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A Letter to the President: 34 central Africa civil society groups write to Obama

January 7, 2011 by admin

 

We received a copy of this letter a few days before Christmas and wanted to share it. The letter was sent to President Obama from 34 civil society, human rights, and religious groups in northern Congo, Central African Republic, and Southern Sudan, calling for urgent implementation of the new strategy released by the US government last month on tackling the problem of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).  The letter is a powerful explanation of the current situation in these countries. I was especially struck by the groups description of how the LRA violence affects their communities:

“Each day that goes by without a solution to the problem of the LRA is another day of terror and pain for those of us living under constant threat of renewed attacks.  Already, the LRA has brutally killed more than 2,300 of our family members and abducted over 3,000 others since they began their latest wave of killings in September 2008. Many of our children are still in the hands of the LRA. We do not know if they are alive or dead. Those who have managed to escape the LRA bear the physical and mental scars of what they have suffered and will never be the same again. We have few means to help them re-adjust and integrate back into our communities, but we are trying to do what we can.

With over 400,000 people displaced from their homes, our lives are not easy. We no longer have access to our fields, our schools are not functioning, and we struggle to fight off diseases and to find enough food to feed our families.”

I was also struck their call for President Obama to take action, writing “Please, do not delay a day longer in implementing this strategy. We implore you to find the financial resources and the political will to turn the goals and objectives of this strategy into reality. For us, this is a matter of life and death.”

While we are thankful there were fewer reports of LRA violence this Christmas season than in 2008 and 2009, there were still reports of killings and abductions by the LRA in northern Congo, South Sudan and eastern CAR. We hope that this letter will encourage President Obama and the other leaders copied to respond to this call for action and work quickly to establish peace.

— Paul

December 21, 2010
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20500

CC:
H.E. Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo
H.E. François Bozize, President of the Central African Republic
H.E. Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan
H.E. Salva Kiir, President of the Government of Southern Sudan

Urgent appeal from central African civil society on ending the menace of the Lord’s Resistance Army

Your Excellency:
As the representatives of 34 civil society, human rights, and religious groups in the LRA-affected areas of northern Congo, Central African Republic, and Southern Sudan, we are writing to ask you to urgently implement the new strategy that the US government released last month on tackling the problem of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Without implementation of the strategy, the words on paper will remain meaningless and many of us, who live with the daily threat of the LRA, will continue to suffer.

Each day that goes by without a solution to the problem of the LRA is another day of terror and pain for those of us living under constant threat of renewed attacks.  Already, the LRA has brutally killed more than 2,300 of our family members and abducted over 3,000 others since they began their latest wave of killings in September 2008. Many of our children are still in the hands of the LRA. We do not know if they are alive or dead. Those who have managed to escape the LRA bear the physical and mental scars of what they have suffered and will never be the same again. We have few means to help them re-adjust and integrate back into our communities, but we are trying to do what we can.

With over 400,000 people displaced from their homes, our lives are not easy. We no longer have access to our fields, our schools are not functioning, and we struggle to fight off diseases and to find enough food to feed our families.

In this month of December, we are particularly afraid of more attacks by the LRA.  We remember the Christmas massacres of 2008, when the LRA killed at least 865 civilians during the Christmas period, and the Makombo massacre of December 2009, when 345 civilians were killed. During these attacks, our family members were killed in unimaginably savage ways: their heads crushed with clubs or machetes; their faces disfigured; and their genitals, mouths, ears, legs and arms cut off, for no reason other than to terrorize. At this time of the year, when we should be celebrating Christmas, we instead mourn our loved ones and we live each day in fear of more LRA attacks.

Your excellency, we fully agree with the strategy’s overall goal for the people of central Africa to be “free from the threat of LRA violence and have the freedom to pursue their livelihoods.” We also welcome the strategy’s four strategic objectives to: a) increase protection of civilians; b) apprehend or remove from the battlefield Joseph Kony and senior commanders; c) promote the defection, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of remaining LRA fighters; and d) increase humanitarian access and provide continued relief to affected communities.

