By Ngango Rukara

As Uganda sinks deeper into political crisis, it is becoming increasingly clear that the regime and its hired propaganda guns are out to replay the 2001 scenario, where they worked hard to portray Rwanda as the politically unstable neighbour responsible for all of Uganda's problems.

The regime in Kampala took the joke a little bit too far when they crowned it all with the infamous March 2001 declaration signed by the then Security Minister Muruli Mukasa, to the effect that Rwanda was a "hostile country". Subsequently, the expression "neighbouring country" has assumed a new meaning in the NRM government politico-military lingua, referring to Rwanda as the source of all political problems for the regime.

Indeed, the Ugandan President's October 2001 letter to the then British Minister for Overseas Development, Ms Clare Short signaled to the world how low President Museveni was prepared to go to smear President Paul Kagame and to draw Rwanda into the mess that was engulfing Uganda.

For an African Head of State to put pen to paper with no intention other than badmouthing a fellow African leader to an official of a former colonial power, he later described as a junior minister, was a scandal that shook many African leaders to their very core. Here you had an African leader, who had worked hard all his adult life to portray himself as a revolutionary and freedom fighter, reporting a fellow African Head of State to a junior European minister, in the manner of a schoolboy whining to a colonial school headmistress.

It is now evidently routine, that every time the regime in Kampala is cornered, the only way they can create some breathing space for themselves, is by shifting the focus on to Rwanda. This is an all too familiar diversionary strategy, whereby the regime has desperately sought to fabricate news headlines using government mouthpieces like The New Vision and the Red Paper publications, to peddle falsehoods and outright lies against Rwanda. It simply boggles the mind as to how Uganda's first family which has always postured as champions of family values and Born Again adherents has exploited Kampala's pornographic publication to dish out dirt at real and imagined enemies at home and beyond.

The screaming front page story "Top Officers Flee Rwanda", The New Vision, Wednesday, May 4, 2005 is a clear illustration of how desperate the Museveni regime is getting and to what extent they are prepared to go in their efforts to manipulate the Ugandan population, and divert the attention from the constitutional crisis that is now President Museveni's nightmare. The New Vision is a Uganda government mouthpiece which articulates government policies, positions and views. It is, therefore, clear that the story referring to alleged unnamed top Rwandan officers fleeing, was a Ugandan government statement, never mind Amama Mbabazi's protestations of editorial independence. For such a sensational lead story breaking news of alleged fleeing Rwandan military officers without naming any of them, without a hint as to who the purported source in the "Ugandan security" is, clearly points to the fact that the New Vision is now serving as a government handout used by the military and other government intelligence outfits to plant stories designed to advance the interests of the ruling clique in Kampala. What is evident here is that the story is not only a lie it also constitutes interference in Rwanda's internal affairs by the government of Uganda. It is a clear provocation which serves to undermine the efforts that have been made to restore relations between the two countries.

On the other hand, though, it is critical to recognize that the government in Kampala is at the crossroads and desperately needs someone to blame for its failures and inefficiencies. When Ambassador Johnny Carson, an American diplomat who has known Museveni long enough to conceive an informed opinion of the man, having served as the United States Ambassador to Uganda, described the Ugandan President as an "other Mugabe and Zimbabwe", in an article published in the May 1st issue of the Boston Globe, he knew what he was talking about. President Museveni is sinking faster than anyone expected, including those opposed to his regime, and he has made up his mind that if he is going down, he will at least try to take someone with him, and he has evidently placed Rwanda in his sights.

Indeed, Rwanda's record of success in good governance has not gone down well with the Museveni regime. As the rest of the world applaud Rwanda's phenomenal achievements against all odds, the people of Uganda are beginning to ask hard questions; questions related to corruption in high places, issues pertaining to Ministers who have been censured for corruption and have continued to feature prominently in government, President Museveni's determination to cling on to power at all costs and the whole question of political transition and constitutionalism.

The future is bleak and Ugandans are worried. They are simply wondering where they are headed, as countries whose financial support has accounted for a larger percentage of the national budget, denounce Museveni's regime one by one. Indeed, as Rwanda's entire external debt was being written off, the British Government was announcing suspension of financial aid to Uganda on account of President Museveni's efforts to manipulate the Constitution which will ultimately guarantee his dream of a life Presidency. As it turns out the only way the NRM regime can address issues related to its own incompetence and corruption is to shift the focus on to Rwanda and as such, this is not the last we have read/heard of Ugandan government fabrications against Rwanda.

