On Sunday, news spread that Caesar Achellam, one of Joseph Kony’s top commanders in the LRA, was captured by or defected to Ugandan forces in southeast Central African Republic. Achellam is the first high-level commander to be captured or killed in over two years and his removal provides a major boost of confidence in the ongoing Ugandan-led efforts to end LRA violence in the region. But whether Achellam’s exit is the “beginning of the end” — as some news agencies have reported — or just a blip on the radar is yet to be seen. The coming weeks will be crucial to watch.

Who is Achellam?

Caesar Achellam was one of the oldest and most respected commanders within the LRA. He was one of the few left in the LRA who joined the group voluntarily after fighting for the Uganda People’s Democratic Army (UPDA), a rebellion that also formed in northern Uganda but preceded the LRA. Before joining the UPDA, Achellam was reportedly part of Uganda’s national army, but was forced out when Uganda’s current President Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986.

After joining the LRA in the late 1980′s, Achellam played a key role within the group as a military strategist, and was responsible for overseeing military training for LRA abductees. He was an important liaison between Kony and the Sudanese army, and even reportedly speaks fluent Arabic (in addition to Acholi and English). Recent LRA defectors have reported that in 2009 Achellam led a delegation of LRA fighters that met with Sudanese army officials in South Darfur – where Kony has reportedly sought refuge in recent months.

Achellam was long thought to be interested in defecting from the LRA. Nonetheless, his removal is a huge blow to the group, particularly to the morale of mid-level commanders and fighters who greatly respected him. If he is willing to share information with the Ugandan government – which he may be doing in a bid to avoid prosecution for war crimes – he could provide regional governments with an up-to-date analysis of where specific LRA groups and commanders are now located, what their future plans and strategies are, and exactly how the LRA command structure has evolved in the past year.

So what next?

Whether or not the information that Achellam shares leads to further success in dismantling the LRA’s command structure over the coming weeks will be an important test for ongoing efforts to decisively defeat the LRA. And whether Achellam was captured or whether he defected at the last minute, it’s clear that persistent military pressure by Ugandan forces played a key role in his exit from the LRA. Achellam’s removal demonstrates that targeted military operations against the LRA that focus on apprehending senior LRA commanders can have an impact.

These operations have been boosted in recent months with the deployment of US military advisers and political authorization from the African Union. However, as we have said before, they also suffer from a sharp decrease in the number of Ugandan forces deployed, inadequate helicopter capacity, political squabbles amongst regional governments, and inadequate measures to protect civilians from LRA reprisal attacks.

Achellam’s exit also highlights the need for renewed efforts to encourage other senior LRA commanders and rank-and-file fighters to defect. In accordance with Ugandan law, and because he is not one of the three LRA commanders wanted by the International Criminal Court, Achellam is eligible for amnesty should he apply for it. If he is granted amnesty, this would greatly incentivize the defection of LRA fighters who remain in the bush, thus weakening the group’s capacity to commit further atrocities. Some have called for Achellam to instead be brought to trial for crimes committed in the LRA, but doing so would deter other LRA fighters from leaving the bush.

Ugandan forces and US military advisers deployed in the region should move quickly to get the message to remaining LRA commanders and fighters that Achellam is safe and is being treated well in Ugandan custody. Achellam was reportedly traveling north from Democratic Republic of Congo into Central African Republic with a group of 65 LRA combatants. If US advisers assist the Ugandan military in conducting aerial leaflet drops in the areas where that group remains there is a strong chance that more fighters, abductees, and associated women and children can be convinced to come out peacefully.

- Michael

Photo credit: James Akena/Reuters

“Letters and emails have poured into Washington from students from around the country, each bearing the same message our own children delivered to us: Kony and the LRA must be stopped and brought to justice…. Our challenge as Senators is now the same as our challenge as parents — sustaining this newfound level of engagement and interest.”