We also appreciate the commitment in the strategy to transitional justice and rebuilding of war-affected communities in Uganda. In northern Uganda, communities are still struggling to overcome the legacy of the war, in which tens of thousands of people were abducted by the LRA and more than 1.6 million displaced during the conflict.

We appreciate your recognition that a combination of both military and non-military components are required and that resolving the LRA problem will require coordination and participation from a wide array of regional, multilateral, and international partners.

Please, do not delay a day longer in implementing this strategy. We implore you to find the financial resources and the political will to turn the goals and objectives of this strategy into reality. For us, this is a matter of life and death.

In particular, we urge you to prioritize the protection of our communities at risk of continued LRA attacks. While the presence of UN peacekeepers has given some help, it has been not nearly enough. For example, in northern Congo’s Haut Uele District, MONUSCO peacekeepers provide some protection in certain communities, but there are currently no peacekeepers in northern Congo’s Bas Uele District (Congo), one of the areas worst affected by LRA attacks. Where peacekeepers are deployed, they rarely leave their bases and have sometimes proven unable – or unwilling – to prevent or respond to LRA attacks less than a kilometer from their bases. This was the case in both Ngilima and Duru, two towns with a MONUSCO presence that have suffered numerous attacks in recent months. The UN missions in CAR (MINURCAT and BINUCA) and Sudan (UNMIS/UNAMID) are also not focused on the LRA problem, and have few or no peacekeepers deployed in LRA-affected areas.

We appreciate your recognition that a lack of communications infrastructure and good roads has made it difficult for us to report on attacks in a timely way or send out calls for help. We are glad that support in this area has been identified as a priority action in your strategy. We hope this will include urgent efforts to expand cell phone coverage in the LRA affected areas, to implement early warning systems through HF radios, and to rehabilitate key roads and airstrips.

We fully agree that the LRA problem in our communities will not be resolved until Joseph Kony and the other senior leaders are captured and brought to justice. As long as the LRA’s top leaders evade capture, we fear they will only continue to abduct our children, who in turn will be trained to replace any lower and mid-level combatants who escape, defect, or are killed.

Efforts to pursue the LRA have relied on our own national armies, but to date this has not attained the expected objectives. The LRA rebels continue to carry out killings and other abuses against civilians and this rebellion has still not been eradicated. The leaders of the LRA are still on the run and have intensified their modus operandi. We invite you to consider other options, such as a significant reinforcement of our respective armies’ operational capacity (logistically) and support by an army from a country with experience of this type of guerrilla warfare, with the principal objective being the capture of Joseph Kony and his remaining henchmen to be brought to international justice. We hope that you will work together to advance this idea.

We also ask that international sanctions be imposed on any government or person identified as supporting the LRA.

We have suffered so much from a war that is not our own and have often felt forgotten and ignored by our own governments and by the international community. This new strategy has given us hope. We implore you to implement it and to begin those efforts today.

Yours sincerely,
Representatives of the following 34 civil society, human rights, and religious groups in the LRA-affected areas of northern Congo, Central African Republic, and Southern

Sudan:
Organizations from northern Congo:
1.      Action pour le développement et le Bien-être social (ADEBES), Faradje
2.      AOG, Niangara
3.      Association ASSAHU, Niangara
4.      Association des Déplacés, Niangara
5.      Association des Pécheurs, Niangara
6.      Association Féminines pour la Promotion de Femmes d’Ango
7.      CDJP, Haut Uélé
8.      Centre d’Accompagnement des Femmes et Enfants Vulnérables (CAFEV), Dungu
9.      COMICO, Niangara
10.     Commission Justice et Paix, Haut Uélé
11.     Conscience, Dungu
12.     Croix Rouge, Niangara
13.     FEC, Niangara
14.     FEPACO, Niangara
15.     L’église Catholique, Niangara
16.     L’église CECA 20, Niangara
17.     L’Église CECA 16, Niangara
18.     L’église Kimbanguiste, Niangara
19.     La Coordination de la Société Civile du Territoire du Dungu
20.     Paix et Droit de l’Homme Aujourd’hui (PDHA), Haut Uélé
21.     REGED, Niangara
22.     Réseau de Défense de Droits Humains à Niangara
23.     Société Civile d’Ango
24.     Société Civile de Niangara
25.     SODENIA, Niangara
26.     Union des Déplaces d’Ango
27.     VTO, Niangara