The Uganda government statement as articulated in The New Vision lists a number of Rwandan officials allegedly victimized on the grounds that they are what the regime in Kampala refers to as "Ugandans". Ironically, it is these very officials that the Ugandan political elite has always described as the "RPF inner circle". They further claim that Col. Patrick Karegyeya is "likely to be charged with insubordination". Col. Karegyeya stands accused of indiscipline not "insubordination", as the question insubordination does not arise in the Rwanda Defence Forces. Insubordination is an inherent characteristic of armies like the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF), where a Major General David Tinyefuza is charged with treason and the next day he is appointed a Presidential Advisor on Defence ! As an officer in the RDF, Col. Karegyeya is bound by the rules that govern discipline in the Army, and there is nothing unusual if he is found in violation and charged accordingly. On the other hand, one would understand why such an action would constitute front page news for the Uganda government, since such codes are non-existent within the UPDF.

The crocodile tears The New Vision and the Kampala regime shed for Gerald Gahima and his brother Theogene Rudasingwa are simply an exercise in futility. Gahima resigned his position as Deputy Chief Justice after newspapers published stories detailing his default on payment of personal loans to commercial banks in Kigali, to the effect that a man in his position had been blacklisted by the National Bank as delinquent. Certainly this was not an individual with any moral authority to sit in judgment of others. While Dr. Rudasingwa was acquitted of embezzlement charges by the courts, he had not only lost the moral authority necessary to hold the kind of office he occupied, his employer, the Government of Rwanda in this case, had lost confidence in him and this cost him his job.

Mr. Sam Nkusi resigned his cabinet portfolio after he failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a minister, with a tenure characterized by improprieties which went against the spirit of ministerial collective responsibility. Dr. Ben Rugangazi was appointed from the private sector to become Rwanda's Ambassador to China and portraying his appointment as a demotion is misleading, to say the least. Lt. General Kayumba Nyamwasa was appointed Ambassador to India, a re-assignment that is normal in Rwanda, since representing one's country at that level is indeed regarded as an honour by the Rwandan people. Brig. Gen. Jack Nziza was moved from the Directorate of Military Intelligence to become the RDF's Chief Political Commissar not Director of Education and Sports as alleged in The New Vision. Lt. Col. Richard Masozera was promoted from the position of Director of Immigration to Security Advisor to the Prime Minister. What the regime in Uganda would want to spin as "purging" in Rwanda, is clearly routine re-assigning of duties and outright resignations on the part of those whose moral authority is found wanting for various reasons. Once again, this would sound strange to the regime in Kampala, since the act of taking personal responsibility for one's failures in public office is unheard of in Uganda.

While Rwanda and Uganda are next door neighbours, with so much in common between their two peoples, the story ends there, especially when you consider the value systems that set the leadership in the two countries apart, and this will continue to be a source of conflict as long as the government in Kampala seeks to use Rwanda as a diversion from the crisis that is fast engulfing Uganda, owing to failures inherent in poor leadership, so characteristic of the NRM.

Ngango Rukara is a Policy Analyst at the Great Lakes Centre in Kigali

"Three UPDF soldiers were yesterday charged with spying for Rwanda, just days after Kigali detained one of its top intelligence officers, Col. Patrick Karegyeya, once accused of spying on Uganda.

WOII Sam Tugume, the head of security and investigations at the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Sgt Bakirirahi Barigye, an army radio signaler attached to the Internal Security Organisation, and Lance Corporal Peter Agom, attached to the Military Intelligence, appeared before the 1st Division Court Martial at Mbuya, Kampala District.

They denied the six treachery charges read to them at the court presided over by Maj. Willy Ndinda, assisted by Captains Edward Kulanyi, Sam Kanamugire, Nazario Mwekwasize, Lt. James Taremwa and Sgt. Birungi Mustafa.

The three soldiers were arrested in October 2004 for allegedly passing on classified information to Rwanda.

Prosecution yesterday accused the three of leaking UPDF information to the Rwandan Patriotic Army's Col. Karegyeya and the Director of Military Intelligence, Col. Jack Nziza, an "act prejudicial to security interests of Uganda."

The leaked information allegedly concerned the UPDF operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the war with the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda between March 2003 and September 2004.



Karegyeya, once regarded as President Paul Kagame's right hand man and a long-time central man in the Uganda-Rwanda misunderstandings, was arrested in the Rwandan capital Kigali for alleged insubordination.




He headed Rwanda's external intelligence body and was also Kagame's key point man in the Britain-mediated talks between Kigali and Kampala.
Capt. Moses Wandera, who headed the prosecution team yesterday, said he was ready to adduce evidence against them, but the accused soldiers opposed the hearing of the case, saying they needed their lawyers around.

Maj. Ndinda asked them to contact their lawyers for the hearing to start today.
However, Tugume told the court that he was surprised the government had continued with his trial after he had confessed to the "insurgency" acts and applied for release under the Amnesty Law.
"I think bringing me here for trial is torture," he said.

