “Ten dead” 10 Feb 2004
).

 

Date:  February 5, 2004

Location:  Abia IDP camp, Lira district

Victims:  52 killed, over 70 seriously wounded

Description:  The LRA massacred at least 52 people during a
large-scale attack on Abia IDP camp in the northern region of Lira
district.  At least 300 rebels ambushed
the camp, subsequently overwhelming the UPDF and assaulting civilians.  The rebels were reportedly armed with machine
guns and mortar bombs.  Civilians were
bludgeoned and shot and their homes set ablaze during the attack (IRIN News:
“Rebels Kill” 5 Feb 2004
).      

 

Date:  January 2, 2004

Location:  Aloi sub-county, Kitgum district

Victims:  20 killed

Description:  At least twenty people were hacked to death
by the LRA during a series of rebel ambushes on villages in the Kitgum district
(AFP).

 

Date:  December 31, 2003

Location:  IDP camp, Lalogi, Omoro county, Gulu district

Victims:  3 killed

Description:  Three elderly men were burned to death when
LRA rebels ambushed an IDP camp in the Gulu district (New Vision: “LRA Kill” 31 Dec
2003
).

 

Date:  November 26, 2003

Location:  Ogowie, Moroto county, Lira district

Victims:  9 killed

Description:  The LRA killed nine people who were attending
the funeral of an individual who had been killed by the rebels the previous
day.  Approximately thirty rebels
corralled the victims and took them to a nearby swamp where they were subsequently
bludgeoned to death with sticks and stones (New Vision: “LRA kills” 29 Nov
2003
).

 

Date: 
November 22-23, 2003

Location:  Gomi, Dokolo, and Agrero villages, Lira
district

Victims:  10 killed

Description:  At least ten people were massacred during a series
of LRA ambushes in the Lira district. 
The rebels killed four people in Gomi village, five in Dokolo, and
another individual in Agrero (AFP).

 

Date:  November 18, 2003

Location:  Northern Lira district

Victims:  12 killed

Description:  Members of the LRA bludgeoned 12 people to
death, including nine abducted children that had been held captive by the
rebels (IRIN News: “Uganda

: Rebels” 18 Nov 2003
).

 

Date:  November 14, 2003

Location:  Aloi parish, Moroto sub-county, Lira district

Victims:  10 killed, unknown number abducted

Description:  Ten people were hacked to death and numerous
others were abducted during an LRA raid in the Lira district.   A Roman Catholic church was also looted by
the rebels (New Vision: “LRA rebels” 11 Nov 2003
).

 

Date:  November 5, 2003

Location:  Awayapiny, Alanyi, and Omari villages, Lira
district

Victims:  59 killed

Description:  The LRA massacred a total of 59 people during
a series of ambushes in the Lira district. 
Thirty civilians were killed in the villages of Awayapiny and Alanyi,
twenty people were killed in Omari, and an additional nine were massacred at Omoro



Primary School

(BBC: 
“Scores Killed” 8 Nov 2003
).

 

Date:  November 3, 2003

Location:  Kaberamaido district

Victims:  5 killed

Description:  LRA rebels killed five people, including
three students from Kaberamaido



Secondary
School

, during a raid in the Kaberamaido district.  The Okapel and Alipa trading centers, located
near the school, were also looted during the raid (Agence France Presse).

 

Date:  October 29, 2003

Location:  Apala village, Lira district

Victims:  13 killed, several abducted

Description:  Thirteen civilians were killed by LRA rebels
during a raid in the Lira district.  Most
of the victims were captured, bound, and clubbed to death.  The rebels also abducted several people
during the ambush (IRIN: “Uganda

: LRA” 31 Oct 2003
).   

 

Date:  October 13, 2003

Location:  Aparaliek market, Alanyi village, Lira
district

Victims:  22 killed, approximately 20 seriously injured

Description:  A group of fifteen LRA rebels ambushed the
Aparaliek market in Alanyi village, killing twenty-two people and injuring
numerous others.  Those killed were
corralled from a local bar and fired upon by the rebels (New Vision: “Kony kills”
15 Oct 2003
;
AFP: “Rebel attack” 14 Oct 2003
). 

 

Date:    October 9, 2003

Location:  Soroti district

Victims:  11 killed

Description:  Eleven civilians were killed when LRA rebels
ambushed a group of men belonging to the Arrow Group, a pro-government
militia.  The rebels also looted supplies
during the attack (Reuters: “Sixteen killed” 10 Oct 2003
).

 

Date: 
September 27, 2003

Location:  Olekai village, Asamuk sub-county, Katakwi
district

Victims:  8 killed

Description:  Eight civilians were killed during an LRA
attack on Olekai village.  The village
was under the protection of the Arrow Group, which lost ten members during the
attack (New Vision: “LRA kill” 29 Sep 2003
).

 

 

 

Date:  September 26, 2003

Location:  Boroco village, Gulu district

Victims:  5 killed

Description:  Five civilians were killed when LRA rebels
fired upon a group of pedestrians during an evening attack (AFP: “Ten rebels” 27 Sep
2003
).

 

Date:  September 24-25,
2003

Location:  Aminir (between Kulu and Obalanga), Katakwi
district

Victims:  9 killed

Description:  The bodies of nine civilians were discovered
between the towns of Kulu and Obalanga over the course of a two-day
period.  The victims were apparently
killed as they fled an LRA attack on the remote village

of

Aminir

.  The
bodies of ten rebels were also recovered from the area (News24.com: “Rebels
kill” 27 Sep 2003
;
AFP: “Ten rebels” 27 Sep 2003
).  

 

Date:  September 24, 2003

Location:  Bar-Ariyo village, Ngai sub-county, Apac
district

Victims:  5-10 killed, unknown number abducted

Description:  Between five and ten people were killed when
LRA rebels armed with rifles attacked the market place at Bar-Ariyo.  Numerous other civilians were abducted or
injured during the attack (BBC: “Uganda

rebels” 25 Sep 2003
; New Vision: “Kony rebels” 26 Sep
2003
).

 

Date:  September 1, 2003

Location:  near town of

Lira
, Soroti district

Victims:  25 killed, 60 abducted

Description:  Twenty-five people were
killed and 60 others abducted during an early morning LRA ambush on a bus
traveling in the Soroti district. 
Twenty-two of the victims died on the scene and three others later died from their
wounds. Sources report that victims were bludgeoned, hacked, and/or shot to
death.  The rebels fled the scene
with the sixty surviving bus passengers. 
This group of abducted civilians included both women and children (Reuters: “Uganda

army”
2 Sep 2003;
AFP: “39 civilians”
2 Sep 2003).

