US Amb Susan Rice joined other UN Security Council representatives to call on UN peacekeepers to protect civilians in the DR Congo from LRA attacks

TO BE NOTED: From ResolveUganda:

"Weekly Roundup for April 11-17: Ugandan army clashes with LRA rebels in DR Congo

April 17th, 2009 by paul in: Main Site, Update from HQ

When we started this organization a few years ago, a top UN official had just given the conflict in northern Uganda the infamous title of "one of the world's most neglected crises". Since that time, the hard work of activists across the country and throughout the world have raised the profile of this issue in the international community and caused our leaders to pay more attention than they ever had before. Unfortunately, that new-found notoriety, demonstrated this week in a statement from the UN Security Council, has not been matched with the action necessary to resolve the conflict. Words will not end this war, so we must keep taking action until our politicians follow suit. Thank you for your persistence.

Onto the news...

The Good: The US and other members of the UN Security Council last week condemned LRA raids and urged UN peacekeepers in the DR Congo to protect civilians from further attacks.

The Bad: The Council has yet to back up its strong words with concrete action to reinforce the shorthanded UN peacekeeping force in the DR Congo.

The Ugly: At least six people were reportedly killed last Friday in a clash involving the Ugandan military and LRA rebels.

Regional Security

• Over one month after announcing that Ugandan troops had withdrawn from the DRC, a top Ugandan official said that a small contingent of Ugandan soldiers remained there to assist Congolese forces pursuing the LRA. Last week several people, including a Ugandan officer, were reportedly killed during a battle with the rebels.

Situation in Northern Uganda

• Seven people were injured during a land dispute in northern Uganda, part of a growing trend of violent land disputes in areas where people are returning to their homes after years of being displaced.

• A Ugandan court ruled that the Ugandan government must compensate 6,000 northern Ugandans whose cattle and property were destroyed by the Ugandan military in the 1980s. Failure of the Ugandan government to compensate northerners for these losses in the past has been a persistent source of tension in the region.

International Response

• US ambassador Susan Rice joined other UN Security Council representatives to call on UN peacekeepers to protect civilians in the DR Congo from LRA attacks. However, the UN has yet to provide the peacekeepers with desperately needed helicopters or 3,000 extra troops authorized for deployment by the Council last year.
  

• Several US senators and representatives talk about the need for US support for efforts to end LRA violence in a new video from Invisible Children."

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