Uganda's parliament is debating an HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill that would protect HIV-positive people from discrimination

TO BE NOTED: From IRIN:

"UGANDA: Murder highlights need for protective legislation

Photo: Charles Akena/IRIN

This woman was chased from her home when she revealed she was HIV-positive

GULU, 21 May 2009 (PlusNews) - On the night of 13 May, in the northern Ugandan district of Gulu, Christine Atuk was woken by piercing screams coming from the neighbouring hut where her daughter was sleeping. "I peeped through the window and saw a huge ball of fire burning her hut," she recalled.

"I got out of my hut and saw one of the attackers hacking my daughter with a machete; they were four in number. I pleaded with the attackers but they turned on me, hitting me with a club, saying that my daughter had infected one of their sons with HIV." Her daughter, Vickie Adoch, was killed.

Attacks on people living with HIV are not uncommon in Uganda and many say they suffer humiliating discrimination by their communities.

"The killing of the woman has left us in fear," said George Odong Opeluk, chairman of the Forum for People Living with HIV/AIDS, a local support group. "People still point fingers when they get to know that you are HIV-positive; some of us cannot freely associate because we fear that anything can happen."

A woman in Patiko village, also in Gulu district, told IRIN/PlusNews that when she told her husband she had tested positive for HIV, he assaulted her and kicked her out of their home.

"My husband chased me away; his close relatives threatened me, saying that I have infected their son," said the woman, who requested anonymity. She has left Patiko and now lives in Gulu town, where she feels more secure.

The regional HIV/AIDS coordinator, Dr George Openythoo, said the high levels of stigma and discrimination threatened the success of HIV programmes in the area - not only were people reluctant to be tested, "[they] are not willing to provide care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS."

Uganda's parliament is debating an HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill that would protect HIV-positive people from discrimination by forbidding employers to subject employees to compulsory HIV tests, and prohibiting educational institutions from discrimination on the basis of HIV status.

The killing of the woman has left us in fear

The bill also states that "no person shall be compelled to undergo an HIV test or disclose his status for the purposes of gaining access to any credit or loan services, medical, accident or life insurance."

However, many AIDS activists have condemned sections of the bill that would, among other things, impose the death penalty for wilful transmission of HIV, compel HIV-positive people to reveal their status to their sexual partners, and allow medical practitioners to inform partners.

Opeluk said people who perpetrated crimes against HIV-positive people should be arrested to deter further violence and harassment by other members of the community. "The police should join us in the fight so that we are protected."

Regional police spokesman Johnson Kilama said the police took such attacks very seriously. He added that while there had been a number of cases of HIV-positive people being assaulted, few were reported to the authorities. "We are still investigating the case of Vickie Adoch," he said. "We shall arrest those who are implicated."

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Human Rights Watch considers the Ugandan government itself to be the most egregious abuser of human rights in the country

TO BE NOTED: From Enough:

“Open Secrets” in Uganda

Posted by Maggie Fick on Apr 19, 2009

Human Rights Watch released a report last week condemning the practices of Uganda’s “Joint Anti-terrorism Task Force,” or JATT, a force operated by the Ugandan military’s intelligence branch. The JATT runs Kololo, a notorious illegal detention facility that HRW called an “open secret” in Uganda. The report describes many of the illegal aspects of the detention facility, including torture and enforced disappearances of people that the government suspects of “terrorist activities.” The report notes:

In recent years, the most serious human rights violations in Uganda have taken place in the long northern war between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the government, during disarmament initiatives in the insecure northeast and in the context of government harassment of political opponents. Even though most of the country currently enjoys relative stability, state-sanctioned abuses by security forces and impunity for those responsible continue. Research by Human Rights Watch, as well as other nongovernmental organizations, has found that torture and prolonged illegal detention remain among the most recurrent and intractable human rights violations in Uganda. [Emphasis mine]

In other words, now that the rapacious Lord’s Resistance Army have shifted their base of operations out of northern Uganda and the region is slowly returning to a state of relative peace, Human Rights Watch considers the Ugandan government itself to be the most egregious abuser of human rights in the country. HRW recommends that:

Donors to the Ugandan security efforts, such as the United States and United Kingdom, who are training and supporting Uganda's counterterrorism operations, should work to ensure that basic rights are afforded to all suspects. These donors should withhold counterterrorism-related funding to the Ugandan security forces until the Ugandan government investigates abuses by JATT and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, or CMI, and prosecutes as appropriate those found to be involved.

As is the case with Operation Lightning Thunder (the recent Ugandan army-led joint military offensive against the LRA in northeastern Congo), the U.S. government’s support for the Ugandan government means that it bears some responsibility for Kampala’s actions—especially when Washington continues to provide direct support for Kampala’s military and counterterrorism operations.

N.B.: On a related note, see "A country adrift, a president amiss," an Economist article on Uganda from February."

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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the Ugandan army didn't really want to capture Kony. After all, it would mean an end to the army's cash cow

TO BE NOTED: From Peter Eichstaedt:

"War on Kony can be profitable

A story in the Daily Monitor reveals that, as many have suggested, the army is profiting from the recent three-month operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo against the Lord's Resistance Army.

This information only supports speculation that the Ugandan army didn't really want to capture Kony. After all, it would mean an end to the army's cash cow.

Enjoy this story by Chris Obore.

KAMPALA -- The revelation that the army spent Shs390 million a day during the three-month Garamba operation against the LRA, has divided some top army officers, Saturday Monitor has learnt.

The antagonism has also been worsened by the discovery that some junior army officers in collusion with their superiors had been stealing money meant for pensions and benefits for fallen and retired soldiers. Sources say the army chiefs are now trading accusations against each other over the leakage of that information to the public.

President Museveni, who is also Commander-in-Chief, has also demanded answers to what in military circles has been labelled “abnormal expenditure”.

Our sources said after Daily Monitor reported recently that the Garamba expedition against LRA’s Joseph Kony had drawn Shs35 billion ($17 million USD) from the public coffers, Mr Museveni reportedly called his top commanders and asked them to explain the huge expenditure.

“The President was furious with the Shs390 million a day bill, saying it is abnormal; the man was really hard on the army,” the source said.

Presenting a balance sheet of the Garamba operation to Parliament’s Defence and Internal Affairs Committee, the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, justified the expenditure, saying although Kony was not captured, killed or forced to sign the agreement, the overall operation was a success as it had significantly impaired the rebels’ capacity to return and destabilise the country.

Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga, who appeared with the CDF, said the “little” money for the operation was not catered for in the budget, the reason his ministry was forced to ask for supplementary funding. MPs did not get details on how the money was spent.

But sources say Mr Museveni was not amused by the expenditure and accused some army officers of financial impropriety.

Apparently, the President was not aware of the huge expenditure until the story was carried by the Daily Monitor.

According to sources, on learning of the President’s dissatisfaction, a blame game at the defence ministry ensued, leading to the sudden transfer of the Undersecretary, Mr Fred Ogene.

Sources say some sections wanted Mr Ogene fired or interdicted but being a civil servant, it was not possible, considering the stringent laws governing his appointment.

But Defence and army spokesman Felix Kulayigye told Saturday Monitor: “He has been requesting for transfer for a long time, so I don’t believe he was forced out.”

Mr Ogene confirmed by telephone yesterday that he had been moved.“I don’t think the transfer has anything to do with Garamba; it might be but I was not told,” he said, adding: “I have been transferred to the President’s Office.”Mr Ogene, however, said what was given about Garamba expenditure was not the accountability but the highlights.

Pension scamMeanwhile, Dr Kiyonga, has reportedly put more pressure on the army chiefs to explain why there was delayed detection of how money for pensions and benefits was stolen by paymasters.

Sunday Monitor reported recently that the army was investigating a racket involving officers who have been stealing money meant for retired soldiers and families of dead servicemen in a scandal that could eclipse the infamous ghost soldier scam that led to the sacking and prosecution of a former army commander.

Soldires celebrating after arriving at Entebbe Airport from Garamba.
The racket was being perpetrated through a chain of soldiers working in the Directorate of Records, Manpower Audit and Army Strength Management sections.

When the story was reported, Mr Kiyonga, who was then in South Africa attending to his ill relative, reportedly instructed his military assistant to dig into the matter.

When the military assistant swung into action, top army chiefs reportedly refused to cooperate because the investigation could end up at their doorsteps.

The Chief of Staff Land Forces, Brig. Charles Angina, who had instigated a covert fact-finding operation using a combination of military intelligence and staff officers to establish the facts; and later arrested some culprits, reportedly got furious that the information had leaked to the media.

Now Brig. Angina has reportedly deployed operatives to find out how his confidential information ended up at Daily Monitor.

When Kiyonga returned from South Africa, sources say he wrote asking for more information regarding the Mafia-like racket that had been fleecing widows and orphans of fallen fighters but he is reportedly getting lukewarm response from top army chiefs.

Maj. Kulayigye said he was not aware that Mr Kiyonga had asked for answers to the pension graft in the army but promised to reach to his military assistant.
He, however, later called back saying: “All phones are off, so I can’t help you.”But Joint Chief of Staff, Brig. Robert Rusoke, said yesterday that when the matter first came up, “he ( Kiyonga) was not around.”“But the PS will brief him,” Brig. Rusoke said.

Asked what the army had done so far, Brig. Rusoke accused Saturday Monitor of trying to sabotage investigations.“What do want us to say? The matter is under investigation,” he said.He said the Defence permanent secretary “has been in contact with Ministry of Public Service” because “we are working together with Public Service to investigate the matter.”

Last financial year alone, while Shs53 billion was released for payment of benefits and pension, not more than Shs10 billion was actually paid out to beneficiaries. The rest disappeared.

Posted by Peter Eichstaedt at 4/13/2009 05:23:00 AM

his appointment was welcomed by Resolve Uganda and the head of the Senate Africa subcommittee.

TO BE NOTED: From Resolve Uganda:

"Weekly Roundup for March 14-27: Obama nominates top US Africa diplomat, Ugandan military withdraws from DR Congo

March 27th, 2009 by paul in: Main Site, Update from HQ

Last week President Obama nominated Johnnie Carson as the top Africa diplomat within his new Administration. Carson, a former US ambassador to Uganda, brings a wealth of experience dealing with the LRA and northern Uganda to the job and his appointment was welcomed by Resolve Uganda and the head of the Senate Africa subcommittee.

Carson will need every iota of his experience and skills to take up the tough challenge of renewing US leadership on efforts to deal with the LRA. Last week the Ugandan military withdrew its forces from the DR Congo, just over three months after launching a US-supported military operation against LRA rebels hiding in Congolese territory that ultimately failed to capture top rebel commanders. With LRA attacks escalating once again, our efforts are needed more than ever to ensure that Mr. Carson, Secretary Clinton and President Obama take the steps needed to permanently end this war.

The Good: Nearly 80,000 northern Ugandans have left displacement camps to return home since December of last year.

The Bad: Despite this progress, violent conflicts over land have forced hundreds of northerners to flee their homes in recent weeks.

The Ugly: After a brief lull, LRA attacks in the DR Congo are worsening and forcing more Congolese civilians to flee their homes.

Regional Security

• The Ugandan army abruptly withdrew its forces from the DR Congo after a three-month operation against the LRA. Ugandan officials insisted that the operation was a success, but admitted that Congolese political pressure was their primary reason for leaving. The operation failed to capture Joseph Kony or his top two commanders, and also failed to stop massive rebel reprisal attacks on civilians.

• Congolese troops and UN peacekeepers in the DR Congo announced that they would boost troop levels in northeastern DR Congo to better protect civilians and continue operations against the LRA, though their capacity to do so effectively will likely remain limited.

• After lull in February, LRA attacks on civilians in the DR Congo have picked up in March. The LRA has now displaced over 180,000 Congolese civilians and 43,000 Sudanese civilians since September 2008.

• Richard, a Congolese child abducted by the LRA last September, told The Guardian Weekly newspaper about his experience with the rebels after his recent escape.

Situation in Northern Uganda

• Although over half a million people still remain displaced in northern Uganda, nearly 80,000 people have left the camps since last December.

• Violent land conflicts in northern Uganda have killed four people since the beginning of 2009 and forced 120 families to flee their homes. The disputes allegedly involve different clans with competing claims to land in several districts of .

• Change.org's Humanitarian Relief blog carried a post by northern Uganda expert Jon Marino calling for the Ugandan government to demonstrate more leadership to jumpstart the reconstruction process in northern Uganda.

International Response

• President Obama nominated Johnnie Carson as his Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, the top Africa position within the US government. Carson served as the US Ambassador to Uganda from 1991 to 1994 and in recent years has been vocal on the need for sustainable peace in northern Uganda and the country as a whole.