 

Date:  September 1, 2003

Location:  Katine sub-county, Soroti
district

Victims:  4 killed, 2 injured

Description:  LRA rebels hacked four
people to death during a series of raids on villages in the Soroti district.  The
victims were killed in a home where they had taken refuge upon the commencement
of the attack.  Additionally,
two elderly women were injured and a local business torched during the raid
(New Vision: “LRA rebels”
1 Sep 2003).

 

Date:  August 29, 2003

Location:  Okwaga village, Lira district

Victims:  14 killed, unknown number
abducted

Description:  Fourteen people were
hacked to death after being abducted by LRA rebels during a late-night village
raid.  Numerous others were abducted
during the attack, but the exact number of missing civilians is unavailable
(News24.com: “22 hacked”
1
Sep 2003).

 

Date:  August 18, 2003

Location:  Alereke village, Soroti
district

Victims:  5 killed, at least 10 abducted

Description:  Five people were killed
and at least ten abducted when the minibus in which they were traveling was
ambushed by LRA forces (AllAfrica: “LRA Kill”
19 Aug 2003). 

 

Date:  August 16, 2003

Location:  Bata village, Lira district

Victims:  13 killed, at least 40
abducted

Description:  LRA rebels hacked to death
at least thirteen children and kidnapped forty others during a morning raid on
Bata village.  The LRA was prepared
to massacre an additional twenty children when they were forced to flee by the
pursuing UPDF soldiers.  It is
reported that all of those killed were former LRA abductees who had escaped
captivity or been rescued by the UPDF (AP: “Uganda Rebels”
17 Aug 2003;
News24.com: “Children hacked”
17 Aug 2003). 

 

Date:  August 9-10, 2003

Location:  Were and Abarilela
sub-counties, Katakwi district

Victims:  11 killed

Description:  Eleven civilians were
killed during a number of LRA ambushes in the Katakwi district over a two-day
period (The Monitor: “Renewed Fighting”
12 Aug 2003).

 

Date:  August 3, 2003

Location:  Olilim trading center,
Adwari, Lira district

Victims:  11 killed

Description:  LRA rebels killed eleven
people after infiltrating Olilim trading center during a late-night raid (New
Vision: “Rebels Kill”
6 Aug 2003).

 

Date:  August 2, 2003

Location:  Orum, Adwari, Lira district

Victims:  2 killed

Description:  Two civilians were hacked
to death during a rebel attack in Orum (New Vision: “Rebels kill”
6 Aug 2003).

 

Date:  August 2, 2003

Location:  Katakwi

Victims:  4 killed

Description:  Four people were killed
when the LRA ambushed and burned an ambulance traveling on Kapelebyong-Oditel
road near Kapelebyong trading center (New Vision: “LRA kill”
4 Aug 2003).  

 

Date:  August 2, 2003

Location:  Angaro village

Victims:  5 killed

Description:  Five people were killed by
LRA rebels while traveling on Obalanga-Kotido road in the
village
of Angaro
(AllAfrica News: “Rebels Abduct”
4 Aug 2003).

 

Date:  July 31, 2003

Location:  Okee, Adwari, Lira district

Victims:  7 killed

Description:  LRA rebels killed seven
civilians while fleeing UPDF troops in the town of

Okee

(New Vision: “Rebels kill”
6 Aug 2003).

 

Date:  July 27, 2003

Location:  Omoro county, Gulu district

Victims:  9 killed

Description:  Nine people were hacked to
death by LRA rebels during village raids in Omoro county.  Additional
deaths were prevented due to intervention by UPDF forces (AFP: “Rebels kill”
2 Aug 2003). 

 

Date:  July 22, 2003

Location:  Ngai, Lira district

Victims:  1 killed, at least 20 abducted

Description:  One civilian was killed
and at least twenty others abducted during an early morning LRA raid on the
small town of

Ngai

in the Lira district.  The incident
prompted Lira citizens to voice their concerns regarding the recent spread of
LRA activity from the Acholi region to areas in central and eastern

Uganda

(Misna: “Ugandan LRA”
24 Jul 2003).

 

Date:  July 20-21, 2003

Location:  Gulu and Pader districts

Victims:  8 killed, 2 injured

Description:  A total of eight people
were killed in three separate LRA ambushes in the Gulu and Pader districts.  Four
of the victims were killed while traveling in Abalokodi village when rebel
forces ambushed their vehicle.  Two
others were also injured during the incident (New Vision: “8 killed”
23 July 2003).

 

Date:   July
19, 2003

Location:  Lalogi IDP camp, Gulu
district

Victims:  2 killed, 5 abducted

Description:  LRA rebels managed to kill
two people and abduct five others from the periphery of the Lalogi IDP camp
before being dispersed by government forces.  The
quick response by the UPDF prevented an LRA infiltration of the camp and forced
the rebels to abandon a number of their captives (News24.com: “Rebels kill”
19
Jul 2003).

 

Date:  July 15, 2003

Location:  River Moroto, border between
Katakwi and Lira districts

Victims:  45 abducted children drowned

Description:  Forty-five abducted
children drowned in River Morota while being forced by the LRA to test the
depth of the river waters.  The
incident occurred after the UPDF blocked the rebels from accessing the only
available bridge across the river (BBC News: 
“Uganda

rebels”
16 Jul 2003).

 

 

Date: 
June 21 2003

Location:  Odudui trading center, Soroti District

Victims:  2 killed

Description:  LRA rebels executed their first attack in the
Soroti distric on the Odudui trading center, located 18km north of Soroti
town.  The rebels killed two people
during the three-hour raid.  The victims
were reportedly dragged from their homes, forced to carry loot acquired during
the attack, and then beaten to death with sticks.  In addition to the killings, the rebels
burned more than 50 huts and ransacked numerous businesses.  The attack instigated a mass exodus of
civilians from Dakabela, Odudui, Agirigiroi, and Arapai (New Vision:  “Kony strikes” 23 June 2003
).

 

Date:  June 15, 2003

Location:  Obalanga trading center,
Kapelebyong county, Katakwi district

Victims:  4 killed, 12 abducted

Description:  Over one hundred LRA
rebels stormed Obalanga trading center during a raid that claimed the lives of
four people, including one Local Defense Unit (LDU) officer.  During
the four-hour attack, the rebels also abducted another twelve civilians, burned
101 huts, eight shops, a police post and an LDU detachment, and looted Obalanga
health center (New Vision: “Kony Rebels” 17 June 2003).