Organizations from Central African Republic:
1.      La  Coalition Centrafricaine pour la CPI
2.      Le Réseau des ONGs des Droits de l’Homme en Centrafrique
3.      Vitalité Plus

Religious Representatives from Southern Sudan:
1.      Rt. Rev. Peter Munde Yacoub, ECS Bishop of Yambio Diocese
2.      Rt. Rev. Wilson E. Kamani, ECS Bishop of Ibba Diocese
3.      Rt. Rev. Bismark M. Avokaya, ECS Bishop of Mundri Diocese
4.      Rt. Rev. Samuel Enosa Peni, ECS Bishop of Nzara Diocese

Obama’s LRA To-Do List Item Two: Task a Great Lakes Special Envoy with Implementing the Strategy

January 5, 2011 by admin

 

President Obama’s strategy to help stop violence perpetrated by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) provides a broad blueprint for action. For that blueprint to become a legitimate path to peace, the administration must take immediate steps to put it into action. We’re partnering with our friends at the Enough Project to outline six steps the Administration should take to kick-start implementation of the strategy (click here to see our post on step #1). Ultimately, the success of the strategy will be judged by whether it actually keeps people in central Africa safe from LRA attacks, but by taking these six steps President Obama can demonstrate he’s serious about achieving that goal.

Item 2:  Task a Great Lakes special envoy with implementing the strategy

The task of promoting peace within the region affected by LRA violence is complex.  Over the last twenty years the LRA has been active in the remote regions of four different countries – Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan and Uganda. LRA attacks have targeted isolated, marginalized communities that these national governments have shown little interest in protecting. A history of bloody conflict within and between these countries has further diverted attention away from the LRA and impeded regional collaboration to address the crisis.

President Obama needs a team that can navigate complex regional politics and formulate an effective response to a conflict infamous for spilling across borders. However, responsibility for the LRA crisis in currently dispersed in a maze of different offices within the State Department, National Security Staff, Department of Defense, and USAID, not to mention different US embassies in central Africa. As a result, the LRA – and the communities it targets – often get lost in the bureaucratic shuffle.

President Obama must move beyond this status quo if his LRA strategy is to have any success. His first step should be to task a Great Lakes special envoy with coordinating and pushing forward implementation of his LRA strategy. Such a diplomat should have a mandate to address insecurity in the broader Great Lakes region and travel frequently to the region. This envoy should also have several full-time staffers, including some dedicated specifically to the LRA crisis. The work of this diplomat should be strengthened by regular meetings between foreign policy officials across different US government agencies at both the working staff level and the more senior Deputies Committee or Principals Committee level.

We’ve been reading reports that President Obama intends to increase his engagement with Africa this year.  We hope one step in that process includes tasking a Great Lakes special envoy with implementing the administration’s LRA strategy.

An Insider’s View of Joseph Kony featured on New York Times’ Blog

January 4, 2011 by admin

 

Joseph Kony is a notoriously difficult person to understand. Often portrayed simply as a crazy or evil person, few outside the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have had an opportunity to paint a more complex, accurate picture of a man who has led one of Africa’s most violent armed groups for over twenty years. A post this past weekend on the New York Times’ At War blog attempts to chip away Kony’s mysterious aura and examine how he maintains control of the LRA.

The author of the post, C.J. Chivers, wrote about papers he photographed in 2007 when he was in Uganda doing research for a book. 

While he was interviewing some of the children who had been abducted and forced into the LRA before escaping and making their way home, Chivers encountered a man who had been a senior member of the LRA.  This man held “a wad of soiled, crumbled papers. The papers contained a brief but lush insiders’ view of one of the world’s most elusive — and bizarre — wanted men.”