"On December 21, 2004 when I last appeared before this court, I declared intentions to apply for amnesty. I have for the last five months been thinking that authorities are working on my release."

Tugume added: "I am surprised and I think it's wrong for this court to handle this case."
Since their arrest, the suspects have been among dozens of inmates locked up at the Military Police Barracks at Makindye, in the suburbs of Kampala.
The group recently went on a hunger strike demanding release on bail and immediate trial.
Tugume said his colleagues in Makindye are still on a hunger strike protesting their overstay in prison.

The Court's Judge advocate, Mr Simon Wankandya, said the issues raised by Tugume would be handled today when their lawyer, Mr Kiiza Rwakafuzi, is around.

The prosecutor said he would respond to them in the presence of their lawyers."

Re-posted from Monitor media

People's Media:



Westerners schmoozing with a criminal

The western world should be ashamed for supporting and consuming propaganda from the government of Dictator Yoweri Museveni. How can you all seat there praise and dine with a criminal who knows no human rights while at the sametime you shovel your pathetic values under our throats?? Yoweri Museveni has taken the entire country hostage, he can kill and abuse because the western world will always love him and poor ugandans will have no justice-what a bluff!

This sort of criminality by the state is very rife in all parts of Uganda. Western donors dress and feed the goverment criminals.







HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY UGANDAN GOVERNMENT FORCES (UPDF) AGAINST ACHOLI AND THE PEOPLE OF NORTHERN UGANDA




American instructor shows a UPDF thug how to kill Ugandans

UPDF forces and officials of other government-related military security agencies have committed and are still continuing committing multiple abuses against the human rights of northern Ugandans, including summary execution, torture, rape, child recruitment, and inhuman conditions of detention in unauthorized detention locations. They are rarely prosecuted for crimes committed against civilians. Even when UPDF abuses have been investigated, the investigations have sometimes been kept internal and therefore have created an appearance of impunity, which has not improved public trust.
UPDF responses to allegations of abuses against civilians, such as rape, unlawful killing, and torture, range from the crime going unpunished, to being "punished" by transferring the accused, to the court martial of some individual soldiers without proper investigation, all the way to the rare court martial. Often it appears that the action followed, or the punishment meted out is at the sole discretion of the individual UPDF field commander.

For example, the storming of Gulu Prison by UPDF Soldiers.
The UPDF has committed summary (extra judicial) execution and torture of captives since Operation Iron Fist began. Since the last time when four UPDF mambas (armored vehicles) full of UPDF soldiers raided Gulu Prison under the command of the head of military intelligence of Operation Iron Fist, Lt. Col. Charles Awany Otema. According to eyewitness reports by prison inmates and confirmed by the assistant superintendent of Gulu Central Prison, prison authorities (wardens) refused entry to the soldiers after the UPDF officers failed to produce a search warrant or any other document permitting them to enter.
During the raid, the UPDF soldiers beat and pushed aside the prison wardens, as they forced their way into the prison. Captain Rugadia, of the intelligence division of Internal Security, ordered twenty-three prisoners by name out of their cells. A UPDF officer singled out a prisoner known as "Yumbe," Peter Oloya, who was accused of planning to escape from the prison. That officer then ordered the soldiers to shoot Peter Oloya.

The prison wardens rejected this accusation and tried to stop the killing, arguing with the UPDF that no one would try to escape from the prison with so many soldiers present, and therefore there was no reason to shoot any prisoner. Nevertheless, the UPDF soldiers shot Peter Oloya in the back, with the bullet exiting his chest. Everyone panicked and another prisoner was almost shot.
The UPDF soldiers hastily loaded the twenty-two prisoners, together with the dead body of Peter Oloya, on the mambas, ordering them to lie down flat. They took the prisoners straight to the quarter guard at the army barracks detention center in Gulu. The UPDF took Peter Oloya's body away and has not released it to his relatives for burial as of the writing of this report. The UPDF claimed it had to move the prisoners from Gulu Prison based on military intelligence's discovery of a planned rescue attempt by the LRA.

This event, and the subsequent torture of the prisoners at the Gulu barracks, has generated a number of civil suits, and actions by many human rights bodies such as UHRC, Amnesty International, etc. Leave alone many unreported arrest, detention, killing of civilians by the UPDF soldiers.