 

Date:  June 15, 2003

Location:  Alito sub-county, Kole
county, Apac district

Victims:  18 killed, 83 abducted

Description:  Eighteen people were
reportedly hacked to death and eighty-three others abducted during an LRA
attack in Alito sub-county.  Victims
of the assault included children and the elderly. 
Additionally, 400-500 huts were torched during the raid, which began at
10:00pm
and lasted into the morning hours.  The
UPDF claims that eight, not eighteen, people were killed in the attack. News
reports, however, were able to name at least thirteen people who lost their
lives during the violence (New Vision: “Kony Hacks”
16 June 2003

 

Date:  June 5, 2003

Location:  Pabbo village, Kilak county,
Gulu district

Victims:  13 killed

Description:  LRA rebels hacked thirteen
farmers to death with machetes and clubs.  The
group was attacked as they returned home from tending their outlying plots (AP
Worldstream: “Rebels kill”
5 Jun 2003).

 

Date:  June 4, 2003

Location:  Kaladima village, Lamogi
sub-county

Victims:  2 killed

Description:  Two civilians were gunned
down during an LRA ambush on Kaladima village (The Monitor:  “24
killed”
6 June 2003).

 

Date:  June 4, 2003

Location:  Pabbo IDP camp, Kilak county,
Gulu district

Victims:  13 killed

Description:  Thirteen civilians were
killed during an LRA attack on Pabbo IDP camp.  Twelve
of the victims were clubbed to death outside of the camp, while the thirteenth
was caught in the crossfire between the rebels and UPDF.  The
victims were from both Pabbo camp and the nearby Pawal village.
 The rebels left a letter addressed
to the inhabitants of the camp stating that the murders “were carried out
because local officials and the military have in the eyes of the rebels incited
the population to fight against them” (BBC News: “Rebels club”
5 June 2003)

 

Date:  May 30, 2003

Location:  Madi Opei sub-county, Lamwo
county

Victims:  2 killed

Description:  LRA rebels ambushed a
lorry, killing two people and burning the vehicle (The Monitor:  “Rebels
kill”
2 June 2003).

 

Date:  May 30, 2003

Location:
 Omiya

Anyima trading center

Victims:  5 reportedly killed
(unverified figures)

Description:  LRA rebels infiltrated
Omiya Anyima trading center, killing five civilians and one UPDF soldier.  The
group also torched 100 huts and destroyed a Catholic mission during the raid
(The Monitor: “Rebels kill”
2 June 2003).

 

Date:  May 28, 2003

Location:  Karuma-Pakwach
Road
,

Muchison
Falls
National Park

Victims:  14 killed, at least 31
abducted

Description:  Fourteen people were
killed, at least thirty-one abducted, and numerous others injured when the LRA
ambushed a convoy traveling on

Karuma-Pakwach Road

from Arua to

Kampala
.  The convoy consisted
of three vehicles, including a fuel tanker and a bus carrying civilians.  The
UPDF has dispatched more troops to the region in response to the attack (BBC
News: “Uganda

rebels”
29 May 2003;
New Vision: “14 Killed”
29 May 2003;
The Monitor “UPDF rushes”
31 May 2003).   

 

Date:  May 23, 2003

Location:  Abim trading center, Kotido
district, Karamoja region

Victims:  4 killed

Description:  LRA rebels killed four
civilians in an early morning raid on Abim trading center.  Sources
reported that UPDF forces were pursuing the rebels after successfully deterring
them from their main target, the

Morulem
Mission
Hospital

and Secondary School.  (New Vision: 
“Six killed”
24 May 2003).

 

Date:  May 13, 2003

Location:  Opit forest, Lalogi
sub-county, Omoro county

Victims:  4 killed

Description:  The LRA ambushed a
civilian vehicle traveling on Gulu-Moroto road, killing four people and
injuring three others.  Before they
could burn the vehicle, the rebels were forced to flee by an approaching UPDF
foot patrol (New Vision: “Four killed”
19
May 2003).

 

 

Date:  April 22-23, 2003 

Location:  Aromo and Ogur sub-counties;
Lira district

Victims:
 11 killed, 39-289 reported
abducted, hundreds displaced

Description:  On April 24, local
authorities and media reported that the LRA had killed at least eleven people
and abducted approximately 289 others in a number of coordinated attacks on
villages in the sub-counties of Aromo and Ogur.  Additionally,
it was reported that hundreds of civilians were displaced by the violence and
desperate for food, shelter, and medical care (New Vision: “LRA Abduct” 24
April 2003).

Days later,
however, the army released a statement asserting that only thirty-nine people,
not the 289 initially reported, had been abducted during the raids.  The
statement also announced that twenty of those abducted had been rescued by the
army, and that UPDF forces were still searching for the nineteen remaining in
LRA custody.  No reason was given
for the discrepancy in reporting (New Vision: “Uganda: Thirty-Nine” 26 Apr
2003).

 

Date:  April 21, 2003

Location:  Adjumani-Gulu road, between
the villages of Palukere and Pawel, Atiak sub-county, Gulu district

Victims:  between 8 and 16 killed,
including 4-5 UPDF soldiers

Description:  LRA rebels ambushed a
convoy of ten UPDF-escorted vehicles traveling from Adjumani to Gulu.  Reports
on the number of casualties vary from eight to sixteen killed, including four
or five UPDF soldiers.  Also on this
date, the rebels ambushed a pick-up truck traveling on the Adjumani-Gulu road.  No
deaths or injuries were reported as a result of this incident.  (New
Vision:  “Kony Ambush” 23 Apr 2003;
The Monitor:  “Soldiers killed” 22
Apr 2003; BBC News “Ambush in” 22 Apr 2003).

 

Date:  April 13, 2003

Location:  Oroko IDP camp, Aswa, Gulu
district

Victims:  13 abducted and killed, 200
huts burned

Description:  Thirteen youths were
hacked to death with hoes after being abducted by members of the LRA during a
night raid on the Oroko IDP camp. 
Two hundred huts were also destroyed during the attack.  The
camp had been without military protection since last year after the UPDF
ordered its inhabitants to vacate the premises and move to Logore camp, where
protection was provided.  The UPDF
dispatched a number of officers to Oroko following the April 13 raid in order
to “assess the situation” (New Vision: “LRA Hack” 18 Apr 2003).

 

Date:  April 13, 2003

Location:  Lacor and “For God” village,
Bar-Dege division, Gulu district

Victims:  2 killed, 16 abducted

Description:  Two people were killed and
sixteen civilians abducted during an LRA raid on the Bar Dege division.  The
rebels also looted foodstuffs and other items during the two-hour attack (New
Vision: “Kony rebels” 16 Apr 2003).

 

Date:  April 9, 2003

Location:  Adjumani

Victims:  13 killed

Description:  Thirteen people died and
numerous others were injured when the LRA ambushed a convoy of ten civilian
vehicles traveling in the district of Adjumani.  Two
vehicles were also torched.  Additionally,
four civilians were injured in a separate LRA ambush in Loyo-Boo (New Vision “
Kony Rebels” 10 Apr 2003). 