• UN special envoy announced plans to initiate contact with LRA leader Joseph Kony, following the withdrawal of Ugandan military forces from Congolese soil. Ugandan government officials said they welcomed any move by Kony to sign the final peace agreement negotiated last year, but were not willing to re-open negotaions on the deal."

We now have at least one Senator who agrees with us on what's needed from US leaders to stop the LRA's violence and foster lasting peace.

TO BE NOTED: From Resolve Uganda:

"Key US Senator issues landmark call for US action to end LRA attacks

March 13th, 2009 by michael in: Campaign Watch, Main Site, Political Progress

Senator Russ Feingold, Chair of the US Senate's Africa Subcommittee and a longtime champion for peace in Uganda, released a statement yesterday calling on the Obama Administration to take immediate action to disarm the LRA and end their atrocious attacks on children and families in central Africa.

We welcome this leadership from Senator Feingold, and invite our supporters to join the Knock, Knock initiative to meet with their own Senators in the local communities in April, to convince them to do the same.

The statement, echoing Resolve Uganda's January policy brief, noted the failure of the Ugandan government's ongoing military operation against LRA forces in the DR Congo to protect civilians from LRA attacks, but called for continued - but improved - action to disarm Joseph Kony and other top LRA leaders and rescue the LRA's abductees.

"It’s tragically clear that insufficient attention and resources were devoted to ensuring the protection of civilians during the operation. Thus far, this operation has resulted in the worst-case scenario: it has failed to stop the LRA, while spurring the rebels to intensify their attacks against civilians," it observes.

But with LRA leader Joseph Kony's refusal to sign a peace agreement, Feingold argues that military action to stop the rebel leader - while avoiding the endangerment of the LRA's captives and abductees - is the most viable remaining option.

"It became increasingly clear that Kony and his top commanders would stand in the way of any comprehensive political solution. These failed [peace] talks justify military action against the LRA’s top command, but that action must be carefully considered. As we have seen too many times, offensive operations that are poorly designed and poorly carried out risk doing more harm than good, inflaming a situation rather than resolving it."

Senator Feingold laid out a vision for the Obama Administration to correct the situation:

"The United Nations Security Council should take up this matter immediately and, in coordination with the Secretary-General and his Special Representative for LRA-affected areas, develop a plan and add new resources to enhance civilian protection. I urge the Obama administration to use its voice and vote at the Security Council to see that this happens. At the same time, I urge the administration to develop an interagency strategy for how the U.S. can contribute to longer-term efforts to disarm and demobilize the LRA, restore the rule of law in affected areas of Congo and Sudan, and address political and economic marginalization in northern Uganda that initially gave rise to this rebel group."

We now have at least one Senator who agrees with us on what's needed from US leaders to stop the LRA's violence and foster lasting peace.

Read the full statement here."

An estimated 420,000 people were still in IDP camps at the end of last year.

TO BE NOTED:From UNHCR:

A group of displaced people with special needs who have benefitted from the UNHCR shelter programme. © UNHCR/M.Odokonyero

UNHCR News Stories

UNHCR supports the vulnerable with shelter in northern Uganda

GULU, Uganda, February 20 (UNHCR) – Jennifer Lamaro's life collapsed around her two years ago, when the Ugandan woman was left a paraplegic after falling from a tree while picking mangoes for her children. Things got worse. "After that incident my husband left me. I have never seen him again," the 29-year-old explained.

But now she and hundreds of other people with disabilities or special needs have something to be happy about, thanks to a UNHCR-funded shelter programme. Last year, the refugee agency built 2,036 houses in the northern Ugandan districts of Gulu, Amuru, Kitgum and Pader and more are planned for this year.

The beneficiaries are all people with special needs who were displaced during two decades of fighting between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.

Tens of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) have been taking advantage of the improved security in northern Uganda over the past three years to return to villages that may have lain empty since the start of the conflict in 1987. But many people with special needs, including the disabled, the sick and the elderly, have been unable to leave the IDP camps.

"The vast majority of people with special needs [in IDP camps] want to return to their home villages. But we found that most of them were unable to build their own permanent shelters, which meant that they could not leave the IDP camps," said Mikael Rasmussen, an associate protection officer at UNHCR's sub-office in Gulu.

"In response, UNHCR and its partners identified and helped the most vulnerable among them," he added, explaining that they worked with the local communities to build new mud and wattle huts for people like the wheelchair-bound Lamaro.

"As you can see, I can't do much. I can't cut thatch for the hut," Lamaro recently told UNHCR visitors. "If I hadn't received help, I would still be in the camp," she added. Rasmussen said that Lamaro and others in the shelter programme would receive support from their community, including members of their close and extended families.

Last year, UNHCR conducted a survey in the main IDP camps in northern Uganda to identify the number of people with special needs. They found and registered 3,467 in Gulu district, 2,645 in Kitgum district and more than 8,500 in Pader district. Most said they wanted to return home.

The two decades of fighting in northern Uganda drove almost 2 million people from their homes. Almost 800,000 have left the camps since stuttering peace talks began in Sudan between the rival sides in 2006. An estimated 420,000 people were still in IDP camps at the end of last year.

By Moses Odokonyero
in Gulu, Uganda

"Over 850 people killed by LRA since "Christmas Massacres"

TO BE NOTED: From Resolve Uganda:

"Weekly Roundup for Feb. 14-20: Over 850 people killed by LRA since "Christmas Massacres"

February 20th, 2009 by paul in: Main Site, Update from HQ

As you know, it can sometimes be difficult to put a human face on events unfolding half a world away. This is especially true in the remote regions of Sudan and DR Congo affected by LRA attacks, where lack of security and accessibility in the areas where the rebels have been operating has meant that we've had few details, beyond size and scope, about what's actually happening there. This grisly picture became a little clearer this week, with the release of a new report from Human Rights Watch that documents the attacks and exposes the unacceptable ways that civilians were left unprotected from LRA violence sparked by the ongoing military offensive against the rebels.

The Good: The US aid agency disbursed $800,000 to UNICEF to help protect children in the DR Congo affected by LRA violence.

The Bad: The US has given little indication that ending the LRA violence is a priority, even as it continues to defend its support for the Uganda-led operation that sparked the latest rebel attacks.

The Ugly: Signs of discord between the Ugandan and Congolese governments began to emerge over how long Ugandan troops will remain on Congolese soil to pursue the LRA.

Regional Security

• Human Right Watch released a powerful report investigating LRA attacks on Congolese communities over past several months, calling for more UN peacekeepers to be deployed in areas affected by the violence. The report documents over 850 civilians killed and over 150 children abducted by the LRA since December 2008.