The papers discuss the different spirits that Joseph Kony claims possess him and the ways in which those spirits talk to and through him.  For example, the papers quote members of Kony’s inner circle who claimed Kony:

…started having possession episodes in 1987. In the beginning he was possessed sometimes two or three times a day. Over time frequency of possession declined. Prophesized by Juma Oris in Kony in 1995 that there will come a time that the spirit would no longer visit. Kony would always be alerted by “Who Are You” that a spirit would come at a certain time to speak for a certain time (for example at 1400 hours for three or four minutes). Kony’s secretary (Chief to Lakwena) would make the preparations, and Kony would dress in a white robe. A glass of water, a bible, and a rosary were placed on a table. To start the possession Kony would dip his fingers into a clear glass of water. Multiple spirits would pass through Kony in a single session. On average at least three spirits would talk in a session. Junior spirits always talked first. After the session the LRA Army Commander would address the crowd. No one corrected what the spirits said, nor did people dare question the spirits.

Want to know more?  Examine the photographs of these papers.  Or, read the blog post.

To share your impressions, please leave a comment below.

Around the globe, communities stop and remember…

December 23, 2010 by admin

 

Following the Resolve office’s vigil in front of the White House last week, Resolve has continued to receive emails, photos, videos, and stories from people across the United States — and even internationally — who have stopped to remember and honor the lives lost in the LRA Christmas Massacres and to pray for peace.

From the Invisible Children office in San Diego, CA to Kinshasa, DR Congo, to Brisbane, Australia, hundreds of committed individuals have come together in One Voice: Resolved to Remember, a vigil for the voices silenced by the LRA Christmas Massacres.

Like us, these individuals believe that the inherent dignity and worth of each life lost should be recognized and must be, if we have any chance of rightly addressing the unacceptable injustices that took these lives and that have allowed the violence of the LRA to continue.

We’ve compiled a collection of some of the photos and stories from the vigils all over the world.  And, to see a map of all of the vigils taking place across the globe or for more information on One Voice: Resolve to Remember, visit: www.theresolve.org/join-the-vigil.

— Lisa

Obama’s LRA To-Do List Item One: Make the LRA a Priority at the UN Security Council

December 20, 2010 by admin

 

President Obama’s strategy to help stop violence perpetrated by the LRA provides a broad blueprint for action.  For that blueprint to become a legitimate path to peace, the administration must take immediate steps to put it into action.  Over the next few weeks, we’ll be partnering with our friends at the Enough Project to outline six steps the Administration should take to kick-start implementation of the strategy. Ultimately, the success of the strategy will be judged by whether it actually keeps people in central Africa safe from LRA attacks, but by taking these six steps President Obama can demonstrate he’s serious about achieving that goal.

Item One:  Make the LRA a priority at the UN Security Council

The first arena for President Obama to implement the strategy is the United Nations Security Council. The Council should play a key role in forging an international consensus on how to address LRA violence, but in recent years has neglected the issue. This month, the United States holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, giving US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice the chance to put the LRA on the Council’s agenda.

There are several matters Ambassador Rice should push for this month and into 2011. The first is to ensure that UN peacekeepers in Congo and Sudan dedicate adequate resources and troops to areas under attack by LRA rebels. More peacekeepers are especially needed in Congo, where LRA commanders oversaw brutal massacres in December 2008 and 2009.

One encouraging sign from the Security Council came last week when they released a statement on the Central Africa Republic.  The Council welcomed greater commitments from the governments in the region and called for “the countries of the region and the relevant United Nations missions to continue to enhance coordination and information-sharing regarding the threat posed by the LRA.”

This is a welcome start, but there is much more work to do at the Council during the coming year. The Council should examine ways the international community can effectively protect civilians and apprehend LRA commanders in Central African Republic.  There are no peacekeepers in LRA-affected areas of CAR, and recent reports indicate that the Ugandan army is slowly withdrawing troops deployed there.  These troops provided at least some protection to civilians. The Security Council should also initiate additional investigations about links between the LRA and the Sudanese government, and request the UN Secretary-General write a report about the influence of LRA violence in the region.

The US presidency of the Security Council is a perfectly timed opportunity for President Obama and Ambassador Rice to demonstrate it is serious in seeking to implement President Obama’s LRA strategy. Let’s hope they don’t miss this chance.

We can help them realize we are paying attention during this opportune moment.  Our friends at Oxfam have designed a campaign to remind the UN Security Council of the Northern Congolese’ fear that the massacres of the past two Christmas seasons will be repeated.  You are invited to join their campaign.