These days is even worst under the command of Operation Iron Fist, Lt. Col. Charles Awany Otema, because the UPDF soldiers would falsely suspect you of being a rebel or rebels collaborators. On suspecting you, they will arrest you, torture or ill-treat and detain you in the military barrack. Sometimes they arrest you and dress you in military uniform and begin claiming that they caught you in the battlefront fighting against the government alongside the rebels. This happened to so many people who are civilians, some even students. The best-known case of this kind occurred in Nwoya county last February 2005 where a man by name Opoka, a farmer was accused first of growing crops for rebels and later after he was arrested by UPDF soldiers from his garden even when digging in his cassava plantation by the UPDF soldiers. They arrested and dressed him in army uniform, and they later killed him, then they fabricated a story and reported that Opoka was a rebel and he was killed in a battlefront fighting on the side of LRA.

Another case was a boy named Odida Churchill from Awac, a student of Awere senior secondary school. Odida was arrested when he was coming from school and he was even carrying his books, but he was arrested, taken to Gulu military barrack, and later UPDF soldiers said he was arrested in a battle fighting alongside rebels. He was tortured to death by UPDF soldiers, and so many others.

Non-stop Torture and Ill-Treatment by the UPDF

The UPDF soldiers ever since has been arresting, torturing and detaining civilians in Gulu military barracks. Aida Lagulu was arrested and gang-raped during her detention there. Tony Kitara, the local councilor-III of Bungatira, Gulu district, reported that he was tortured in Gulu barracks. AbuOpoka was arrested, tortured and detained in Gulu Military barrack on so many times for being a mother of suspected rebel collaborator. Recently she was found shot with other women whom the UPDF soldiers claimed they shot them unintended because they (UPDF) thought they were rebels.

In a separate case, Stephen O, a twenty-five-year-old man from Layibi in Gulu municipality, lost a leg after UPDF soldiers shoot him outside a shop and later they came back to make sure he was dead. Stephen went on his bicycle to the trading center to buy paraffin. Just before he entered the shop some UPDF soldiers ordered the shopkeeper to close up. Two of the soldiers came up to him, placed him under arrest, asked him about his home, and started beating him with the butts of their guns.
One soldier, addressing Stephen in Kiswahili, ordered him to run but Stephen did not understand him and ignored the order. The other soldier, from Teso in eastern Uganda, told him (in a language he understood) to run "otherwise I would be shot. I started to run and they shot at me. They hit me in my leg."

The Teso soldier ordered many people around the shop to leave. stephen lost consciousness and woke up three hours later and started crawling into a nearby hotel. He heard the soldiers coming back to check on him and one said, "I told you the guy's leg was not shot properly, so he escaped."

Stephen hid under a bed in a hotel room but the soldiers, after more searching, found him and took his identification card. He played dead. More soldiers came in and argued over whether Stephen was dead or not. Searching his belongings, they took 1,000 Ugandan shillings from his pockets, and left. Two soldiers came back, dragged Stephen from the room, and threw him into the bush. Early in the morning, he managed to reach a nearby house and ask for help.

Stephen's leg was amputated in Lacor hospital in Gulu but he did not take his medical form, describing his injuries, to the police afterward. He did not see any reason for doing this because, "There are so many people who were shot by UPDF in my area and nothing happened, nothing will happen when I bring the form to the police because even police is part of them."
Torture is inflicted on some people held in military detention facilities by UPDF soldiers. After David O. was arrested for alleged collaboration with rebels, UPDF soldiers under the command of a second lieutenant, whose name David provided, burned David O. by pouring melting plastic from a jerry can over his shoulders and back.

The incident was reported to a local human rights organization. According to the report, David O. was initially arrested by members of the Kalangala Action Plan, and the torture allegedly took place in their presence. Subsequently the case developed its own momentum. The UPDF arrested and reportedly tortured members of David O.'s family inside the army detachment to force them to disclose the name of the person who had reported the case to the human rights group. Under coercion, they provided the name of the paralegal of Olwal IDP camp, who was then arrested and kept in detention at the army detachment in Olwal camp.

David O., the torture victim, was asked to pay 35,000 Ugandan shillings for his release. He was later sent to the hospital for treatment of his back, which was badly injured.A sixteen-year-old Peter O. who was abducted by the rebel of LRA but managed to escaped from the rebels was shot at by the UPDF when he was approaching a roadblock, even when he was pleading that he is a civilian. The soldiers kept shoting at him three times, but failed to hit him. "I started rolling and then raised my hands in surrender, so the commander ordered them to stop shooting."
The UPDF beat him badly. "They started beating me in the barracks, loaded me on a vehicle and took me to Miajakulu detachment" where he said he was kicked and beaten "until they were sure my backbone was broken. I was tied in the three-point ‘‘kandoya’’ way and kicked.

Arrests of Alleged Rebel Collaborators

The Gulu branch of the Legal Aid Project received complaints that Ugandan government authorities, mostly the UPDF, had arbitrarily detained people on treason charges, illegally detained persons in UPDF military barracks, conducted arrests without warrants, and denied detainees access to the judiciary.

