Eric Reeves
June 20, 2003
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), operating in northern Uganda and southern Sudan, is one of the most disturbing “terrorist” operations in the world. It is notorious for its extraordinarily brutal tactics, for kidnapping and enslaving civilians (especially young girls and boys), for human mutilation and maiming, for widespread pillaging and destruction, and for the maniacal leadership of Joseph Kony. But the “terrorism” of the LRA has not even the demented logic of self-justification that we find in other terrorist groups in the world. It is finally banditry, sexual wantonness, and grotesque self-aggrandizement that fully define this organization of criminals.
But this does not mean that the LRA is not an effective military force. On the contrary, it is in its way and for its size as potent a force for destruction and civilian terror and disruption as there is in the world. It has over the last 17 years honed its survivalist skills and has made full use of the sanctuary of southern Sudan that has been afforded by the Khartoum regime. In turn, the LRA has been a powerful surrogate army for Khartoum in its campaign of destruction against the civilians and civil society of southern Sudan in Eastern Equatoria. Moreover, the LRA has very seriously and consequentially interfered with humanitarian relief efforts going into southern Sudan.
But the LRA has been even more active and destructive in northern Uganda. And so the Khartoum regime nominally committed to an agreement with the Ugandan government in March 2002 to end support of the LRA (Khartoum had been making noises to this effect for some time). But this agreement—like all those that the National Islamic Front has made with the people of the south—has been abrogated at a moment of military convenience for Khartoum. A great deal of highly credible evidence now exists that Khartoum is again supporting, supplying, and protecting the LRA.
Indeed, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda chose the signal occasion of a recent state visit to Washington, DC to highlight this resumed support of the LRA by Khartoum. In an interview with Associated Press (June 13, 2003) Museveni spoke not only of Khartoum’s support for the LRA, but also of the presence of al-Qaeda operatives in southern Sudan, supporting and supplying the LRA:
“Museveni said fighters from the al-Qaida terror network were in Sudan until recently helping rebel groups in northern Uganda with arms and training. ‘Our country is the nearest target in the expansionist plans of those Islamists who are our neighbors,’ Museveni said. ‘They want to expand into Sudan.'” (AP, June 13, 2003)
Other senior government officials in Kampala have very recently detailed some of the particular ways in which Khartoum has been aiding the LRA, including the use of Khartoum’s regular forces to block Ugandan forces as they pursue the retreating LRA in Eastern Equatoria (the Uganda military mission is designated “Iron Fist”).
But there has also been a recent upsurge in reporting and commentary from Ugandans outside of the government who have substantial evidence of Khartoum’s support for the LRA. Especially significant is a recent statement from the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI), representing many of the people most deeply affected by LRA depredations in northern Uganda. Notably, the ARLPI had been instrumental in bringing the Uganda government and the LRA together in the (now) failed talks to end LRA terrorism by peaceful means. They declared on June 16, 2003:
“Senior officers of the LRA have been receiving a constant supply of arms, ammunition and other items from SAF [Khartoum military forces] officers since the last months of 2002. This accounts for the fact that in recent months violence has escalated to unprecedented levels in Northern Uganda, with the civilian population bearing the brunt of the rebel offensive.” The church leaders also said that “had the LRA remained short of military supplies since last year, by now they would have been forced to come to a negotiated settlement with the Ugandan Government that would have made it possible to have peace in Northern Uganda.”
In short, these religious leaders are declaring that the upsurge in LRA violence, kidnapping, looting, and torture are the direct result of Khartoum’s renewing its viciously expedient support for the LRA.
Below, then, is a compendium of excerpts from these very recent reports and news items on Khartoum’s renewed support for the LRA. As well, there are excerpts from these reports giving some sense of the particular atrocities—in northern Uganda and Eastern Equatoria (southern Sudan)—presently defining of the LRA in its role as proxy military force for Khartoum in its war against civilians in southern Sudan.
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[1] from the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
June 19, 2003
Kampala
A statement issued by the Acholi Religious Leaders’ Peace Initiative (ARLPI) leaders said that since the second half of 2002, “members of the Sudanese Armed Forces have been delivering truckloads of military assistance to the LRA in Nsitu”, including “arms, ammunition and other items”.
The accusation was based on testimonies from “six different returnees from the LRA” who had come out of the bush under amnesty in the months between February and June, the statement said. All of them had been with the rebel group for between seven to 10 years, were aged between 18 and 30, and had held ranks ranging between sergeant and major.
“We always had our suspicions when we kept seeing the LRA with new uniforms and new guns,” Father Carlos Rodriguez Soto, a key figure in the ARLPI’s efforts to bring about peace through dialogue, told IRIN. “But we didn’t have enough to be sure. Now, with each independent report coming from the bush saying the same thing, we know for a fact that they [Khartoum’s military forces] are doing this.”