We were encouraged that Ambassador Rice invited people 21 and younger to submit questions for the UNSC.  More than 900 youth from 90 countries – including some Resolve supporters – submitted questions.  We just learned that a video submitted by Gloria Ramazani of DRC will be webcast from 10-12pm EST during the December 21st meeting.

Weekly Roundup December 11-17: African leaders and international diplomats call for LRA leaders’ arrest

December 17, 2010 by admin

 

Earlier this week, my colleagues and I gathered with a group of advocates in front of the White House in a vigil to honor the victims of the LRA’s December massacres of 2008 and 2009. Over the course of the next few weeks, people are coming together at more than 50 vigils around the world, from Oklahoma City to San Diego to DR Congo, with the aim of honoring the lives of those lost to LRA violence and renewing our resolve for peace. As the year draws to a close, we look back at the enormous strides we have made in making this crisis more of a priority for our leaders, as well as looking ahead to the work we need to do in the coming year to see concrete improvements in the lives of people directly affected by the conflict. We at Resolve wish you a happy and peaceful holiday season, and look forward to working with you in the new year.

The Good: A group of leaders from the Great Lakes region, as well as a group of eminent former international diplomats, called this week for the arrest of LRA leaders.

The Bad: The LRA is now the most deadly militia in DR Congo, says a new report. The rebel group has killed almost 2,000 people there in the last two years alone.

The Ugly: UN peacekeepers in Congo warned this week that the LRA may try to repeat the 2008 and 2009 December massacres this year.

Regional Security

• A recently leaked cable from the US embassy in Kampala in 2007 indicated that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni believed support from the government of Sudan was the reason the LRA had persisted for so long. “[Museveni] said that even if the Khartoum Government could not supply the LRA at previous levels, he believed it was in constant touch with the LRA and smuggling supplies,” said the cable.

• “The international community must renew its attention to this forgotten crisis here in Central Africa in the northeast of Congo. And the regional governments in Sudan, in Uganda, in Central African Republic and here in the DRC… must get together to combine their forces and find a solution for this horrendous problem of the LRA,” said Oxfam’s DR Congo director upon the release of a new report on addressing LRA violence signed by 19 NGOs, including Resolve.

• There was an LRA attack near the DR Congo town of Niangara on Friday, in which the rebels looted food.

• Local leaders and people in the region fear that the LRA might be used by the Sudanese government to sabotage the referendum on southern independence, just three weeks away, says a new report by the Small Arms Survey.

Northern Uganda and the 2011 Ugandan National Elections

• Several people have been arrested in Uganda for defacing or tearing down posters of current President Yoweri Museveni, who is campaigning for re-election. Similar offenses against opposition parties’ media, however, have yet to result in arrest, and are in many cases even perpetrated by the army or other armed security personnel.

• Ugandan political opposition candidate Kizza Besigye warned of the possibility that the ruling NRM (National Resistance Movement) party would use vote rigging, bribery, or intimidation in February’s presidential elections.

International Community

• A statement released this week by a group of former high-ranking diplomats and UN officials—including Roméo Dallaire, former commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda, and Jan Egeland, former top UN humanitarian official—called on the international community to urgently act to improve regional information-sharing on the LRA, protect civilians from further violence, promote defections from the rebel group, and apprehend senior LRA commanders.

• In a statement this week, the UN Security Council condemned LRA attacks in the Central African Republic and called for countries in the region and relevant UN missions to enhance coordination and information-sharing on the LRA. They also expressed support for the agreements for greater regional cooperation on the LRA made at the African Union conference earlier this year.

• Senator Sam Brownback (R-KA) and Representative Donald Payne (D-NJ) this week urged the US government to exercise caution in dealing with the Sudanese government as the referendum approaches, and in particular not to remove Sudan from the State Sponsor of Terror List until they’d demonstrated substantial progress in distancing themselves from the LRA.