 

Date:  April 5, 2003

Location:  Lagile IDP camp; Awere
sub-county, Gulu district

Victims:  9 killed

Description:  Seven people were killed
when a gang of thirty LRA rebels infiltrated the Lagile IDP camp in the Gulu
district of northern Uganda. 
The UPDF immediately responded, killing two of the rebels before the group managed to
flee the camp (New Vision: “LRA kills” 8 Apr 2003)

 

Date:  April 2, 2003

Location:  outside of Acholibur, Kitgum
district

Victims:  7 killed, at least 15 injured

Description:  The LRA ambushed a pick-up
truck traveling just outside of Acholibur.  Seven
were killed and at least fifteen injured in the attack (The Monitor: “Silent
death” 6 April 2003).

 

Date:  April 1, 2003

Location:  Porogati, Aruu county

Victims:  6 killed

Description:  Six civilians were killed
in two separate road ambushes staged by LRA members (New Vision: “LRA kills” 1
April 2003).

 

Date:  March 17, 2003

Location:  Kitgum

Victims:  1 killed

Description:  An unidentified man was
gunned down by LRA members as they fled UPDF troops in Oryang village (New
Vision: “LRA shoots” 20 Mar 2003).

 

 

Abduction, Torture, and Rape of Children and Other Civilians: For over a decade,
the LRA has been abducting children to replenish and increase its membership
(HRW: “Uganda: Child”). The LRA conducts violent raids on villages and schools
for this purpose. 
The rebels generally target children between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, although
abductions of children as young as seven or eight have occurred (New Vision:
“LRA Hits” 19 Jun 2003). 
In recent months, the rebels have been seeking “younger children, whose minds can be
transformed in a matter of weeks.” The LRA has abducted over 20,000 children
since 1990, with 8,400 of these abductions occurring between June 2002 and May
2003 (HRW: “Abducted and”).

Abducted children
face a life of extreme violence and brutality.  Upon
abduction, the children undergo an initiation process that often includes
severe beatings and forced participation in the killing of other captives (HRW:
“Abducted and”).  After initiation,
they are compelled to serve as LRA soldiers and sex slaves (ReliefWeb:
“Eyewitness: Children”).  They
endure inhumane living conditions characterized by hunger, thirst, exposure,
long hours of hard labor, beatings, and inadequate medical attention.  Both
boys and girls undergo military training and are subsequently forced to face
UPDF offensives and participate in raids, ambushes, and abductions.  Those
females not installed as soldiers perform grueling tasks as virtual slaves for
the LRA.  At the age of fourteen or
fifteen, girls are “sexually enslaved as ‘wives’ of commanders and subjected to
rape, unwanted pregnancies, and the risk of sexually transmitted diseases,
including HIV/AIDS” (HRW: Abducted and”).  Those
children who are weak, injured, or resistant are generally killed (HRW: “Stolen
Children”).

Escaping from LRA
captivity, while not impossible, comes with a very high risk.  Those
who are recaptured are severely beaten, if not killed, as an example for other
abductees (HRW: “Abducted and”).  Escapees
also jeopardize their families, as it is common for the LRA to retaliate
against an escaped child’s loved ones. Those who manage to successfully escape
live in constant fear of reabduction, and many suffer from severe psychological
and physical trauma. 

It is not
uncommon for the LRA to abduct adults, but they are rarely instituted into the
organization to the same extent as children (HRW: “Abducted and”).  Adults
are usually abducted by the LRA to transport looted goods and are released
after a short period of time.

 

Recent Instances of Abuse:

 

Date:  September 8, 2003

Location:  Aminit village, Soroti
district

Victims:  5 abducted 

Description:  Five internally displaced
persons were abducted during a late-night LRA raid.  Fourteen
IDP huts were also torched (New Vision:  “LRA
burn” 10 Sep 2003).

 

Date:  August 6, 2003

Location:  Acowa sub-county, Katakwi
district

Victims:  several abducted – exact
number unknown

Description:  LRA rebels conducted raids
on several villages in Acowa sub-county, during which they abducted an unknown
number of people (New Vision: “Rebels Abduct” 8 Aug 2003). 

 

Date:  July 30, 2003

Location:  Laroo, Gulu district

Victims:  between 5 and 14 reported
abducted

Description:  LRA rebels conducted a
seven-hour raid on the Laroo forest ward during which numerous people were
abducted.  The Laroo division boss
reported at least fourteen people abducted, but UPDF intelligence officers
claim the rebels seized only five people (New Vision: “LRA raids” 2 Aug 2003). 

 

Date:  June 18, 2003

Location:  Adjumani

Victims:  29 abducted

Description:  Twenty-nine people,
including fifteen Sudanese refugee children, were abducted during the first LRA
attack on Adjumani in fourteen years. 
The children, ranging from age seven to fifteen, were seized from an orphanage run by
the Sacred Heart Sisters (The Monitor:” Rebels abduct” 19 June 2003).

 

Date:  June 6, 2003

Location:  Alito sub-county, Kole
county, Apac district

Victims:  17 abducted

Description:  Sixteen children and a
Catholic priest were abducted by LRA rebels.  The
victims were later released after carrying looted goods seized by the rebels
(New Vision: “LRA Abduct” 9 June 2003).

 

Date:
 June 4, 2003

Location:  Opit trading center and IDP
camp

Victims:  unknown number abducted

Description:  LRA rebels attacked Opit
trading center and IDP camp, burning thirty huts, looting numerous homes and
businesses, and abducting an unknown number of civilians (BBC News:  “Rebels
club” 5 June 2003).

 

Date:  May 26, 2003

Location:  Alebtong trading center,
Moroto and Otuke counties, Lira district

Victims:  30 abducted

Description:  Thirty people were
abducted when over one hundred LRA rebels attacked the Alebtong trading center.  The
rebels also looted merchandise from numerous shops, stole medicine and supplies
from the health center, and freed numerous prisoners during the five-hour raid
(New Vision: “LRA Abduct” 29 May 2003).

 

Date:  May 25, 2003

Location:  Alep Tong Prison, Lira
district

Victims:  6 abducted

Description:  LRA rebels abducted six
prisoners from the Alep Tong Prison (New Vision: “LRA abduct” 27 May 2003).

 

Date:  May 11, 2003

Location:  Lacor, Gulu district

Victims:  60 abducted, including 44
seminarians

Description:  Over one hundred LRA
members raided the village of Lacor, 8km west of Gulu town, in the early
morning hours.  The rebels targeted
St. Mary’s Seminary School, abducting forty-four seminarians and forcing them
to carry property seized during the attack. 
The rebels abducted approximately sixty people during the two-hour raid (Panafrican News
Agency: “Ugandan Rebels” 11 May 2003; New Vision: “LRA Rebels” 12 May 2003).