• A New York Times feature chronicles efforts by "teenage boys and their farmer fathers" in northeastern DR Congo to protect themselves and their families from continued LRA attacks.

• Conflicting reports emerged from Ugandan and Congolese officials concerning the length of the Ugandan army's mandate to pursue LRA rebels in the DR Congo. Ugandan officials claimed permission to stay until the LRA was defeated, while Congolese officials said a February 28 withdrawal deadline was still in place.
  
  

Situation in Northern Uganda

• The UN announced that over one million displaced persons have returned home since 2006, while nearly 450,000 live in the original "mother" camps and 330,000 live in transit camps closer to their homes.

• Northern Ugandan traditional leaders are venturing into rural areas to spiritually cleanse sites affected by violence during the past two decades. Many northern Ugandans view such efforts as crucial to rebuilding communities and lives shattered by the conflict.

• Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni took a swipe at Ugandans who vote for opposition parties this week, saying such a move was a "vote for civil war." Northern Ugandans have overwhelmingly supported opposition politicians in past elections.

• The Guardian published a feature on the state of democracy and corruption in Uganda, including the prospects for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's re-election in 2011.
  
  

International Response

• A US military official told the press that a US-supported, Ugandan-led offensive against LRA rebels is not responsible for the subsequent LRA reprisal attacks against civilians that have killed over 850 people.

• Following an assessment mission to northeastern DR Congo, US officials announced the release of $800,000 to UNICEF to support child protection efforts in areas affected by the LRA, including reunification of separated families and services for victims of sexual violence.

The UN's top humanitarian official briefed US ambassador Susan Rice and other members of the Security Council on the humanitarian crisis in LRA-affected areas of the DR Congo. The Council has not taken any action on the matter since January. "

Rwandan troops will start withdrawing from eastern Congo on Saturday and the entire force will have left by the middle of next week

TO BE NOTED: From Reuters:

GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - Rwandan troops will start withdrawing from eastern Congo on Saturday and the entire force will have left by the middle of next week, a Rwandan military spokesman said on Friday.

Rwandan soldiers have "achieved their objectives" in a joint operation with Congo's army to hunt Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Congo, even though the rebels have not been completely destroyed, Major Jill Rutaremara told Reuters.

Congo invited the Rwandan army to help it attack the rebels last month, in a sign of improved relations between the two countries after a 15-year period in which they fought two wars.

The rebels, known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), have been central to these conflicts, which still simmer despite the world's largest United Nations peacekeeping mission and 2006 elections in Congo.

"Tomorrow they are going to issue (the orders). They will begin pulling back slowly," Rutaremara said on Friday.

"There will be a parade and then the troops will go back to Rwanda. All Rwandan troops will pull out," he added, saying the withdrawal would be completed by Wednesday.

Some FDLR rebels took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide and then fled to Congo, sparking years of violence as Rwanda's powerful Tutsi-led army then invaded its mineral-rich neighbor.

Rwanda said it invaded Congo during the 1990s to hunt the Hutu force but it did not defeat them and, in the process, Rwanda was accused of plundering Congo's resources and backing other Congolese rebels.

Congolese President Joseph Kabila has also invited Uganda's army to hunt Ugandan rebels in northeast Congo.

Kabila said last month that the Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers had until the end of this month to complete their operations in Congo. Uganda is seeking an extension to its operation.

(Reporting by Hereward Holland; writing by David Lewis; editing by Tim Pearce)

However, Kony is still out there.

TO BE NOTED:

Posted by Peter Eichstaedt at 2/13/2009 06:33:00 AM

"Escapee: Kony is angry

As information dribbles out regarding Uganda's faltering military operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo against Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army, we learn that Kony is angry.

Well, why not? His camps were bombed and now his top two commanders are negotiating their surrender.

In a story from the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, we learn from an escapee who was with the LRA camp when it was attacked, that Kony was already gone.

"The first day of the attack I was in the camp," said 21-year-old Jackline Apio, who had been in captivity for six years.

"LRA leader Joseph Kony had told us a day earlier there were plans to bomb the camp and ordered all his commanders and other soldiers to leave immediately."

This begs the question, how did he know? It also confirms earlier suspicions that Kony has informers close to the government.

Apio continues: "At about 11 a.m., after we had cooked, we heard the sound of approaching helicopters. Minutes later they [the helicopters] started bombing the camp. We all ran away. "

Why did Kony not have everyone abandon the camp? There have been strong fears that Kony would use the hundreds of abductees as human shields in case of an attack, which is why many in the international community have resisted attacking Kony long ago.

Here we can clearly see that Kony sacrificed these civilians to cover his escape and those of his fighters and commanders.

This should also provide insight into the kind of man we're dealing with.

Apio: "After two hours the rebels came back [to the camp] and collected food, medicine and weapons they had abandoned. The rebels, women and children later joined Kony."

Now it gets interesting: "He was looking enraged, and we started walking towards [the] Central African [Republic]," Apio says.

"Kony later changed [his] plans and ordered everyone to split into groups of 10, including the women and children. He said we should all remain in [DR] Congo. I don’t know where he went, but he remained somewhere with a few soldiers."

Again, Kony's cunning becomes apparent. He knows that others know he has wanted to go the CAR for a long time. Most suspected he would. Knowing that, however, he reverses course, and decides to stay. The only way his army can survive, however, is for them to break into small groups -- again his standard tactic, but quite effective.

But, there is a risk, of course, and that is losing his command and control.

"Our group was led by Dominic Ongwen [Kony’s deputy]. We were 30 and were attacked several times by UPDF [Ugandan People’s Defence Forces] soldiers. On 22 January in the afternoon, our group was attacked by UPDF; we had walked the whole night and were resting," she continues.

"I was shot in my left thigh. Then the [UPDF] commander appeared and ordered [the] soldiers not to shoot children or women.

"The other rebels ran away. We were five, two babies, two young children and I. I thought I would not survive; everyone was screaming and children crying. I said my last prayer because Kony [had] told us that anyone caught by the UPDF would be killed."

This is what Kony tells his captives in order to keep them under his tumb.

Ironically, it is Ongwen and Kony's latest deputy, Okot Odhiambo, who now want to surrender. As I have mentioned, this will be a serious blow to Kony's forces, and if nothing else, will cause others in his camp to do the same.

However, Kony is still out there.