— Paul

Video Highlights from Resolve’s DC Vigil

by admin

 

The Resolve team gathered with a handful of local activists in front of the White House on Tuesday to usher in the One Voice:  Resolved to Remember campaign.  We were humbled by the people who came to join us – in the freezing cold – for our vigil to remember the lives lost in the LRA Christmas massacres.  It was a powerful time of honoring those who lost their lives and the memories of all who have been affected by LRA violence.

Each of us picked the name of one person from a list of those killed or abducted.  For many of us, the process of connecting with one name and the life it represented was a sobering reminder of the reality people in these communities continue to face.

Several of us shared our personal stories of why we were there.  We will be posting some of these thoughts in the days ahead.  In the meantime, this video gives a sense of our experience on Tuesday.

And, if you’d like to see photos from other vigils across the world, please visit our Facebook wall.

We invite you to join us in remembering by having your own vigil – individually or in a group.  Find out more.

— Lisa

Weekly Roundup December 4-10: Remembering those who have lost their lives in the Christmas massacres

December 10, 2010 by admin

 

Tuesday, December 14th, will mark the anniversary of the beginning of the 2009 Makombo massacres, in which LRA rebels under the command of Dominic Ongwen killed more than 320 people in remote villages in northeast Congo. It will also mark the launch of Operation Lightning Thunder, the failed 2008 offensive against LRA bases in DR Congo that sparked a massive reprisal by LRA rebels against civilians that Christmas. In remembrance of these tragic events, Resolve is uniting with supporters across the country beginning Tuesday in One Voice: Resolved to Remember, a nationwide vigil to commemorate those who lost their lives in these massacres. Wherever you are, we hope you have a chance to join us in the hope that this history is not forgotten and is never repeated.

The Good: UN peacekeepers in DR Congo launched an operation to increase their presence in sensitive areas of northern Congo in an attempt to prevent a potential repeat of the LRA’s December massacres in 2008 and 2009.

The Bad: LRA attacks in eastern Central African Republic (CAR) have spread since last summer, and the threat of future violence has kept many from tending their fields, says a recent UN report.

The Ugly: The LRA reportedly launched an attack in Dungu territory on Sunday, abducting a 10-year-old student from school, looting food, and causing panic among the local and displaced populations.

Regional Security

• The total number of people internally displaced due to LRA attacks in the Haut-Mbomou and Mbomou regions of CAR has risen to 26,000. There are also 6,000 refugees from DR Congo in these regions, straining the limited resources of local populations.
• “The LRA is a time bomb for the referendum,” warned Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussula of South Sudan, amid rising concerns about the LRA’s connections to the north Sudanese government as the referendum approaches. The security situation in South Sudan remains precarious, and many villages rely on poorly-equipped self-defense militias to stave off LRA attacks.

Northern Uganda and the 2011 Ugandan National Elections

• A Ugandan opposition group, the Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) coalition, says that the government is assisting the ruling NRM (National Resistance Movement) in recruiting and training a militia in advance of next year’s national elections.
• The International Rescue Committee reports that 98% of northern Ugandans displaced by the war with the LRA have returned home, and fewer than 6,000 northern Ugandans still live in displacement camps.
• Uganda’s Electoral Commission announced that they will not be issuing voter cards to newly-registered voters, despite the protests of opposition parties, who fear this could facilitate vote rigging in February’s presidential elections.
• At a campaign rally this week, Uganda’s current President Yoweri Museveni promised to reward self-defense militias and other veterans of the war with the LRA in northern Uganda.

International Community

• A cable from the US Ambassador to Uganda, Jerry Lanier, to the top US Africa official, Johnnie Carson, expressed grave concerns about Uganda’s lack of democratic governance, political repression, corruption, and human rights abuses, saying “Holding a credible and peaceful presidential election in February 2011 could restore Uganda’s image, while failing in that task could lead to domestic political violence and regional instability.”
• Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN7) made a statement expressing her commitment to the LRA issue and promising to read and respond to Obama’s newly-released LRA strategy.
• This month the US holds the rotating presidency for the UN Security Council, presenting the perfect opportunity for the US to follow-up on Obama’s recently-released strategy by taking leadership on the LRA issue. If you are 21 or younger, tell US ambassador the UN Susan Rice why you think ending LRA violence deserves more attention from world leaders.