The message couldn’t be clearer: when young people act, Senators listen. And Senators Landrieu and Coons recognize the power and importance of this:

“There are moments in history, rare as they are, when millions of Americans galvanize around a crisis far from home and try to find a way to act. This can be one of those once-in-a-generation moments.”

As far as action goes, these two are leading the way. Senator Coons joined with Senator Inhofe (R-OK) to introduce the KONY 2012 Congressional resolution, and spearheaded the creation of a video where he joins seven other Senators in discussing why this issue matters to him.

Senator Landrieu is leading efforts to increase funding for programs in central Africa that help rescue and rehabilitate LRA abductees. She also introduced a Senate resolution supporting leadership from the African Union to help governments in the region protect their people from LRA attacks.

Now we need even more Senators to follow their lead. And to make sure that happens, we need only heed these Senator’s advice: when young people act, Senators listen.

So take a moment right now to act and make sure your representatives join Senator Landrieu and Senator Coons. Take action here.

It’s true. I sit in a Washington D.C. office each day where my sole job is to call and email constituents all over the country, encouraging them to participate in lobby meetings with their members of Congress. I have details of legislation memorized, a clock for every US time zone on the wall above my desk, and dozens of Congresspeople’s districts, states, and past action neatly organized in my head – and on GoogleSpreadsheets. So I’ll gladly accept that “nerd” label, because it means I get to work with some truly inspiring activists from coast to coast and beyond (I see you, Hawaii).

My colleagues Eugene and Travis and I have helped to schedule 108 lobby meetings all over the country, and the list keeps growing. We have a stack of letters waiting to be hand-delivered and we’d love for you to add to the pile! We hear about activists who call and email their representatives every day, asking them to cosponsor the bipartisan KONY 2012 resolutions.

And because of those meetings, emails, letters, and calls, 115 members of Congress have already cosponsored the resolutions supporting U.S. efforts to capture LRA commanders and support affected communities.

But beyond seeing these concrete successes, my favorite part of the job is watching lobby meetings take place like a proud parent, collecting stories to hang on my “fridge” (read: wall) and share with friends and family (aka coworkers).

Take for instance Matt Abajian, a high school teacher from Fresno, CA:

“…I felt compelled to do more then just hang a few posters around town. With the public talking about [KONY 2012], it was a desire of mine to rely on the political process to see the talk turn into action. I was nervous signing up to lead two lobby meetings within my area [But] I cannot tell you enough what an amazing experience it was to sit in two representative meetings, being able to share my heart about the issues in central Africa as well as bring others, especially my students, along for the journey.”

Sometimes it’s the staffers who provide the inspiration. That was the case for Lindsey Williams in Denver, CO:

“One really cool moment for me was sitting in the meeting, video conferencing with two staffers from Senator Mark Udall’s Washington DC office, one of whom is from South Sudan and knows intimately about the LRA and their atrocities. He shared some of his story with us, and for me, that served as a reminder that the people I am advocating for DO have a voice and they ARE talking, we just haven’t been too great at listening. I am here to amplify their voices and make them louder so people will start listening, because when we amplify their voices, that elevates them to equals and active participants in solving issues, not just silent recipients of our good will and aid.”

Still a bit nervous about getting involved? First-time lobbyist Danny Porter from Albuquerque, NM has some words of advice after leading two lobby meetings:

“I was stressing myself out more than I should have in the moments before the meeting started, only to find myself incredibly calm once it began. Remember, the Congressmen (and their staffers) are representatives of YOU. They work for the people. So just take a deep breath, shake it off and go in there with confidence, knowing that you’re not alone in this fight and that you’re taking a stand against injustice.”

We’re in this together, and there are still ways you can get involved no matter what your schedule looks like. And hey, it’s my job to answer your questions.

So get in touch. Clearly I love it!

- Becky Dale

Ugandan officials have recently claimed that the Sudanese government has resumed support for the LRA.  Military officials say that recently-captured LRA had new uniforms provided by the Sudanese military.  Uganda’s foreign affairs minister claims that Khartoum is providing the LRA with guns, medicine, and uniforms, though military officials say they currently do not have concrete evidence of weapons provision.