 

Date:  April 18, 2003

Location:  Moro village, Aramo
sub-county, Lira district

Victims:  more than 60 abducted

Description:  The LRA abducted more than
60 civilians, including some children and a local government official, from
Moro village in a raid on the morning of Good Friday.  In
addition to the abductions, the rebels looted drugs and supplies from a local
health center (The Monitor: “Kony Abducts” 20 Apr 2003).

 

 

Date:  March 24, 2003

Location: Palabek-Kal Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp; Lamwo county, Kitgum
district

Victims:  39 abducted

Description:  LRA forces assaulted the
Palabek-Kal IDP camp in northern Uganda.  They
abducted 39 civilians and raided a number of homes and businesses.  The
rebels forced abductees to carry the loot (New Vision: “LRA abduct” 27 March
2003).   

 

Date:  March 20, 2003

Location:  Odek sub-county, Omoro county

Victims:  over 27 abducted

Description:  LRA rebels raided the
villages of Agweng-Tina and Te-got-Ayamo on Thursday evening.  In
a span of three hours, the rebels abducted more than twenty-seven civilians,
among them children and senior citizens, and looted numerous homes for
foodstuffs. 
The abductees were forced to carry the loot into the bushes, where they subsequently
disappeared.  Only a few of those
abducted managed to return to the villages.  The
raids reportedly targeted the home villages of LRA leader Joseph Kony (New
Vision: “LRA Abducts” 22 March 2003)

 

 

Targeting of Roman Catholic Missions, Clergy, and their Affiliates:  Since LRA leader Joseph Kony ordered his rebels to target Roman Catholics last
spring, an increased number of missions, clergy, and persons affiliated with
the Church have been victimized in LRA attacks (BBC: “Church fears” 17 Jun
2003).  The nature of the assaults
against Roman Catholics parallels that of the attacks against the general
population.  In recent months, more
than a dozen churches or missions have been looted and destroyed and over 150
seminarians and Catholic schoolchildren have been abducted by LRA forces.  The
1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide
defines genocide as,

 

“Any of the
following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:  killing
members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the
group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures
intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring
children of the group to another group” (see
Legal Appendix).

 

Additionally, Article 3 of this
convention declares that punishable activities include genocide itself, as well
as the conspiracy, incitement, and attempt to commit genocide.  As
targeted violence against Roman Catholics continues, the evidence builds for
categorizing this LRA aggression as “genocide,” in accordance with the Genocide
Convention.   

 

Direct Incitement to Commit
Genocide:

 

June 2003: Military officials became aware of a
direct order by LRA leader Joseph Kony for his forces to target Catholic
missions and clergy.  The UPDF
immediately notified the Church of the threat.  Kony
declared, “Catholic missions must be destroyed, priests and missionaries killed
in cold blood and nuns beaten black and blue.”  Information
regarding the date when the order was issued was not available (BBC: “Church
fears” 17 Jun 2003).

 

Evidence of Targeting of Roman
Catholics:

 

July 2003:  UPDF
soldiers uncovered an LRA map in the Katakwi district on which numerous
Catholic churches are marked.  The
map indicates pre-planned targeting of Roman Catholics and Catholic missions in
the region (New Vision:  “LRA
targets” 31 Jul 2003).

 

Recent Instances of Abuse:

 

Date:  September 7, 2003

Location:  Apac district

Victims:  6 abducted, 1 priest injured

Description:  The Iceme Roman Catholic mission was looted
and an elderly priest assaulted by LRA rebels during a late night raid.  Six people were also abducted during the
attack.  Five of the hostages were
released, but one hostage remains in LRA custody (AFP: “Army kills” 8 Sep
2003).

 

Date:  July 22, 2003

Location:  Kaberamaido, Soroti district

Victims:  100 abducted

Description:  Approximately one hundred
schoolgirls were abducted when LRA forces raided Lwala Girls Secondary School,
a Catholic-founded school in Kaberamaido.  Most
of the girls managed to escape or were rescued by the UPDF.  By
June 25, only six remained missing (Agence France Presse: “Most of” 25 June
2003; New Vision “Kony Abducts” 25 June 2003).

 

Date:  June 17, 2003

Location: Oditel IDP Camp, Katakwi district

Victims:  1 killed, 1 injured

Description:  A Catholic priest was
injured when rebels fired upon the car he was driving.  The
priest and a second individual were fleeing an LRA attack on Oditel IDP camp. 
The other passenger was killed (The Monitor: “Rebels abduct” 19 June 2003)

 

Date:  June 17, 2003

Location:  Adjumani

Victims:  29 abducted, including 15
children from Redeemer Orphanage Center

Description:  The LRA targeted Adjumani
Catholic Parish during a late-night raid in Adjumani.  Fifteen
children were abducted from the Redeemer Orphanage Centre after rebels failed
to break into the radio room and the nuns’ quarters. (New Vision: “LRA hits” 19
June 2003).  

 

Date:  June 6, 2003

Location:  Alito village, Kole county,
Apac district

Victims:  17 abducted

Description:  A Roman Catholic priest
and sixteen children were abducted during a raid on Alito village.  All
seventeen of the abductees were released after carrying goods seized by the
rebels.  The priest, Fr. Alex Ojera,
was ordered by the rebels to read an LRA message over the two main radio
stations broadcasting in the area.  The
message stated that the LRA was willing to negotiate with the government.  Still,
they declined any mediation by local religious leaders, who, until this point,
had been active intermediaries between the rebels and the government. 
During the raid, the rebels also looted and destroyed the Alito Catholic Mission and
burned over fifty huts in the area (The Monitor: “LRA now” 8 June 2003; New
Vision “LRA Abduct” 9 June 2003).  

 

Date:  May 30, 2003

Location:  Omiya Anyima trading centre

Victims:  6 killed

Description:  A Catholic mission was
torched during an LRA raid on the Omiya Anyima trading center.  Six
people were killed, but none of these victims were reported as affiliated with
the Roman Catholic Church (The Monitor “Rebels kill” 2 June 2003).

 

Date:  May 11, 2003

Location:
 Lacor, Gulu District

Victims: 44 abducted; 4 killed of those initially abducted

Description:  Forty-four seminarians
were abducted when the LRA targeted St. Mary’s Minor Seminary during an early
morning attack on the village of Lacor.  The
seminarians, along with sixteen other abductees, were forced to carry property
seized by the rebels during the ambush.  Four
of the abducted students were later killed on the banks of the rivers Abera and
Aswa in Gulu district.  Five others
were rescued by the UPDF (New Vision:  “Kony
Kills” 17 May 2003; New Vision: “LRA Rebels” 12 May 2003; Panafrican News
Agency: “Ugandan rebels” 11 May 2003).  