Suspected civilians were arrested and kept in military barrack instead of police detention, investigations and collection of evidence were rare, torture and ill-treatment of suspects were rampant, living conditions were unsanitary and overcrowded in many cases, and some of the persons carrying out the arrests had no authority to do so. Suspects have been arrested by the UPDF, the LDUs, the police, the KAP, the CMI, and officers from various intelligence agencies connected to the Internal Security Organization (ISO). Many people arrested for alleged rebel collaboration in northern Uganda were arrested in their villages or fields, pursuant to an order whereby the government restricted movement from the internally displaced persons camps as described above.

This order resulted into a precarious situation for the population of northern Uganda. They were restricted to camps where they were vulnerable to UPDF and LRA attacks and famine (food shortages due to little space in which to garden and LRA attacks on relief food convoys), or they risked arrest for alleged rebel collaboration for trying to return to their homes and fields to plant or harvest food crops.

UPDF soldiers also on many occasions go to people gardens or plantation and destroy their crops, claiming they are doing that because people in the villages are growing crops for rebels. They also claim most Acholis are rebel collaborators.
Many supporters of the political opposition are arrested, detained or killed, depending on God luck. In a region where the support for President Museveni in the last presidential elections allegedly did not exceed 20 percent, the arbitrary practice of the UPDF and security organs of arresting and incarcerating civilians created an atmosphere of fear and political repression. According to one of the Gulu prisoners,I was politically outspoken and I had told the president [Museveni] during a rally in Gulu that he will not win 87 percent of the votes in Gulu as his campaigners promised. I had been in and out of prison for my political convictions since Museveni's NRM and political organization came to Gulu in 1986.

Others are detained for treason or on rebel collaboration charges and others belong to political opposition organizations. Some were reportedly members of Uganda Young Democrats, campaigners for Kiiza Besigye's losing presidential campaign, supporters of opposition candidate Lt. Col. Okot Alenysio in his electoral campaign for local councilor-V, or campaigners for government opponent Kerobino Uma for the district chairmanship elections.

A credible source from Palatjera IDP camp reported that more than sixty people from that camp were arrested on allegations of rebel collaboration. According to him there was an arrest list in circulation with an additional 400 names on it. A human rights defender from the Ulwal IDP camp in Lamogi sub county told Human Rights Watch that arrests from the camp increased after Operation Iron Fist started, and that there were ten Luwal people charged with treason being held in the Fourth Division barracks in Gulu. The ten, all males, were arrested and some were killed and others upto now some of them are still missing. According to a credible source from Atiak camp, "In Atiak and Anaka camps every week somebody is picked up as a rebel collaborator. Some are released, others remain in the military barracks."

Rape and Sexual Abuse inflicted on mothers, sisters and young girls by UPDF soldiers.
Sexual violence, including rape and defilement, appear to have risen in the north as a result of the current conflict, with adolescent girls at greatest risk. A survey found that in Gulu, girls identified "rape and defilement" as their third most important concern behind "insecurity, abduction and murder" and "displacement."

The apparent increased incidence of rape is associated with the increased presence of the UPDF and the vulnerability of the displaced population. Girls are vulnerable to sexual assault when traveling from IDP camps to work in the fields of their original homes, and when traveling into town in the evenings as "night commuters." Young boys are also at risk.
There is a social stigma attached to being raped. The perception that abused women should feel guilty and might have seduced the rapists is still prevalent in Acholiland, according to the program coordinator of Caritas' women's desk, Sister Margaret Aceng. People's Voice for Peace reports documented several cases where women were abandoned by their husbands or communities after they reported being raped to the police.

The case of Mrs. Paska, forty-eight years old, mother of eleven, and a widow, exemplifies the dilemma of many raped women. She found herself grief-stricken over being raped by UPDF soldiers and also over the death of one of the twins born as a result of the rape. She was painted by her in-laws' comments that "`I knew the soldier or else how could he come to me.'" She stated, "My in-laws do not want this child and even my older children do not want this child."

Even when the family of the rape victim is supportive, the perpetrators identified, and the case reported to the police, the result is discouraging because many women do not want to draw more attention to themselves. In addition, women may be discouraged from reporting cases of rape by soldiers because most reports are not followed through, the violators are transferred to another unit, and the case might be stuck at the local police or army detachment where it was reported.