[2] from “Sudan Still Helping LRA Kill Acholi”
The Monitor (Kampala)
June 2, 2003
By Fr Carlos Rodriguez [a member of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative]
A key element to consider which may account for the failure of the peaceful option so far is the role of Sudan in the Northern Uganda conflict. I have heard young men recently coming from rebel captivity in the Sudan telling stories of Sudanese army officers delivering trucks of military aid to Mr Joseph Kony. The Sudanese Government, at the official level, keeps repeating that they have severed links with the LRA, but the reality on the ground seems to be very different.
Although at the beginning of the Iron Fist operation the LRA fought fiercely against the Sudanese Armed Forces, it seems that they tried to reconcile in July 2002. Eye witnesses have told me of a meeting in Nisitu at that time in which Mr Kony was given a good amount of military supplies, and the same sources have indicated that during the battle for the re-capture of Torit later in November LRA forces (commanded by Tabuley) fought alongside the Sudanese army against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
It may be difficult to convince the LRA to settle for a peaceful negotiated agreement while somebody at the other side of the border is calling them to receive a new consignment of arms and ammunition.
[3] from “Sudanese army rearming Ugandan rebels, religious leaders claim”
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
KAMPALA, June 16, 2003
(Kampala) Guerillas in northern Uganda are getting fresh supplies of weapons from Sudanese government forces, fuelling the escalation of the 17-year-long insurgency, Christian leaders in the region claimed Monday.
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) [the armed forces of the Khartoum regime] began supplying arms to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the middle of last year when the southern Sudanese town of Torit fell into the hands of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) which is fighting the government in Khartoum, Christian leaders in northern Uganda said in a statement sent to media houses Monday.
The Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI), which released the report, has been instrumental in bringing government and the LRA together in the failed talks to end the rebellion by peaceful means.
“Senior officers of the LRA have been receiving a constant supply of arms, ammunition and other items from SAF [armed forces of the Khartoum regime] officers since the last months of 2002. This accounts for the fact that in recent months violence has escalated to unprecedented levels in Northern Uganda, with the civilian population bearing the brunt of the rebel offensive,” ARLPI said in its report.
LRA guerillas have been fighting a rebellion in northern Uganda for 17 years and for the most part the Islamic regime in Khartoum has been arming and giving them sanctuary, all in retaliation for Kampala’s alleged support for the SPLA.
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“During the second half of 2002, after the capture of Torit by the SPLA, some officers of the SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) sent an emissary to (LRA leader Joseph) Kony in order to restore the old link with the LRA,” the statement sent to Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa said.
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In their statement, the church leaders said that “had the LRA remained short of military supplies since last year, by now they would have been forced to come to a negotiated settlement with the Ugandan Government that would have made it possible to have peace in Northern Uganda.”
[4] from “Priest in Uganda Killed in Apparent Rebel Attacks”
Cathy Majtenyi
Voice of America
Nairobi
18 Jun 2003, 16:08 UTC
There has been increased rebel activity in the north. The head of an Italian mission group working in northern Uganda said his priests have reported seeing many guns, grenades and even new uniforms circulating around the north. Church leaders say they believe the influx of arms and other materials accounts for the increased violence in the area.
On Tuesday, a group of religious leaders accused the Sudanese government of supporting the LRA. Some have accused Sudan of supporting the LRA because Uganda allegedly supports the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, the rebel movement fighting against the Sudan government.
[5] from “Uganda’s atrocious war”
By Will Ross
BBC, Kitgum, Uganda
June 18, 2003
“Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has become synonymous with torture, abductions and killings”
—Uniformed Arabs—
Alarmingly those escaping describe how supplies are being taken to Joseph Kony’s rebels in southern Sudan.
“In May this year I saw some Arabs wearing military uniforms bringing in supplies of military equipment and ammunition in trucks,” one 14-year-old boy told me.
This prompts the suggestion that contrary to agreement, the Khartoum government’s links with the LRA have not been severed.
[6] from “Uganda peace team alleges Sudan support for rebels”
Reuters, 17 Jun 2003
By Paul Busharizi
KAMPALA (Reuters) – Ugandan religious leaders trying to broker an end to a 17-year conflict between a feared rebel group and the government accused neighbouring Sudan on Tuesday of resuming aid to the rebels in breach of a 1999 pact.
Sudanese officials denied they were supporting the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which is led by self-styled prophet Joseph Kony and has a reputation for maiming villagers and abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves.
Uganda’s Acholi Religious Leaders’ Peace Initiative (ALRPI) said Sudan’s army had been supplying LRA officers with arms and ammunition since late last year.