 

Date:  April 25, 2003

Location:  Gulu Catholic Mission

Victims:  1 abducted and released, 1
injured

Description:  In an early morning raid,
the LRA ambushed Gulu Catholic Mission.  One
priest, 85-year-old Fr. Albertini, was injured as a result of the assault,
while another, Fr. Gabriel Durigon, was abducted and later released less than
one kilometer from the mission.  The
rebels stole a number of items from the mission, including a solar panel.  They
also set three mission vehicles ablaze (New Vision: “LRA Raid” 26 April 2003).

 

Date:  April 23, 2003

Location:  Palabek-Kal, Kitgum district

Victims:  None

Description:  LRA forces raided a
Catholic mission in the Kitgum district. The rebels looted radio communication
equipment, medicine, and other valuables (New Vision: “LRA Raid” 26 April
2003).

 

 

Internal Displacement:  Nearly 800,000
Ugandans are internally displaced in the northern regions of the country (IRIN:
“Uganda: Civilians” 2 Apr 2003). 
500,000 of these persons were initially displaced by LRA violence, while an additional
300,000 have been displaced as a result of an October 2002 order by the Ugandan
government. The order established a policy requiring the relocation of
civilians from unstable areas of Acholiland to protected government camps (HRW:
“Abducted and”). 
The purpose of these camps is to improve the security of civilian residences.
Unfortunately, the measures taken by the government to protect the camps have
proven inadequate, and these areas have become LRA targets for lootings and
abductions (HRW: “Abducted and”).  The
recent large-scale LRA ambushes on IDP camps in the Lira district evidence the
specific targeting of these vulnerable settlements.  Currently,
fifty-three camps operating in northern Uganda host nearly 70% of the
Acholiland population (IRIN: “Uganda: Civilians” 2 Apr 2003).  Additionally,
the World Food Programme has estimated that 300,000 people have been displaced
in the Teso district of eastern Uganda as a result of LRA activity (New Vision:
“Rebels displace” 26 Sep 2003).  This
brings the total number of displaced Ugandan civilians to 1.1 million.  

            Furthermore,
thousands of Ugandan children commute to urban areas on a nightly basis in
order to avoid abductions and raids in their rural villages (HRW: “Uganda:
Child”).  These “night commuters”
take refuge in bus stations, parks, shop verandas, church grounds, and local
hospitals by night and then return home the following morning.  It
is estimated that up to 20,000 children commute to the towns of Gulu and Kitgum
on a nightly basis (IPS: “Rebels Decline” 3 Jul 2003).  Many
fear that LRA rebel activity will spread to urban areas as this concentration
of “night commuters” becomes an attractive target for mass abductions.

 

 

Mutilation:  The LRA utilizes grotesque
maiming as a means of striking fear in Ugandan civilians (BBC News: “Uganda’s
atrocious” 12 Jun 2003). 
Individual captives abducted during LRA raids are selected as “examples” and
subsequently have their ears, noses, lips, hands, and/or feet cut off.  Oftentimes,
fellow captive are forced to commit these atrocities.  The
disfigured abductees are released and returned to their villages with notes of
warning from the rebels.  The LRA
believes mutilation serves as an effective means of averting civilian
resistance to the rebel movement. 

 

 

Threat of Man-Exacerbated Famine: 
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) recently announced, “Food aid is
urgently needed for over 1.6 million people in northern and eastern Uganda in
the worst humanitarian crisis the country has seen for years” (IRIN: “Uganda:
Food” 29 Jul 2003).  As a result of
the LRA conflict, 800,000 people residing in government-protected camps are
completely dependent on humanitarian food aid for their sustenance.  Although
stocks were available for August, WFP has warned of an impending “pipeline
crisis” for the fall months unless international food donations to the region
increase dramatically (IRIN: “Uganda: Food” 29 Jul 2003). 

            The
current security situation in northern Uganda has exacerbated this crisis.  Rebel
ambushes have rendered major roads in Uganda’s northern and eastern districts
insecure (IRIN: “Uganda: WFP” 15 Aug 2003).  Even
when food supplies are available, this situation greatly hinders the ability of
humanitarian agencies to deliver food aid to Ugandan civilians. 
National food production has also been hampered due to LRA attacks and killings
(Reuters: “A voice” 4 Jul 2003). 
Rebels regularly burn fields and loot foodstuffs, and farmers are prime targets for LRA
attacks while tending their crops.  Additionally,
it has been reported that UPDF soldiers “have gone on a rampage, cutting down
paw-paw and banana plants and uprooting cassava, purportedly to deny the rebels
access to food” (The Monitor: “Silent death” 6 Apr 2003).  This
perilous national situation, paired with international apathy, creates a bleak
prospect for the future food security of northern Ugandans.           

 

 

Legal Analysis

 

The LRA rebellion is characterized
as an internal armed conflict. 
The actors involved, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Uganda People’s Defense
Force (UPDF), are both local to Uganda, and the conflict is primarily
centralized in the country. 
Both forces have a centralized military command structure and exert control over
territory within Uganda. 
The LRA is under the command of its founder, Joseph Kony, while the UPDF remains under
the control of the recognized Ugandan government. 

 

The LRA has declared political goals: the usurpation of
power in Uganda and the creation of a fundamentalist Christian state based on
the Ten Commandments.  To achieve
this end, the LRA has established a policy of attacking and terrorizing the
civilian population in Uganda.  With
a territorial base in northern Uganda, the rebels are able to implement attacks
and raids upon civilians throughout the northern and eastern regions of the
country.  In consideration of these
facts, the LRA may be classified as an organized armed force, with a clear
agenda, central command, and sizable resources.

 

As a result, the LRA is subject to the provisions of the
Geneva Convention of 1949, particularly the Third and Fourth Conventions,
dealing with the treatment of prisoners of war and the treatment of civilian
persons in time of war.  International
law also requires the rebels to adhere to Protocol II of this Convention,
addressing internal armed conflicts.  In
addition, the LRA is subject to customary humanitarian law and a number of
other international human rights instruments.

 

The LRA has violated nearly all of these international
conventions and instruments.  Through
its brutal practices of child slavery, torture, rape, pillaging and murder, the
LRA has consistently shown a complete lack of regard not only for the
provisions of international law, but for the lives of their fellow human
beings.  Additionally, the recent
systematic targeting of Roman Catholic clergy and their affiliates necessitates
the classification of many LRA activities as genocide under the Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948 (See Legal
Appendix).

 

The sustained presence of the LRA in northern Uganda has
only served to worsen its human rights violations by lengthening its reach,
supplying its needs, and serving as a base from which to conduct raids on the
surrounding populace.  In essence,
the LRA is conducting an organized operation of calculated cruelty and
destruction on the people of Uganda in an attempt to forcibly seize power.