As Apio explains, "It is difficult to get Kony, he keeps changing his location. Not even his commanders know his real location because he does not use satellite phones."

the U.S. military admits it was involved in the training of the special forces that attacked Kony's camps

From Peter Eichstaedt:

"U.S. helpled plan botched attack

The New York Times today confirmed what I have reported for weeks now, that the Ugandan army attack on the camps of rebel leader Joseph Kony and his brutal band of killers, the Lord's Resistance Army, was botched.

New, however, is that finally the U.S. military admits it was involved in the training of the special forces that attacked Kony's camps in the Garamba National Park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the planning of the operation.

However, the comments made by the U.S. forces are very reserved, as if they are trying to distance themselves from a poorly executed plan that has resulted in a bloody rampage by the LRA that has killed some 900 people.

It is the first time the United States has helped plan such a specific military offensive with Uganda, according to senior American military officials, the Times reported.

They described a team of 17 advisers and analysts from the Pentagon’s new Africa Command working closely with Ugandan officers on the mission, providing satellite phones, intelligence and $1 million in fuel, the Times reported.

However, the newspaper reports, no American forces ever got involved in the ground fighting in this isolated, rugged corner of Congo, but human rights advocates and villagers rightly complained that the Ugandans and the Congolese troops who carried out the operation did little or nothing to protect nearby villages, despite a history of rebel reprisals against civilians.

As I have written and told to the BBC, which interviewed me on the topic several weeks ago, "the troops did not seal off the rebels’ escape routes or deploy soldiers to many of the nearby towns where the rebels slaughtered people in churches and even tried to twist off toddlers’ heads," the Times reported.

Further, the Times explained that American officials conceded that the operation did not go as intended, and that villagers were left exposed.

“We provided insights and alternatives for them to consider, but their choices were their choices,” said one American military official who was briefed on the operation, referring to the African forces on the ground, according to the Times.

“In the end, it was not our operation.”

That doesn't sound like a whopping endorsement for the results.

Maj. Felix Kulayigye, a Ugandan military spokesman, declined to discuss the American involvement and simply said, “There was no way to prevent these massacres,” according to The Times.

If there is any good to come to light, it is that in fact the U.S. has become involved actively in some of Africa's most important tragedies. However, the new AfriCOM which lead the way here, hopefully learned a lesson that planning is only the first step.

Ensuring proper execution of such missions must be also integral to the mission, or as we have seen, the results are catastrophic."


Me:

Don said...

Since the LRA has been pushed into another country, is there any chance that this was Uganda's real goal?

Don the libertarian Democrat

February 8, 2009 3:14 PM

What makes Uganda think it can do the job now?

From Peter Eichstaedt:

"Dominic makes two

The French Press Agency is reporting that Dominic Ongwen, another deputy commander of the Lord's Resistance Army, also wants to surrender to Ugandan forces fighting in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The possible surrender of Ongwen follows last week's request by LRA deputy commander Okot Odhiambo, who is currently negotiating the terms of a surrender.

If true, the defection and surrender of these commanders would leave Kony largely isolated, yet still with the bulk of his army in the DRC, said to be some 600 or 700 men.

The surrender of both these men would be a huge success for the Ugandan army and theoretically for the international community since both are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

"Dominic Ongwen is here with me, we are together," Odhiambo told AFP by phone from his jungle hide-out, adding they had 120 LRA fighters with them.

Meanwhile, word continues to trickle out about the possible surrender of the deputy commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, Okot Odhiambo.

According to the Daily Monitor newspaper in Kampala, the Ugandan army commander in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Brig. Gen. Patrick Kankiriho, has given Odhiambo a map sketching out where Odhiambo and his men can surrender.

The options are several locations, or any church or the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC) outpost.

“I sent him a sketch map of areas where he can report. I told him if he cannot report in those areas where the UPDF is, he can go to any church or the UN,” Kankiriho told the Monitor.

The church suggestion is ironic since Odhiambo and his men are thought to have been behind a slaughter in a church of about 50 people in the Doruma area in December.

This communique to Odhiambo is the first hard information that the negotiations, which began last week, are still on-going with the rebel unit, said to nubmer about 85 people, including about 45 soldiers, 20 abductees and non-combatants.

"If Odhiambo responds and says he is at point A, then we will know he is serious. We will not hurt him. We can even leave our guns behind and we get UN to escort us and we meet him,” Kankiriho said.

If Odhiambo surrenders, it will be a major success for the Ugandan military strike that began Dec. 14 and sent the LRA, lead by Joseph Kony, on a killing rampage that has taken the lives of nearly 1,000 civilians in the region.

But how long the Ugandan army can or will stay in northeastern DRC? Congolese officials have set today, Friday, Feb. 6, as the deadline for Uganda's withdrawal from the region.

The deadline makes no sense, of course, given the current negotiations, but the Congo is under pressure to rid itself of foreign forces. Neighboring Rwanda currently has about 2,000 troops in the Kivu provinces of eastern DRC, who are ridding the region of the Hutu militias.

The two situation are virtually unrelated, but problematic, none-the-less.

Certainly, simple logic dictates that Uganda should continue this operation against Kony and the LRA, since in both this situation and the Kivus, the DRC is incapable of controlling or solving the problem.

But this also raises the question whether Uganda can solve the Kony problem as well. Given the botched operation that began the current mess, there are serious doubts for any permanent solution.

The question also arises as to why Kony and his army are in the DRC in the first place. Why didn't Uganda solve the Kony problem sometime during the 20 years he fought in Uganda?

What makes Uganda think it can do the job now? "

Me:

Don said...

I'm wondering who supports Kony. Can he really survive without any base in a population? If he has no base, how come Uganda, the Congo, and Rwanda can't stop him?

Don the libertarian Democrat

February 6, 2009 9:49 PM

"triggered a conflict-driven humanitarian catastrophe that killed an estimated 5.4 million people."

From Reuters:

1 of 1Full Size

By John Kanyunyu

KIBATI, Congo (Reuters) - Rwandan troops crossed into eastern Congo on Tuesday in a joint military operation by the Great Lakes neighbours to disarm Rwandan Hutu rebels seen as a root cause of more than a decade of conflict.( WOW )

While both countries presented the operation as part of internationally-backed efforts to end conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo, analysts said allowing the Rwandan army in posed political risks for Congolese President Joseph Kabila.( TRUE )

The presence of the Rwandan Hutu FDLR fighters, who finance themselves by exploiting illegal mines( NB ) in the mineral-rich east, triggered two previous Rwandan invasions of Congo that led to a wider 1998-2003 conflict. It also helped cause a 2004 rebellion by Congo Tutsi rebels who went on the offensive late last year.