“This accounts for the fact that in recent months violence has escalated to unprecedented levels in Northern Uganda, with the civilian population bearing the brunt of the rebel offensive,” it said in a statement.
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The ALRPI said the LRA, running out of arms, had been about to move towards peace talks until the Sudanese army stepped in after Sudanese rebels seized a strategic garrison town in southern Sudan.
Khartoum charged that Uganda had aided the capture of Torit by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
“After the capture of Torit by the SPLA, some officers of the SAF (Sudanese army) sent an emissary to Kony in order to restore the old link with the LRA,” the statement said.
It said supplies including bombs, mortar shells, landmines, bullets, uniforms and food were now buried in strategic locations in southern Sudan and northern Uganda.
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Excerpts from some of the recently reported actions of the Khartoum-supported LRA:
[1] from “Sudan Still Helping LRA Kill Acholi”
The Monitor (Kampala)
June 2, 2003
By Fr Carlos Rodriguez [a member of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative]
Godfrey lies in pain in the dressing room of St. Joseph’s Hospital, in Kitgum Mission. I can see the terror in his eyes. In the evening of 30 May the rebels came to his home in Mucwini and subjected him to a most horrible mutilation which left him without ears, lips and fingers.
It is the fourth such incident I have seen over the last month. His torturers wrapped his ears in a letter and put it in his pocket. The blood-stained piece of paper gave a strong warning to whoever wants to join the local defence forces (LDU): “We shall do to you what we have done to him”. Godfrey, 17, never had any intention of joining the LDUs, since his plan was to begin Senior One next year
His father brought him on the back of a bike at midday, as I was in the Mission just listening to another group of people who had come from the same area. For more than one hour I had been listening to stories I had already heard – and even witnessed – many times.
For the last two weeks the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have been very active.
[2] from “Reports Say Uganda Rebels Kill 18, Threaten Clergy”
June 16, 2003 10:49 AM ET
By Paul Busharizi
KAMPALA (Reuters) – Ugandan rebels killed 18 people in the northern district of Apac, media reports said on Monday, and missionaries said rebel leader Joseph Kony had ordered the killing of clergy and the destruction of missions. Ugandan media said rebels of Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) had killed 18 people on Sunday, including a six-year-old boy in the Apac district about 125 miles north of Kampala. The reports could not immediately be confirmed.
The LRA, feared for its practice of maiming villagers and abducting children for use as soldiers and sex slaves, is engaged in a 17-year insurgency against the government.
One missionary leader said the rebel group was stepping up attacks on church personnel and property.
“Last week in a radio communication with his commanders he was heard ordering the killing of Catholic priests and nuns,” Father Carlos Rodriguez told Reuters by telephone from the northern district of Gulu.
Rodriguez said the message had been intercepted because Kony, a self-styled prophet who wants to found a state based on the biblical 10 commandments, was using radio equipment stolen from church missions which use specific frequencies.
“We have no reason to doubt the message was authentic,” Rodriguez said. “In the last five weeks LRA has burned, bombed and desecrated churches on nine occasions.”
[3] from “Uganda’s atrocious war”
By Will Ross
BBC, Kitgum, Uganda
June 18, 2003
Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has become synonymous with torture, abductions and killings
“They tied me and laid me down. They told me not to cry. Not to make any noise. Then one man sat on my chest, men held my arms, legs, and one held my neck”.
“Another picked up an axe. First he chopped my left hand, then my right. Then he chopped my nose, my ears and my mouth with a knife.”
23-year-old David was abducted by rebels of the LRA, who falsely accused him of being a government soldier.
[4] from “Uganda rebels kidnap orphans”
By Will Ross
BBC, Kampala
June 18, 2003
In northern Uganda, well-armed rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army attacked an orphanage at around 2400 local time from where they abducted Sudanese and Ugandan children.
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The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates that during the past year, over 5,000 civilians have been abducted by the LRA.
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Over 800,000 civilians are displaced and as the attacks continue, that figure is rising.
[5] from “Priest in Uganda Killed in Apparent Rebel Attacks”
Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
18 Jun 2003, 16:08 UTC
A Roman Catholic priest has been killed and several nuns injured in attacks in northern Uganda believed to have been carried out by a rebel group. The attacks have alarmed the Catholic community in the east African country.
The Roman Catholic archbishop of the northern Ugandan town of Gulu, John-Baptist Odama, said he believes Tuesday’s killing of a Catholic priest and the attack on a group of nuns on Wednesday near Gulu is linked to a threat made against the Catholic Church by the a group identified as the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Roman Catholic leaders said that last week, the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, told his fighters to destroy Catholic missions, kill priests and missionaries, and beat up nuns.
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Eric Reeves
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
413-585-3326
ereeves@smith.edu