 

 

 

 

I. Violations of International Law

 

Genocidal Targeting of Roman Catholics

 

Recently, the LRA began the systematic targeting of Roman
Catholics in Uganda.  In response to
the increasing prominence of the Church in the region, the LRA has burned and
attacked Catholic churches and missions on numerous occasions and is
threatening to attack missionaries, priests and nuns.  Recent
evidence shows that LRA leaders have planned coordinated, deliberate attacks on
Catholic establishments throughout Uganda.  The
LRA is intentionally and systematically attacking a religious group with the
intent to destroy its members and resources

 

These coordinated, deliberate attacks on Catholic missions
and missionaries can be defined as genocidal acts under the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention).  Article
2 of the Genocide Convention defines genocide as acts “committed with intent to
destroy…a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.”  Furthermore,
Article 4 states that ALL parties, whether states parties or private
individuals, shall be punished for the act of genocide. 

 

Regardless
of the extent or number of attacks, these actions by the LRA constitute a
violation of the Genocide Convention, as Article 3 states that conspiracy to
commit genocide, incitement to commit genocide, and complicity to commit
genocide shall all be punished under its auspices.  As
such, the LRA can clearly be held in violation of the Genocide Convention.

 

 

Attacks on Civilians and
Internally Displaced Persons

 

Murder:

 

The LRA has instituted the massacre
of innocent civilians as common practice in its violent offensives in northern
and eastern Uganda.  Civilians are
killed indiscriminately, children are brutalized and murdered, and women are
often killed after being raped by LRA soldiers.  Joseph
Kony, leader of the LRA, has directly ordered the murder of Roman Catholics,
stating, “Catholic missions must be destroyed, priests and missionaries
killed in cold blood…[italics added]” (BBC: “Church fears” 17 June
2003).  The targeting of the
Catholic establishment in such a fashion is not only symptomatic of the brutal
nature of the LRA with regard to non-combatants, but also indicates the
propensity for genocidal activity by LRA rebels.

 

Violence against
civilians is in direct violation of several international conventions.  Common
Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions requires each party in a conflict to abide
by certain provisions ensuring the safety of non-combatants.  The
Convention defines “non-combatants” as “persons taking no active part in the
hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms
and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause.”  The
Geneva Convention specifically prohibits the infliction of violence upon
non-combatants by any party to an internal conflict.  Furthermore,
Article 13, paragraph 2 of the Second Protocol to the Geneva Convention
(Protocol II) states, “The civilian population as such, as well as individual
citizens, shall not be the object of attack.”  Uganda
has also acceded to the Covenant on Civil and Economic Rights, Article 6, which
states: “Every human being has the inherent right to life.  This
right shall be protected by law.  No
one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”  The
LRA is in direct violation of these international conventions.

 

 

 

Pillage and Destruction:

 

Members of the LRA loot and steal food from numerous
villages, oftentimes destroying infrastructure and displacing thousands of
Ugandans as a result of their actions. 
Such activity exhibits the blatant disregard of the LRA for the lives and property of
their fellow citizens and further testifies to their casual indifference
towards human rights.

 

The Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibits these
activities. Article 4 of the Second Protocol forbids the pillaging of people
who are not involved in hostilities. 
Article 14 further prohibits actors from attacking areas necessary for the survival of
the civilian population.

 

Crimes against Children

 

Many international humanitarian treaties give special
protection to the welfare and rights of children in times of conflict.  These
instruments reflect the international community’s concern for the welfare of
children, especially those exposed to the trauma of armed conflict.

 

Child Conscription:

 

The LRA has a consistent practice of kidnapping children,
sometimes as young as seven years old, to serve as soldiers in its ranks.  These
children are trained and forced to participate in raids, kidnappings, and
murders. 
The group also engages in a violent ceremony of initiation for child soldiers, during
which they are submitted to brutal beatings and participation in the execution
of fellow captives.  The
ramifications of such activities on the young body and mind of the child are
understandably severe.

 

Article 4, paragraph 3(c) of
Protocol II states, “Children who have not attained the age of fifteen years
shall neither be recruited in the armed forces or groups nor allowed to take
part in hostilities.”  Furthermore,
the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) lists child
conscription as a war crime in Article 8 of the document.  The
LRA’s behavior in this regard is in clear violation of this protocol.

 

Child Brutality and Slavery:

 

Even beyond the horror of child conscription, the LRA
kidnaps children to utilize as domestic and sexual slaves.  Upon
the infiltration of towns and villages, LRA soldiers often kidnap children from
their homes and schools in order to institute them into the rebel organization. 
The children are subsequently raped, tortured, and forced into long hours of hard labor.  Oftentimes,
those who are too weak to work are chosen as victims for the previously
described LRA initiation ceremonies.

 

Article
7 of the Rome Statute specifies rape, sexual slavery and enforced prostitution,
when knowingly committed against a civilian population, as a crime against
humanity, and specifically states in its definition of enslavement that the
people particularly protected are women and children.   The LRA, therefore, is in defiance of the
International Criminal Court.

 

 

 

Sexual Abuses

 

The LRA often abducts women for the purposes of rape and
sexual assault while kidnapping younger girls for sexual enslavement.  These
actions are not merely incidental to the conflict, but constitute an
intentional and widespread attack on the Ugandan people as the rebels seek to
destroy the will of those who oppose the rebellion.

 

These actions are obvious violations of customary human
rights law.  Specifically, Article
4, Section 2(e) of Protocol II, addresses the practice of sexual assault in
armed conflict.  This article
prohibits the humiliating treatment of non-combatants. 
Such treatment includes “rape, enforced prostitution and any form of indecent assault.”  Furthermore,
the International Criminal Court categorizes rape, sexual slavery, and other
forms of sexual violence as crimes against humanity. 
The Ugandan government ratified the ICC statutes on 14 June 2002 and has therefore
granted the ICC jurisdiction over any crimes of humanity that occur within the
country.

 

 

 

II. Applicable Regional Law

 

Just as the aforementioned
international covenants institutionalize customary human rights, the African
(Banjul) Charter on Human Rights, ratified by Uganda on 10 May 1986, protects
African citizens from murder, rape, pillaging, and degradation of human
dignity.  Specifically, Articles 4,
5, 6, and 14 guarantee freedom from murder, exploitation and degradation
(including rape, torture, and slavery), arbitrary seizure of person and
property.  LRA activities
specifically violate these regional provisions as well as the international
laws previously discussed.