From 1994-2005, the Sudanese government supported the LRA as a proxy force, providing them with arms, supplies, and safe haven. At the same time, the US and Ugandan governments gave support to the South Sudanese SPLA rebel forces, who are now the national military for the newly-independent South Sudan.  Sudan’s president, Omar Al-Bashir, who joined Kony on the International Criminal Court’s list of indictees for crimes against humanity in Sudan’s president, Omar Al-Bashir, who joined Kony on the International Criminal Court’s list of indictees for crimes against humanity in 2009, allowed the LRA to maintain their primary bases in the south of the country, from which they committed attacks on northern Uganda.  This Sudanese support allegedly dried up in the mid-2000′s, though since then there have been periodic allegations of resumed support.

LRA leaders reportedly met with the Sudanese military in South Darfur in 2009 soliciting supplies, and Kony was reported to be in Darfur in October 2010. The most recent reports became public last month, including in a press release by Human Rights Watch.  Last week Ugandan military officials told reporters that Kony is currently believed to be moving between southeast Central African Republic and Sudan’s Darfur region.

–Kaitlyn

There has been a sharp increase in LRA attacks in the Central African Republic (CAR) since the beginning of the year, says Human Rights Watch in a recent press release, reflecting a significant increase over the statistics for 2011. “The increase in LRA attacks shows that the rebel group is not a spent force and remains a serious threat to civilians,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The attacks have newly displaced some 2,000 civilians in 2012, bringing the total number of people displaced in the tri-border region due to LRA violence to over 400,000. As people flee their homes and move to the marginal safety of larger towns, they leave behind their fields, and fear to return to cultivate them because of the threat of LRA attacks. This has led to a growing problem of food insecurity for the civilian populations. A large fraction of recent LRA attacks include looting food supplies and abducting civilians to transport the stolen goods.

A lack of communications infrastructure, such as phone and high-frequency radio networks, makes it difficult for civilians to report LRA attacks. The poor roads and transport capacity of security forces prevents them from responding quickly even once an attack is reported. Just over 100 Central African military forces are spread across the vast forested stretches of southeast CAR, often with only 2-4 soldiers per village. Ugandan military forces, working with US military advisers, have put pressure on LRA groups operating in the vast forests east of the town of Djemah. However, the Ugandan do not have enough troops deployed to protect more than a handful of towns, leaving civililians even more vulnerable to attack.

“The African Union, United Nations, and governments in the region should take urgent steps to implement comprehensive civilian protection measures and put real muscle into making them work,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Find the full press release here.

- Kaitlyn

Last Friday, April 20th, a coalition of civil society leaders representing communities from across LRA-affected parts of central Africa released a call for action from around the world to help end the violence. They wrote,

“We… call on African governments, the African Union, the United Nations, human rights defenders, and other people of good will – from near and far – to demonstrate their solidarity with the populations of central Africa affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). We are decimated; join with us.”

The leaders — who represented sixteen faith-based, human rights, and humanitarian organizations from Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic — first called out political leaders in their own countries, many of whom have sought to downplay the impact LRA violence is having on local populations. “Despite the efforts undertaken by our governments, we deplore the fact that some governments currently minimize the LRA problem, while others are indifferent to it, and still others even refuse to cooperate to put an end to the LRA phenomenon and movement,” the leaders stated.

They also called on the United States and other world leaders to act urgently, echoing the KONY 2012 policy agenda.

“We call on all capable countries and bodies to help improve our regional forces and support them in their mission to put an end to the devastation caused by the LRA… Help ensure that soldiers receive their pay, adequate food, usable and durable equipment, transport, and means of communication, so that their priority remains tracking the LRA, and not assuring their own survival.”

Local activists requested increased international investment in roads and communications infrastructure, as well as programs to support the rehabilitation of former abductees.