Diplomats and U.N. peacekeepers said that up to 2,000 Rwandan troops entered Congo's eastern North Kivu province on Tuesday under a December joint accord to act against the mostly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

The FDLR's strength is estimated at around 6,000 fighters, spread across North and South Kivu.

"The operations are beginning. We have invited Rwandan officers with their security contingents for their safety. They are observers ... The operations to disarm the FDLR are planned for a length of 10 to 15 days," Lambert Mende, Congo's information minister and government spokesman, told Reuters.

But the size of the Rwandan deployment appeared to be more than a simple observation mission.

A Reuters reporter saw hundreds of Rwandan troops, wearing Rwandan flag patches on their uniforms and carrying mortars, rocket launchers and AK-47s, moving into Congo in the Kibati area north of the North Kivu provincial capital Goma.

Rwandan military spokeswoman Major Jill Rutaremara told Reuters in Kigali the details of the operation were "secret".

Rwanda's Information Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, said the Rwandan forces would operate under Congolese command.

"This is a result of recent intense and sincere efforts -- diplomatic, military and other ... to bring peace and stability to the region." he told Reuters by text message.

U.N. peacekeepers also confirmed the Rwandan deployment.

"This morning between 1,500 and 2,000 RDF (Rwanda Defence Forces) crossed the border in the Munigi-Kibati zone," Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich, military spokesman for the U.N. force, MONUC, said. MONUC, the biggest U.N. peace force, said it had not been involved in planning the operation.

Congolese army forces were on the move with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and mobile rocket launchers, Dietrich said.

FEARS OF ESCALATION

Analysts said the latest entry of Rwandan troops into Congo, at the same time as a Ugandan-led offensive against Ugandan LRA rebels further north in Orientale, were an acknowledgement by Kabila that he had failed to pacify his country( VERY TRUE ). He had promised to do this after winning 2006 elections.

"Look where we are, two years after elections, the Rwandan army back in Congo and the Ugandans are back in Congo ... and the Congolese get screwed again( SAD BUT TRUE )," one veteran foreign Congo analyst, who asked not be named, said.

The analyst recalled Congo's 1998-2003 war, when Rwanda and Uganda backed rival rebel groups.

"It's a confirmation of what everybody knows -- the DRC army has no control over its own territory( TRUE )," said a foreign diplomat.

The presence in eastern Congo of Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels, many of whom participated in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, has been at the heart of more than a decade of bloodshed.

The 1998-2003 war sucked in the armies of half a dozen nearby countries, and triggered a conflict-driven humanitarian catastrophe that killed an estimated 5.4 million( 5.4 MILLION ) people.

Rwanda and Congo have agreed on several past occasions to cooperate to tackle the Hutu rebels, but have failed to carry this out amid accusations that ill-disciplined Congolese government forces have sided with the FDLR Hutu fighters.

Fighting flared again in North Kivu last October, when the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), a Congolese Tutsi rebel group led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda ended a ceasefire and launched an offensive against Goma.

The fighting, which killed hundreds and displaced around 250,000 people, prompted fears of a fresh regional war.

U.N. experts told the Security Council last month that the governments of both Rwanda and Congo had been backing rebel groups in the conflict, and recommended targeted sanctions such as travel bans and freezing of assets against some individuals( ANYTHING ).

Since then diplomatic efforts to achieve a peaceful solution have picked up pace with frequent high-level contacts between Kigali and Kinshasa, in the absence of formal diplomatic ties."

If they actually cooperate, this might be the right course of action to end this nightmare.

"hundreds of civilians were burned to death on Saturday by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels. "

From Peter Eichstaedt:

"Death toll climbs

According to a story in the New Vision newspaper in Kampala, Uganda, hundreds of civilians were burned to death( PLEASE DON'T TELL ME THAT ) on Saturday by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.

The rebels set ablaze a church called Bima in the Democratic Republic of Congo at midnight as the faithful prayed, according to the New Vision. ( TOO CRUEL )

It is not yet known how many were in the church at the time, according to Radio Okapi, the UN's radio network in Congo. The rebels reportedly attacked others with axes and knives, slitting throats and crushing skulls.

The massacre occurred in the towns of Tora and Libombi, and two nearby mining communities located 130km from Dungu, the base of operations for the Ugandan military which is chasing the LRA.

According to the president of the civil society of Dungu, Felicien Balani: “The LRA entered around midnight. They surprised the faithful of the church who were in a prayer vigil. They burned them in the church,” said Balani.

The rebels also burnt several houses at the gold mine town of Tora. So far recorded are five deaths and six injured.

Civil society organisations working in Dungu said over 100 people had fled the area by yesterday.

“In Doruma, it was really awful. They had killed at least 300( 300 ) people. We were in a village where there are only six survivors, all the others were killed,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, of Human Rights Watch.

“One of the few survivors, a 72-year-old man who arrived late for Christmas lunch, hid in the bushes and watched in horror as his wife, children and grandchildren were killed,” Woudenberg told New Vision.

After the massacre, the rebels “ate the Christmas feast the villagers had prepared, and then slept among the dead bodies before continuing on their trail of destruction and death” through another 12 villages.

Another 86 people were massacred in the most recent incidents.

Posted by Peter Eichstaedt at 9:27 AM

"People live in fear in the forest. Many of them are unable to move, as they fear that the LRA is going to attack them."

Although we see signs of peace in the Congo, the LRA is still on the loose. From the UNHCR:

A young girl injured in an attack on Duru village in Orientale province. © UNHCR/D.Nthengwe

Survivors of Lord's Resistance Army attacks urgently need assistance

DURU, Democratic Republic of the Congo, January 16 (UNHCR) – UNHCR members of a joint United Nations team expressed shock Friday at the physical condition of civilians who have survived repeated attacks in recent months by Ugandan rebels on their village in the northern Congolese province of Orientale.

The UN team flew by helicopter to Duru on Wednesday and reported that this once vibrant village was deserted and overgrown with vegetation after attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

First attacked by the LRA in September, Duru was again targeted by the rebel group earlier this week, leaving four people dead and the village a virtual ghost town. Back in September, the village had some 6,000 inhabitants. Now, less than 1,000 people remain.

Some of the survivors remaining in the vicinity came out of hiding to meet the visitors. They were traumatized and in urgent need of assistance. Many were clad in rags and looked famished and weak after spending nights in the bush without blankets or shelter. "We are hungry and we are poor," said one man. ( GOOD LORD )

The UN refugee agency field officers heard accounts of atrocities carried out by the LRA fighters when they raided Duru on Monday and Tuesday, killing four people, injuring an infant girl and abducting a nine-year-old boy. "I feel sad for my daughter," said the mother of the four-year-old shot in the leg. "She has lost her father," added the woman, who has two other children.