 

 

III. Applicable Domestic Law

 

The Constitution of Uganda, adopted in 1995, prohibits the
violation of many customary human rights, including murder, rape, slavery and
servitude, torture, unjust deprivation of property and cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment.  Specifically,
Articles 22, 24, 25, and 26 prohibit these actions.  Furthermore,
Article 28 of the Ugandan Constitution prohibits actions of terrorism, defined
as “the use of violence or threat thereof with intent to promote or achieve
political ends.”  As a consequence
of their violation of these basic rights, members of the LRA are subject to
prosecution under this Constitution.

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

The human
rights atrocities perpetuated by the Lord’s Resistance Army continue to cause
massive suffering among civilian populations in northern and eastern
Uganda.  Massacres, abductions,
displacement, and famine beleaguer these societies, and civilians hold little
hope for a prompt end to LRA brutality. 
The atmosphere of fear and distress wrought by the rebels has left
civilians struggling to cope with the challenges of daily life in this
violence-stricken region. 

 

 

The tactics
employed by the LRA are clearly in violation of numerous national and
international laws.  The 1948 United
Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
specifically addresses the targeting of a group on the basis of religious
affiliation.  LRA leader Joseph Kony’s
recent incitement of genocidal activity against Roman Catholics together with
the systematic targeting of clergy and missions that followed evidence the
propensity of the LRA for religiously motivated genocide.  A number of the clauses of the Genocide
Convention have therefore become applicable to this violent insurgency.

 

This
extensive humanitarian crisis, now augmented by large-scale attacks and marked
with evidence of genocidal activity, remains largely overlooked by the
international community.  Although the
rebel forces have approached non-governmental organizations such as the
Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy to broker an agreement with the government,
attempts to establish a lasting peace in the region have thus far been
unsuccessful.  Unless efforts to
peacefully resolve the conflict are intensified on both the national and
international levels, the prospects for alleviating human suffering in this
region are bleak.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legal Appendix

 

 

Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide

 

Article 2

 

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the
following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part,  a
national, 
ethnical,  racial or religious group,  as
such:

 

a.      
Killing members of the group;

 

b.     
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to
members of the group;

 

c.      
Deliberately inflicting on the group
conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole
or in part;

 

d.     
Imposing measures intended to prevent
births within the group;

 

e.      
Forcibly transferring children of the
group to another group.

 

Article 3

 

The following acts shall be punishable:

 

a.      
Genocide;

 

b.     
Conspiracy to commit genocide;

 

c.      
Direct and public incitement to commit
genocide;

 

d.     
Attempt to commit genocide;

 

e.      
Complicity in genocide.

 

Article 4

 

Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts
enumerated in Article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally
responsible rulers, public officials, or private individuals.

 

 

 

 

 

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Vision.  “Kony Rebels Kill 13.”  10 Apr 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “Kony rebels strike near Apac,
kill five.” 26 Sep 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “Kony Strikes Near Soroti.”  23 Jun 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA Abduct 6 Prisoners.”  27 May 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA abduct 39 in Kitgum.”  27 Mar 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA Abduct 290 in Lira.”  24 Apr 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “ LRA Abduct Priest in
Apac.”  9 Jun
2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA abducts 27 more.”  22 Mar 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA Abducts 30 from Lira.”  29
May 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA burn Gulu woman.”  4 Aug 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA burn Soroti huts.” 10 Sep 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA Hack 13 in Gulu.”  18 Apr 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA hits Atiak, Adjumani
Church.” 19 Jun 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA hits Lira villages.”  30 Jun 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA Kill 4 in Katakwi.”  4 Aug 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA Kill 10 Arrow Boys in
Katakwi.” 29 Sep 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA kill five in Soroti.” 19 Aug 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA kills 6 civilians.”  1 Apr 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA kills 7.”  8 Apr 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA kills 15 More in Lira.”  10 Feb 2004.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA Raid Catholic Mission.”  26 Apr 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA Raids Laroo Ward.”  2 Aug 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA Rebels abduct 44 Seminarians.”  12 May 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “LRA rebels hack four to death in Soroti.” 1 Sep 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA rebels kill 10 civilians.”
11 Nov 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA kill 3 in Gulu camp.”  31 Dec 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA kills nine in Lira.” 29 Nov
2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “LRA Rebels Murder Lc3 Boss in
Katakwi.”  8 Jul 2003.

                <http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200307080270.html>

New
Vision.  “LRA shoots brick maker.”  20 Mar 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “Rebels Abduct
Ex-Emorimor.”  8 Aug 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “Rebels displace million –
WFP.”  26 Sep 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “Rebels Kill 32 In Lira.”  6 Aug 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision. “Rebels Target Chapels.”  31 July
2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “Six killed in LRA attack.”  24 May 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “Sudanese Official Explains Kony
Aid.”  31 July 2003.

                <http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200307310845.html>

New
Vision.  “Uganda: LRA attacks aimed at
dismantling camps – Red Cross report.”  8
Jul 2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

New
Vision.  “Uganda: Thirty-nine, not 290,
abducted by rebels on 23^rd April in North – Army.”  26 Apr

2003. 
Online.  Lexis Nexis® Academic
Universe.  1 Jul 2003.

New
Vision.  “Ugandan Rebels on a Campaign
Against Church.”  25 Jun
2003.

                <http://www.newvision.co.ug>

Panafrican
News Agency.  “Ugandan rebels abduct 30
seminary students near Gulu.”  11 May
2003. 

Online.  Lexis
Nexis® Academic Universe.  12 May 2003.

ReliefWeb.  “Eyewitness: Children March in northern
Uganda.” 12 Aug 2003.

                <http://www.reliefweb.int>

Reuters.  “Sixteen killed in Uganda fighting.”  10 Oct 2003.

                <http://www.reuters.co.uk>

Reuters
AlertNet.  “A voice for Uganda’s
forgotten crisis.”  4 Jul 2003.

                <http://www.alertnet.org/printable.htm?URL=thenews/fromthefield/105730669613.htm>

Reuters
AlertNet. “Uganda army says rebels kill 25 in bus ambush.” 2 Sep 2003.

                <http://www.alertnet.org/printable.htm?URL=/thenews/newsdesk/L02625727.htm>

Reuters.
“Uganda’s Lords Army Tightens Grip on North.” 25 Aug 2003.

                <http://reuters.com>

South
African Press Association. “22 hacked to death in Uganda.” 1 Sep 2003.

                <http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1410071,00.html>

SwissInfo.  “Uganda rebels abduct schoolgirls in night
raid.”  25 Jul 2003.

                <www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=41&sid=3980449>

U.S.
Department of State Bureau of African Affairs. 
“Background Note: Uganda.”  Jun
2003.

                <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963pf.htm>

Voice
of America (VOA).  “Allegations of
Sudanese Support for Uganda Rebel Group Unlikely to Affect

Military Protocol.” 27 Aug 2003.

<http://www.voanews.com>