The same day as the letter was published, tens of thousands of people around the world gathered to participate in Cover the Night, calling on world leaders to acknowledge the violence being perpetrated by Joseph Kony and the LRA and to act to see its end.

Guess who is reporting on the LRA today? Just about every major paper and news outlet.

The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, Newsweek, and CNN, among others, all have stories about the efforts of U.S. military advisers to find and capture LRA commanders, including Joseph Kony. The surge in attention on this issue sparked by the Kony 2012 campaign has sent traditional media outlets scrambling to get information about a story that often gets ignored.

You can read a round-up of the coverage here. And check out the individual articles too:
Washington Post
New York Times
Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Associated Press
Newsweek
CNN

The common theme in these articles, not surprisingly, is the difficulty of the mission. With the LRA operating in a densely forested region the size of California, regional militaries and the American advisors don’t have an easy job in finding and tracking the LRA. But despite the challenges, the mission remains a cornerstone of President Obama’s comprehensive strategy to respond to the LRA conflict. Stopping LRA violence is a key first step in allowing displaced families to return to their land and helping communities targeted by the LRA to heal.

Theses articles also mention that Kony and some LRA fighters are believed to be moving between Central African Republic, where the Ugandan military and US advisers can operate, and Sudan’s Darfur region, where they don’t have access. Kony’s possible presence in Darfur highlights the need for US officials to also step up their game on non-military responses to the conflict. Particularly important in the coming months is diplomatic engagement with the Sudanese government in Khartoum to ensure Kony is not given safe haven to rebuild the LRA’s fighting capacity.

- Reid

* Photo credit: Washington Post

In a major speech yesterday launching a new initiative to prevent mass violence around the world, President Obama announced that he was extending the deployment of U.S. military advisers in central Africa who are working to help capture Joseph Kony and protect civilians from LRA attacks. Here are his words (minute 24:30 in the above video):

When the LRA — led by Joseph Kony — continued its atrocities in central Africa, I ordered a small number of American advisers help Uganda and its neighbors pursue the LRA. When I made that announcement, I directed my National Security Council to review our progress after 150 days. We have done so, and today I can announce that our advisers will continue their efforts to bring this madman to justice and save lives. It is part of our regional strategy to end the scourge that is the LRA and realize a future where no African child is stolen from their family, no girl is raped, and no boy is turned into a child soldier.

The U.S. military advisers were deployed to parts of Uganda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic last October, and ensuring they are able to continue pursuing Kony and helping protect civilians was the first goal of the KONY 2012 campaign. In other words: our lobbying has been heard.

In his speech, President Obama also shared moving reflections on the Holocaust and other situations of mass violence:

Remembrance without resolve is a hollow gesture.  Awareness without action changes nothing.  In this sense, “never again” is a challenge to us all — to pause and to look within.

For the Holocaust may have reached its barbaric climax at Treblinka and Auschwitz and Belzec, but it started in the hearts of ordinary men and women.  And we have seen it again — madness that can sweep through peoples, sweep through nations, embed itself.  The killings in Cambodia, the killings in Rwanda, the killings in Bosnia, the killings in Darfur — they shock our conscience, but they are the awful extreme of a spectrum of ignorance and intolerance that we see every day; the bigotry that says another person is less than my equal, less than human.  These are the seeds of hate that we cannot let take root in our heart.

“Never again” is a challenge to societies.  We’re joined today by communities who’ve made it your mission to prevent mass atrocities in our time.  This museum’s Committee of Conscience, NGOs, faith groups, college students, you’ve harnessed the tools of the digital age — online maps and satellites and a video and social media campaign seen by millions. You understand that change comes from the bottom up, from the grassroots.