More than 560 ( 560 )civilians have been killed since the LRA began its campaign of violence last September in an area of Orientale province near the Democratic Republic of the Congo's borders with Uganda and South Sudan. This UNHCR estimate includes the victims of reported attacks this week on Duru and Diagbe, further to the north. More than 115,000 people are believed to have been forcibly displaced by the violence and the figure is likely to grow.

The villagers in Duru told UNHCR that the rebels looted and torched their houses, forcing residents to flee into the forest. Some of them made their way towards Dungu, a regional centre some 90 kilometres to the south where UNHCR has a team. Another 2,000 have crossed into Sudan.

The survivors seen in Duru told UNHCR that they did not feel safe, fearing new assaults, rape and abductions. There are no medical personnel in the village and no medicine. The villagers also said it was not safe to drink water from the wells. ( AWFUL )

Aid agencies face enormous logistical challenges reaching communities affected by the LRA attacks. Duru, for example, can only be reached by helicopter with a security escort of UN peace-keepers. Limited physical access, insecurity and impassable roads are hampering both the delivery and the distribution of relief supplies.

Aid is, however, coming to other parts of Dungu district. On Tuesday, a UN convoy carrying 70 tonnes of food and aid items provided by UN humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR, reached Dungu. The trucks spent 10 days on the road after picking up the World Food Programme and UNHCR aid in Goma, the capital of neighbouring North Kivu province.

In the coming days and weeks, the UN refugee agency and its partners hope to reach some 100,000 displaced people in locations such as Duru, Faradje, Doruma, Watsa and Isiro, which have not received any assistance since September. More joint missions are planned to threatened areas this weekend to assess the scale of the displacement and needs of the population.

By David Nthengwe
in Duru, Democratic Republic of the Congo

By Margarida Fawke
In Dungu, Democratic Republic of the Congo"

From Peter Eichstaedt:

"Condemnation, but no action( GREAT )

The United Nations Security Council has once again condemned the atrocities that are currently being committed by the Lord's Resistance Army.

On Friday, the UNSC issued a press statement, read aloud by the Council President Jean-Maurice Ripert of France, which chairs the council this month.

Here it is:

"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the recent attacks carried out by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which have resulted in over 500 dead and over 400 abducted, as well as the displacement of over 104,000 people. The members of the Council expressed their grave concern at the scale of these atrocities and emphasized that those responsible must be brought to justice.

"The members of the Security Council reiterated the statement of the President of the Security Council 22 December 2008. The members of the Council expressed their deep concern that the Council’s previous calls for the LRA to cease its attacks, and recruitment and use of children, and to release all women, children and non-combatants, have not been heeded.

"The members of the Security Council demanded that the members of the LRA cease all attacks on civilians immediately, and urged them to surrender, assemble, and disarm, as required by the Final Peace Agreement."

Does the world need yet another strongly worded statement? It seems that the LRA, and its leader Joseph Kony, the self-proclaimed prophet and spirit medium, has committed enough atrocities in the past twenty-two years( 22 YEARS ) to warrant more than grumbling from the UN's guiding council.( TOO TRUE )

The French like to present themselves as the bastion of "liberty, fraternity, and equality," but they're disinclined to do much to enforce those values. ( THEY DID A GREAT JOB IN RWANDA )

It's not as though France couldn't.

As I stated last week during a interview on BBC radio's The World Today show, putting an end to Kony and the LRA's endless rampages will take more than letting the Ugandan army wander around the jungles of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

It will take a well-trained and well-equipped force authorized by the UN and composed of international troops with the specific goal of capturing or killing Kony.

This is not without precedent. It's been done before in other African countries, including eastern DRC when the inept horde of UN peacekeepers there, which number an astounding 17,000 soldiers, were unable to keep the peace. The UN authorized a limited European Union force to enter the country, settle the situation, then pull out. It worked.

Such a force is sitting very close by. It's called European Force, or Eufor, and is about 5,000 EU troops, mostly French, who are in eastern Chad on the border with Sudan.( THEY'VE DONE A GREAT JOB HELPING OUT IN SUDAN )

They're positioned as a deterrent to any further invasions by the Sudan-backed rebels who attacked the Chad capital of Ndjamena last February. And, some speculate that the force may be there to help protect Chad's oil fields( YES. THEY'RE NOT THERE TO STOP GENOCIDE. BETWEEN RWANDA AND SUDAN, FRANCE DOESN'T HAVE A RECORD OF CARING ABOUT GENOCIDE. ), which are pumping out crude that is piped to the west coast of Africa via Cameroon.

But, there's not much for them do these days. Why can't the UN send them in for one-month mission? It's clear the Ugandan army needs help, as does South Sudan and the Central African Republic, where most say the LRA is headed.

The Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA), which is South Sudan's army, has found dozens of body of people believed to be killed by the Ugandan Lord Resistance Army (LRA) after being abducted.

And, the BBC reports that rebels attacked a village in the DRC this week, killing four people, including a girl of four and abducting a boy of nine. A bishop in South Sudan says two men had their hands and legs chopped off and were beaten to death, as boys watched.

The BBC noted that the LRA now operates in at least four countries in the region, and that the CAR has sent troops to its border with DR Congo in an effort to push back the rebels.

The survivors of the LRA attacks told a UN agency that the rebels looted and torched their houses, forcing them to flee into the forest.

"What we saw was shocking," David Nthengwe, UNHCR spokesman for eastern DR Congo, told the BBC. "People live in fear in the forest. Many of them are unable to move, as they fear that the LRA is going to attack them."

Clearly the Ugandan army is not making much progress. Yet, the Eufor sits there in Chadian desert, just an hour away by air.( GOOD LUCK WAITING FOR THESE HUMANITARIANS )

Posted by Peter Eichstaedt at 9:45 AM

"Another 408 people have been kidnapped by the LRA since the outbreak of violence in September last year"

From the UNHCR:

"UNHCR concerned about displaced Congolese and continuing LRA attacks

DUNGU, Democratic Republic of the Congo, January 13 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Tuesday expressed mounting concern about the plight of more than 100,000 Congolese civilians force to flee their homes to escape attacks by a rebel Ugandan force in the northern province of Orientale.