We pause. We remember. We pray for peace.

December 8, 2010 by admin

 



This is an invitation to stop.

2010 is coming to a close, and in the midst of final exams and holiday shopping and office parties, we’re inviting you to stop. And to remember.

On December 14th, Resolve will unite with supporters across the country in One Voice: Resolved to Remember, a nationwide vigil to commemorate those who lost their lives in the LRA’s Christmas Massacres.

Together, we’ve accomplished a lot in 2010 and there is certainly reason to celebrate. But the promises of our leaders have not yet translated into real peace for families in central Africa, a reality that is particularly apparent during the Christmas season.

On December 24th, 2008 and December 14, 2009, the LRA launched two of the most brutal massacres in its history, targeting remote Congolese communities left vulnerable as they celebrated Christmas. Joseph Kony and his top LRA commanders ordered their soldiers to seek out churches conducting Christmas services and burn them down, trapping worshipers inside. They killed and abducted hundreds, including many children.

For the families and communities targeted in these attacks, the Christmas season brings a reminder of the unspeakable violence in years past. And it arrives with the fear that similar violence may take loved ones again.

To honor and uphold the memories of each life lost in these massacres is a simple act of resistance against our world’s tendency to forget. And as we look ahead to 2011 and the challenge of implementing President Obama’s strategy, we invite you to join us in One Voice: Resolved to Remember, a vigil to commemorate these massacres, affirm the value of each life lost, and renew our shared commitment to preventing them from happening again this year or in the future.

On December 14, you can join us across from the White House in Washington, D.C., or hold your own vigil — from right where you are — at any point between December 14 and 24. Whether in DC or around your family’s kitchen table, we hope you’ll accept our invitation to stop and remember.

One Voice: Resolved to Remember.
- Lisa

Weekly Roundup November 20-December 3: Obama releases plan to address LRA violence

December 3, 2010 by admin

 

It’s here! The moment we’ve all been waiting for: the release of the President’s strategy to help stop LRA violence and rebuild affected communities! Last week, Obama became the first US President in this war’s 24-year history to develop a comprehensive plan to address the violence. We’re thrilled that the US has demonstrated this leadership, saying to the world that this matters, and making a strong commitment to peace in the region.

We celebrate this historic accomplishment, which would never have been possible without the hard work of committed activists like you. At the same time, there’s still much work to be done. We need to make sure our government follows through and provides the necessary investments of financial resources and political will to implement the strategy effectively. Stay tuned on how you can help make this happen. And thank you for all you’ve done to get us this far.
 
The Good: Last week, President Obama issued a comprehensive strategy to address the LRA’s reign of terror across central Africa.

The Bad: We’re concerned about the strategy’s reliance on the Ugandan military, whose competing international priorities and spotty human rights record could hamper its effectiveness.

The Ugly: The UN Security Council reported that the LRA is in south Darfur and has made contact with the Sudanese national army. They also said the LRA was responsible for an attack on the Darfuri rebel group the LJM (Liberation and Justice Movement) earlier this year.

Regional Security

• The north Sudanese army “accidentally” bombed an area in South Sudan near their shared border, and then launched an aerial attack on a nearby southern army base. Thousands of civilians are reportedly fleeing the area, fearing further attacks, as tensions rise in advance of the referendum on southern independence next month.

• Read our Q&A about the strategy, where I discuss the strengths, weaknesses, and implications of Obama’s recently-released strategy on the LRA, and talk about our next steps.

• In our latest update from the ground, Sister Giovanna, a nun working with displaced populations in Nzara, South Sudan, she shares the stories of two people she’s met who’ve been affected by the violence.

Northern Uganda and the 2011 Ugandan National Elections

• A prominent Kenyan human rights activist is set to be tried for last summer’s terrorist bombings in Kampala, which “raises serious concerns that this prosecution is really an effort to muzzle a well-known critic of government abuses in the fight against terrorism in East Africa,” according to Human Rights Watch.

• The Ugandan government must put special attention and resources towards the needs of northern Uganda bridging the development gap between the north and the south and supporting recovery and rehabilitation efforts, writes the advocacy director of the Justice and Reconciliation Project, a northern Ugandan NGO.