Our team had the privilege of attending the speech, as well as discussions with senior Obama Administration officials that took place afterward. Those discussions are now posted online. Highlights include this video with discussion of the U.S. strategy to stop LRA violence from some of the President’s top Africa advisers, this one with the Deputy National Security Adviser relating how President Obama learned about KONY 2012 (hint: it wasn’t the newspaper), and this one with comments from Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey on the impact of the KONY 2012 campaign so far.

- Michael

Yesterday, we told you about many of the actions Congress has taken to respond to the Kony 2012 campaign. This week, among the LRA-focused activity on Capitol Hill was an official hearing on Joseph Kony and the LRA before the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, chaired by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) who has been major champion on this issue.

Administration officials from the State Department, USAID, and the Department of Defense briefed Senators on the progress of US efforts to help stop LRA violence, bring top LRA commanders to justice, and support the recovery of affected communities. In addition, Invisible Children’s Regional Ambassador, Jolly Okot, and former LRA-abductee — and Kony 2012 film star — Jacob Acaye bravely shared, in detail, about how LRA violence has affected them personally and why they are committed to advocate for those in DR Congo, South Sudan, and Central African Republic who are currently suffering from LRA violence. You can watch the entire hearing, including Jolly and Jacob’s powerful testimonies, here.

In the mean time, we also want you to know about a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the LRA and other sources of instability in Africa that will be occurring tomorrow, Wednesday, at 10am. What makes this hearing extra special is that you get to participate, right from your own home.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee allows regular folks like you and me to post questions online that we would like to see asked — and answered — at the hearing.  The committee will read through all of the questions and seek answers to as many as possible from the testifying witnesses.

Do you have any LRA-related questions for the Obama Administration? Submit them here.

The witnesses testifying at the hearing tomorrow will include:

Donald Y. Yamamoto, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African Affairs;

Daniel Benjamin, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the U.S. Department of State;  and

Amanda J. Dory, Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense.

Tomorrow’s hearing is a great opportunity to have your questions answered by some of President Obama’s top aides working on the LRA issue — and it’s a chance to show Congress and the Obama Administration that activists like you are serious about this issue and you are paying attention to what our leaders are doing about it.

Here are some questions you might consider asking:

1. What is the Obama Administration doing to help make sure that the regional governments in LRA-affected areas are working together to help apprehend Joseph Kony and stop LRA violence?

2. What is the U.S. government doing to help support the protection of civilians in LRA-affected areas at the same time that it is helping to apprehend top LRA commanders?

3. What is the U.S. doing to help ensure that Joseph Kony is not able to find a safe haven in areas like Darfur?

Those are just some example questions for you, but you may have a few of your own. Take a moment today to submit your questions here and make sure check in with us later this week for an update on how the hearing went — and if your questions got answered.

There was a flurry of activity in Washington D.C. last week as Congressional leaders continued to respond to the Kony 2012 campaign.

- Six senators, led by champion Senator Coons, released an online video highlighting Congressional efforts to address the LRA.

- The Senate and the House held briefings last Thursday with civil society leaders from northern Uganda.

- Both the Senate and House Foreign Affairs Committees scheduled official hearings on the LRA for this week.

- Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, went on record with the Huffington Post in support of the campaign.

- And the Senate introduced its own version of the Rewards for Justice program, a bill that would allow the U.S. to offer a reward for information leading to Kony’s arrest.

All of this comes on top of Resolutions in both the House and Senate, introduced a few weeks ago, that call for renewed U.S. efforts to address this issue. Those resolutions already have 108 co-sponsors, and the list of new co-sponsors keeps growing.

Take a deep breath to process this strong response from Congress. Then take a moment to watch the video released by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

With all of this attention, there can be little doubt that the Kony 2012 campaign has succeeded in grabbing the attention of U.S. policy makers. Congress acts when the American public demands it. And the flurry of activity over the past few weeks proves it. Stay tuned for how we turn that attention into real successes for LRA affected communities.

- Reid

Newsweek has a unique look at the efforts to find and capture senior LRA commanders, offering a rare glimpse into the challenges faced by Ugandan troops and the U.S. military advisers that are helping them. Read the full article here.