"We are increasingly concerned about the humanitarian situation and continuing attacks by ... the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)," said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond, adding that the death toll in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) province bordering Uganda and South Sudan is now estimated at 537 people.

"Another 408 people have been kidnapped by the LRA since the outbreak of violence in September last year, including victims abducted in attacks over the past four days," said the spokesman, citing figures gathered by UNHCR staff in the town of Dungu.

Rough estimates of the number of forcibly displaced in this part of the DRC have now surpassed 104,000. Many of these internally displaced people (IDP) are still hiding in the bush, particularly in areas around the town of Faradje, which was heavily hit during the Christmas period. Out of an estimated 37,000 people who escaped from Faradje, some 16,000 have been registered so far in Tadu and surrounding villages south of Faradje. More than 10,000 of them are children.

In the Dungu area, which was attacked by the LRA last September, the local Red Cross has just completed the registration of displaced in the town and 27 nearby villages. Out of 54,777 IDPs registered, more than 27,000 are women and nearly 15,000 are children under the age of five.

The Congolese, Sudanese and Ugandan armed forces began a joint military operation against the LRA in mid-December.

The latest series of LRA attacks targeted villages and settlements south-west of Faradje. The village of Tomati, 57 kilometres south-west of Faradje, was reduced to ashes on Saturday. LRA attacks Friday and Sunday on Sambia, a mining village some 75 km from Faradje, left at least seven people dead.

"Throughout the region, sightings of LRA rebels are causing panic and new displacement. Our staff in Dungu reported this morning that there are considerable, ongoing population movements in the direction of Faradje and areas south of Dungu. In addition, 2,000 people have reportedly arrived in Ezo in neighbouring South Sudan," the spokesman said.

The UN refugee agency is extremely concerned about civilians who are caught in a conflict zone near the borders of the DRC, the Central African Republic and Sudan. According to local health authorities, the population in the Doruma area is about 56,000 people. In the Faradje district, also the scene of frequent clashes over the past few weeks, there are some 350,000 residents.

The displaced population is in dire need of food, shelter, medicine, clothes and other aid items. The area, which by itself poses immense logistical challenges due to the lack of decent roads, remains highly volatile. Safe humanitarian access remains a key challenge for UNHCR and other agencies as they strive to bring assistance.

By Margarida Fawke
In Dungu, Democratic Republic of the Congo"

Add this to the previous post, and you have some idea how bad things are getting in an already dismal situation.

slow but steady devolution of the region into the same bloody no-man's land that Kony created for 20 years in northern Uganda.

Let's check in on the Lord's Resistance Army on Peter Eichstaedt's blog:

"Kony fires Matsanga, others

In a statement said to be from the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and issued in Paris this weekend, the guerrilla force has apparently fired what's left of its negotiating team, according to the Sudan Tribune, on-line edition.

This is a simpering end to a bizarre and tortured history of negotiations between the LRA and Uganda that has had little or no credibility since they began two-and-a-half years ago in Juba, South Sudan.

The most immediate effect is that it means the end of David Nyekorach-Matsanga's claims that he speaks for the LRA.

As mentioned in an early edition of this blog, Matsanga's credibility was sabotaged in last spring when he announced that he was heading a new team of LRA negotiators

He claimed to be in touch with the LRA's leader, the self-proclaimed prophet and spirit medium Joseph Kony, who had agreed to sign the peace deal with Uganda that had been negotiated by the earlier, and perhaps even less credible team.

Matsanga even convinced the international community to fly him to The Hague, Netherlands, along with a couple of Kampala lawyers, to make an appeal to the International Criminal Court.

The court has indictments against Kony and his remaining two top commanders for war crimes and crimes against humanity pending since 2005.
These Matsanga claimed were why Kony wouldn't sign.

Therefore the court should drop the indictments and let Kony go free, he said. The court didn't, of course, and sent Matsanga packing.

Reality dawned on the international community in late April 2008 when Kony didn't show at a pre-arranged site to sign the peace deal, despite the presence of hundreds of "officials" to witness the event.

When it was revealed that Matsanga had never talked with Kony and had duped the entire assembled cadre of blithering apologists for this, Africa's most vicious and demonic cult, he fled the jungle enclave.

As the Sudan Tribune notes, he was arrested at the Juba airport with a letter from Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and $20,000 in cash. The money was his pay from the international community for his "work" as team leader. The letter showed that Matsanga had been used by Museveni.

But the lunacy didn't stop. Others in the so-called negotiating team said it all had been a misunderstanding and that Kony would sign the deal a month later. Again, Kony's didn't show.

By this time, Kony's marauders had already completed an extended raid across portions of South Sudan and into the Central African Republic, killing, looting and abducting hundreds of people to bolster its force. ( A PLAGUE )

Then Matsanga resurfaced, again claiming he was the spokesman for the LRA and that Kony would sign the deal. Then for the third time last year, people from northern Uganda, the UN, and the international community traipsed to the jungle.

Again, Kony didn't sign, and as mentioned in earlier entries, threatened the ethnic leaders from the north, calling them traitors.

Kony was finally attacked on Dec. 14 in his camps in northern DRC by the Uganda army, which propelled Kony's LRA on the bloodiest rampage in the militia-cult's history.

The apparent official statement, meanwhile, ends all contacts with Matsanga and a couple of women named Miss Abalo and Justine Labeja, both presumable from northern Uganda.

The statement was also reportedly sent to all of the official parties who have been involved in the so-called negotiations, including the United Nations, African Union, non-governmental organisations, UN special envoy to the talks, Joachim Chissano, and presidents of the DRC, Kenya, Southern Sudan, Central African Republic, Uganda, and various international observers.

What this means is unclear, but one can guess. First of all, it means that Kony has finally acknowledged that the peace talks were a farce and nothing more than a ruse for him and his negotiating "team" to collect per diem payment from the international community.

Rumors were that in order to be part of the team, one had to share the cash with Kony. This was in addition to the tons of food that was shipped to the jungle each month for Kony by the Catholic Charity, Caritas, and paid for by the blithering apologists.( UNREAL )

Now that he has been attacked, Kony has realized it's over and the gravy train has stopped rolling his way.

What is next, is anyone's guess. My prediction is that Kony will regroup his beleaguered forces and take them to the CAR. In the meanwhile, he'll be desperately reaching out to anyone willing to provide him arms and cash, as he continues to loot and kill innocents in the region.

What we can expect is a slow but steady devolution of the region into the same bloody no-man's land that Kony created for 20 years in northern Uganda.( UNREAL )

Posted by Peter Eichstaedt at 7:52 AM