Also two young girls who are cousins, ages thirteen years and nineteen years, were raped by two UPDF soldiers. Joanna A. and Alice O. went with Joanna's mother from the displaced persons camp where they lived to their garden in the early morning to work. Returning to the camp at about ten o'clock in the morning, they met two uniformed UPDF soldiers at a junction in the road. The soldiers told them to sit on the ground. Then they asked if they had chickens at home. The mother replied in the affirmative, and one soldier then said, "If they are there, let's go and get them."
Although the mother wanted to return to the camp on the regular path, the soldiers wanted to move through the bush. At a certain point, one of the soldiers stopped and began to prepare the ground, stepping on the grass. According to one of the teenagers, Joanna A.,
‘‘He said to sit down and then ordered us to take off our clothes. First we refused, and one of the soldiers said that if we didn't, he would shoot us. Then he told us to lie down. When Alice [her cousin] didn't, one of the soldiers kicked her in the chest. My mother said "don't mistreat my children; they are very young." The darker soldier took Alice a short distance away, while the other one stayed with me. He threatened me with a gun and raped me. I was just crying. The other soldier raped Alice. Then the darker soldier who had raped Alice called me to him and raped me too, while the other one raped Alice.’’

Upon release, Joanna A., Alice O., and Joanna's mother immediately reported the rape to the camp's local councillor, the local army commander, and the local police. One of the soldiers was apprehended and taken back to the barracks, where he was reportedly beaten. The other returned to the barracks that night and family members of the rape victims were told he was beaten also. However, two days later, the unit was transferred out of the area. That is what they normally do. They transfer the rapist and killers as a means of punishment.

The soldiers don’t use condoms, and both survivors were fearful that they were infected with the HIV virus. Joanna said, "People tell us we will die. They say the soldiers may be infected. I think about it a lot."

Both Joanna and Alice were tested for the HIV virus after the rape, and the results were positive.
Lt. Paddy Ankunda, the public relations officer (PRO) for the Fourth Division of the UPDF in Gulu, denied that there was a lack of legal redress for the rape victims. He insisted that, "In all cases of harassment of civilians by the army the culprits are brought to the book. We take action and follow the case. There are no cases where rapists were transferred."
In Matere, Kitgum district, according to a women's rights activist, a group of women visiting a mother and her newborn were gang-raped by twenty UPDF soldiers. They had been followed to the home of the new mother by the group of soldiers. The soldiers entered the compound and ordered the women to lie down, at gunpoint. They raped the women there and threatened them with death if the women reported the rapes: "Should we hear anything about you, you are all dead."
The local councillor (LC-I) of the area witnessed and reported the case, but no identification of the soldiers was made.

People's media:




Betty Bigombe, 49, is an urbane, Harvard-educated sociologist who was in a plush office at the World Bank a year ago. In the past few months, she has walked into the bush near the Sudanese border and met the rebels nine times, protected by nothing more than the notepads of a few international observers, attempting to win the LRA's trust and negotiate a ceasefire.

Ms. Bigombe's detractors question her methods, her motives and her loyalties. But increasing numbers of people say her painstaking mediation process may be the only way to end this savage war.

Last week, she said that Mr. Kony told her he has ordered his troops to stop committing atrocities, and that she expects him to commit to a ceasefire within weeks. She says that she believes full peace talks could be under way by the fall.

Mr. Kony's ostensible goal is still to overthrow Mr. Museveni and install a government based on the Ten Commandments. In truth, the LRA has little agenda except for terrorizing civilians.

"That doesn't mean that there aren't underlying issues: poverty, the disparity in the share of the national cake," Ms. Bigombe said.


MS Bigombe entertaining her friends
But the LRA's lack of platform makes negotiations difficult, and in a post-Sept. 11 world, it bolsters Mr. Museveni's position that he doesn't have to talk to them. Yet Western observers say the rebel movement is a far more rational, well-disciplined force than government propaganda suggests.

"The LRA is a rational war machine, despite all that has been written about it," a senior UN figure said. "So any abduction, killing or mutilation has a logic behind it -- it may be a macabre logic, it may be a total violation of international law, but it's not wanton or meaningless."

Ms. Bigombe, who is an Acholi born and raised in Gulu and who once served as Mr. Museveni's minister for the pacification of the north, said she sensed an opportunity in the war-weary region last year and approached the President to ask whether she could try to mediate. She travelled to southern Sudan, where the LRA has long had a base, to "lay the groundwork," then began regular dialogue with the rebels -- who she said had periodically contacted her since she left government in 1994.

When her mediation began in October, the UN reported an almost immediate improvement in the security situation -- rebel attacks dropped off -- and in people's optimism.

By Dec. 29, in a process carefully orchestrated by the United Nations, Ms. Bigombe had taken two cabinet ministers into the bush to sit down with LRA commanders, the first time members of government had met with the rebels.