• A Ugandan opposition political party released a statement sharply criticizing the government’s record on postconflict recovery and development in the north, and called for an independent commission to handle postconflict recovery, as well as truth and reconciliation programs.

International Community

• Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Scott Garret (R-NJ5) all issued statements in response to the President’s LRA plan. “I urge the White House to move swiftly from the planning stage to the implementation stage… I’ll be closely monitoring the administration’s progress to ensure it makes good on the promises it outlined in its strategic plan,” said Garret.

• This week at a House Armed Services hearing on terrorism and violence in DR Congo, witnesses called for a robust implementation of the LRA strategy, backed by adequate resources and political will, as a critical step in ensuring the protection of Congolese civilians and regional stability.

• The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, has invited young people to share with her their opinions on what issues related to peace and security need to be on the UN Security Council’s agenda when the US presides over its meeting on December 21. Send her your responses and help bump ending the LRA crisis up on the priority list for world leaders.

Representative Garrett Responds to Obama Administration’s Strategic Plan to Disarm the LRA in Central Africa

by admin

 

We were thankful for the all the Members of Congress who pledged to read President Obama’s strategy to help stop LRA violence.  We were encouraged by statements from several of them.

Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ) read the strategy and released a statement to the press urging President Obama to move forward in swiftly implementing the strategy.  Check out his statement:

WASHINGTON, DC – In compliance with section 4 of H.R. 2478, the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, the Obama administration last week released its strategic plan to guide future U.S. support in central Africa to mitigate and eliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).  Entitled, “Strategy to Support the Disarmament of the Lord’s Resistance Army,” the Obama administration’s strategy outlines four objectives to support regional and multilateral efforts: 1.) Stopping LRA leaders, 2.) Protecting civilians from LRA attacks, 3.) Encouraging escape and defection from the LRA, 4.) Providing humanitarian assistance to affected communities.

Having reviewed the Obama administration’s strategic plan, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) today issued the following statement:

“Now that the Obama administration has taken the time to formulate a plan of action to address the ongoing atrocities in central Africa, I urge the White House to move swiftly from the planning stage to the implementation stage.  Over the course of the next few months, the Obama administration will need to meet a series of key benchmarks to demonstrate to Congress and the world that it is serious about its strategy to dismantle the LRA.  I’ll be closely monitoring the administration’s progress to ensure it makes good on the promises it outlined in its strategic plan.”

Garrett was an original cosponsor of, H.R. 2478, the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, which was the most widely supported Africa-specific legislation in recent U.S. history.

Thanks again, Representative Garrett.

A Chance to Tell Ambassador Rice to raise the LRA at the UN Security Council

December 2, 2010 by admin

 

Are you 21 or younger? Ambassador Susan Rice and the United Nations Security Council wants to hear from you.

Starting today and continuing through December 14, Ambassador Susan Rice, President Obama’s representative to the United Nations, invites people 21 years and younger to share their opinions about what issues related to peace and security need to be on the UN Security Council’s December 21 meeting agenda. 



This is great timing. President Obama’s strategy to stop LRA atrocities was released on November 24 and includes a promise to work more with regional and international leaders to end this conflict. The UN Security Council, where world leaders gather to discuss urgent conflicts and crises, provides Ambassador Rice with a great chance to talk about the LRA. Even better, the United States is presiding over the UN Security Council this month, so Ambassador Rice gets to set the agenda. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the need to stop LRA violence appeared on the agenda?

If you are 21 or younger you can help make that happen. Just post your video or written entry about why Ambassador Rice should discuss the LRA in response to the question:

“What is the most vital challenge to international peace and security facing your generation? Tell the UN Security Council what issue you believe deserves more attention, and explain why it is important.”

Your written response can’t exceed 250 words and videos must be less than one minute long.

You can submit your entry via an email to youth@state.gov, or by posting it on Ambassador Susan Rice’s Facebook wall, or by snail mailing it to

ATTN: Voices of a New Generation
U.S. Mission to the UN, PPD
799 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017

Learn more about the event here.

And, if you participate in the event and mention the LRA in your entry, please PLEASE share your entry with us.

— Amber