The story includes some concrete stories about the vital assistance the U.S. is providing.

When Ugandan soldiers recently crossed a river, a massive crocodile attacked one of them, nearly severing his left calf. It was the Americans who helped evacuate the soldier and treated him. “He could have died,” said Balikuddembe. Similarly, when a Ugandan was wounded by the LRA earlier this year, Americans treated him after Kidega carried him out of the jungle. “In the past we didn’t have helicopters,” says Kidega, “but now when something happens, we know there will be a rescue. We know we have friends.”

The Americans also train the Ugandan soldiers and fly air reconnaissance but haven’t so far gone on patrol. Ugandan officials say the logistical and technical support is crucial, especially the service of a U.S. surveillance aircraft that makes regular sorties over the jungle, looking for traces of enemy fires or any human movement in the thick canopy.

With this critical U.S. support, the Ugandan troops are pursuing LRA leaders in some of densest forests in the world with small, highly-mobile units. Despite the challenges, there are occasional developments that make the capture of LRA leaders more likely:

Another squad operating in the vicinity had killed one LRA soldier and gravely wounded another, a 12-year veteran and high-ranking LRA warrant officer named Patrick Ochan. Over the last two weeks, the Ugandans had been nursing Ochan back to health and then interrogating him for information on LRA movements and, with any luck, Kony’s whereabouts. Minor engagements like these could yield valuable information.  Now, armed with that intelligence, the squad returned.

As the article makes clear, tracking down some of the world’s worst criminals is not easy work. But the support of the U.S. military advisers makes it more likely that senior LRA commanders will be captured and the LRA’s reign of terror will finally be ended.

Read the full article here.

- Reid

* Photo credit: Trevor Snapp / Pulitzer Center for Newsweek

The gears of the international community are turning after the launch of the Kony 2012 campaign.  On the heels of bipartisan U.S. Congressional resolutions about the LRA, the African Union (AU) separately announced two weeks ago that it would be launching a regional initiative and forming a 5,000 person military force to fight the LRA.  The AU plans have been in the works for months and there are still a lot of details to be worked out, but the announcement is a welcome sign that the AU is bringing renewed energy and attention to the LRA crisis.  Abou Moussa, the UN envoy for the region, sounded a note of urgency while announcing the plan, saying that “the most important thing is that no matter how little the LRA may be, it still constitutes a danger … they continue to attack and create havoc.”

Regional cooperation is essential to capturing Kony and ending the havoc that the LRA produces  (see our recent report that explains why), so the AU initiative is a step in the right direction.  Right now, Ugandan troops that are pursuing LRA leaders don’t have permission to cross into the Democratic Republic of Congo, thereby creating a potential safe-haven for LRA leadership in the DRC.  And some fear that the LRA might also find refuge in the Darfur region of Sudan.  The AU efforts will hopefully improve regional cooperation, and make ending Kony’s reign of terror something that governments cooperate on, not squabble over. To boost the AU’s efforts, the Obama Administration should strongly support the work of AU LRA envoy Francisco Madeira, who is leading diplomatic efforts to defrost tensions between regional governments.

As for the troops, at least part of the force will be made-up of Ugandan, Congolese, Central African, and South Sudanese troops who are already deployed in LRA-affected areas. The AU military force will have a headquarterns in Yambio, South Sudan and a political office in Central African Republic.

Some might wonder: Is the Kony 2012 campaign the reason this is happening?  In short, not entirely:  these plans have been in the works for months. But it seems clear that the Kony 2012 campaign certainly added urgency to the launch of the AU initiative.  Indeed, Moussa said international interest in Kony had been “useful, very important”.

If the AU efforts result in increased regional cooperation, we believe they could significantly hasten the day that LRA violence finally ends and Joseph Kony is brought to justice.  We will keep you updated as more information about this AU initiative becomes available. Stay tuned.

*Photo credit: Reuters