Self appointed spokesperson of LRA (Sam Kolo) gave the wrong information to the peace team

With a unilateral army ceasefire in place, negotiators for the two sides agreed to a memorandum of understanding on a truce, the first step toward peace talks. The rebels were supposed to come back and sign before the ceasefire expired 48 hours later, but they didn't show.

The government says they weren't serious and never will be. But others say the ceasefire should have been extended.

The rebels "had to walk we don't know how many kilometres. Their top officers were spread out; it was impossible for them to take a decision in 48 hours," said Lars Erik Skaansar, the UN envoy supporting the mediation process.

Almost immediately, the fighting escalated again. Ms. Bigombe reckons that the rebels, seeking talks, want to make sure everyone remembers that they are a force to be reckoned with, and not "totally finished," as the President has assured people for the past 18 years.

Although the roster of dead and abducted each day belies that statement, it is true that the LRA has been badly weakened in recent months.

Ms. Bigombe said she expects to go into the bush once again in coming days -- "every time, my heart is just popping out" -- to meet with Mr. Kony's chief deputy.

"You can't find any person better for this job than Betty. People here love her. She's very intelligent, very fair and she respects everyone,".


Ex LRA field commander now a government informer

"The bottom line is that the LRA do trust her," added Erin Baines, a researcher from the Liu Institute for Global Issues in Vancouver who has observed the peace process since 2003. "Parachuting an international mediator would not work. The LRA are not like that: They believe in tradition and rituals and spiritualism, and they trust her for some logic only they know."

Ms. Bigombe says firmly that she speaks to the rebel leader like she would anyone else.

"You've got to reach him at his level, have an ability to meet his personality," she said. "I laugh with him, talk with him, all to get him to understand what he's doing."

Ms. Bigombe has, according to several of those who deal with her, "a massive ego." Some associated with the negotiations say privately that she is so determined to control the process that she shuts out what might be useful suggestions. Others say she is so caught up in the drama that she is deluded about the chances of getting Mr. Kony to surrender.

The government also has its serious doubts about her. A senior adviser to Mr. Museveni, for example, said he believes Ms. Bigombe is allied with the rebels. And many military figures "don't want to see a woman, especially that woman, succeed where they have failed -- and they get rich off the war," said one observer from a donor country.

But those who work with her offset the criticism of her personality by noting that a person would have to have a fair degree of faith in herself to take on this kind of job. And everyone, including Mr. Museveni, acknowledges that she has, in her own words, "forced the mediation process down his throat," using pressure from donor countries, which have little appetite for Mr. Museveni's "military solution" against a force that is made up almost entirely of children.

As for Ms. Bigombe, she is accustomed to the accusations, the mistrust and the stalling.

"It's like tearing through rocks and mountains. I'm holding my head in my hand, my hair turns grey and I dye it again . . . I feel like a punch bag," she acknowledged.

But she intends to keep going, with both cellphones and the faith of many frightened refugees.

"There are no insurmountable situations," she said.


Meanwhile, There is no new way to end this war other than the old way. The aggressors have to be beaten because Kony is stubborn," said Nahaman Ojwee, chairman of Kitgum district, which borders Gulu.

Analysts say mediators need to travel to southern Sudan to put a comprehensive peace proposal to Kony.

Such a move would test the rebels' willingness for peace, and would be vital "if the chance to end an extraordinarily brutal conflict is not to be lost," International Crisis Group (ICG) said in report on the north last month.

"Given the attitudes of the parties, none of this is likely without more vigorous and sustained international support, most particularly from the U.S., which has considerable influence with Museveni and whose reserve causes LRA leaders to doubt it supports a negotiated peace," ICG said.

"The trend on the ground and the direction in which both the Ugandan government and the LRA leadership appear to be moving suggest that a briefly promising peace process could soon crumble," it added.

"FOOLS AND BANDITS"

Opposition leaders accuse Museveni of benefiting politically from the war, which has forced 1.6 million people into camps across the north.

Museveni denies wanting to prolong the conflict, and appears to resent pressure from Western donors -- who fund half his budget -- for him to talk to a group he has denounced as "fools" and "bandits", and which is on a U.S. list of "terrorist" organisations.

"How can I talk to a killer? ... We don't believe in unprincipled compromises," he was quoted as saying by a newspaper in April.
But Museveni is reponsible for the killings in Luwero, DRC and ofcourse Northern uganda.

He has also asked the new International Criminal Court in The Hague to probe LRA atrocities including massacres, rapes and the abduction of more than 20,000 children.

But many northerners say dialogue is the only way to end the war, leave the squalid camps and liberate hundreds of children from rebel captors who use them as fighters and sex slaves.

They blame the failure of talks so far on government apathy and a lack of concern about the conflict among people from other tribes in the peaceful and more prosperous south.

"Avoidance is the government's way of dealing with things when it comes to the north," said northern MP Morris Latigo.

"What about us Ugandans? If we all joined hands and said the north is bleeding, this war can even stop tomorrow. If we marched there together, Kony would flee before us," he said.

By Tabu Butagira & Jamal Abdi

YUMBE - Eighty-six Local Defence Unit (LDU) recruits have run off with guns days after being armed by the army.



The trainees were part of 872 LDUs who had just completed a three-month basic military course at Lugore UPDF Infantry training school in Aswa County, north of Gulu town.

They had been moved to Yumbe District awaiting official pass out, when they ran away.
Capt. Henry Okwanga, the commandant of the school, said on Saturday the deserters sneaked out at night a week ago.

While presenting 786 trainees for commissioning by the Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima at Yumbe Boma Grounds on Saturday, Okwanga said 55 of the escapees were from Yumbe, 21 from Arua and 10 from Koboko.

News of the escape has caused panic in West Nile, which in the recent past, had been combed by state agencies for suspected People's Redemption Army (PRA) rebels and arms.

The Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence and Joint Anti-Terrorism squad unearthed subversive activities in West Nile in November 2004 and said then that the PRA was recruiting its fighters from the region and training them in the jungles of the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

The detectives picked at least 26 PRA suspects in the region in the four-month crack-down that ended in February this year and recovered a stockpile of arms and other rebel training kits, mainly from Yumbe District and Koboko.

But Nyakairima said he still believes the missing LDUs had briefly moved home to visit their families and enjoy better food and would soon return to duty.

"In case there is an enemy who has taken them away, they (deserters) are wasting their time because we shall get them anyway," he said.

A reliable security source said seven of the guns the fugitives had, had been recovered from Lodonga (in Yumbe) on Friday.

Nyakairima ordered his commanders not to reprimand the absconders if they come back voluntarily but said they should search and arrest them immediately in the event that the fugitives fail to turn up willingly.

The Commanding Officer of the 4th Division, Col. Nathan Mugisha, said he believes some rogues could have been recruited to join the special militia due to improper screening by LCs and recruitment officers.

President Yoweri Museveni last year ordered the army to build a new battalion of LDUs in the West Nile region to respond to the security threat.
Nyakairima said the new LDUs, to be called West Nile Taskforce, would act as an auxiliary force to the regular army, serve as frontier guards to maintain peace and security in their respective localities and gather intelligence information for UPDF.

"Please, you young girls and boys (LDUs), do not misuse these guns we have given you. Respect and help the wanainchi where necessary and do not abuse local leaders," he said.

He ordered them to avoid alcohol because "it does not go well with the gun".
"Avoid reckless sexual behaviour that could lead you to contracting the deadly Hiv/Aids because we do not want you to die young," he advised.

He announced that each of the LDUs would be paid Shs60,000 monthly and were entitled to medical care, two pairs of uniforms and boots each year beside daily food rations of half kilogramme of posho (maize flour) and 300 grammes of beans.
He handed out wrapped prizes to the best performers.

He explained that following the pressure the UPDF exerted on LRA bases in Southern Sudan through Operation Iron Fist, intelligence information suggests that the LRA was trying to coordinate their activities across the Nile by linking up with the PRA that had established bases in the area.

re-published from Monitor media

Joram jojo:



At the Hague, a delegation from Lango, Acholi, teso and Madi Community Leaders from Northern Uganda

Why the war has persisted
The war has lasted for nearly 19 years because of a number of interrelated factors. To begin with, the war in Acholi has become an extension of regional and international power struggles. On the regional front, Uganda provided military hardware and sanctuary to the SPLA. In retaliation, the Sudan government provided sanctuary and military hardware to the LRA. On the international front, both the Uganda government and the SPLA received military and political support from the US, in part to curtail the influence of the Islamic government in Khartoum. Another factor perpetuating the conflict has been that the war has become a lucrative source and cover for clandestine income for high-ranking military and government officials and other profiteers. In addition, the unwillingness of the government and the LRA to genuinely pursue a negotiated settlement has sustained the war.


LRA Chairman Joseph Kony


LRA elite unit



UPDF killers and their american master

On 14-16 April 2005, leaders of the Lango; Acholi; Iteso and Madi communities of northern Uganda visited the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, at the invitation of Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to hear views about the situation in Northern Uganda.

The delegation held talks with Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo and other Court officials and have agreed to the following statement.
Joint Statement:

The Lango; Acholi; Iteso and Madi community leaders and the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court have agreed to work together as part of a common effort to achieve justice and reconciliation, the rebuilding of communities and an end to violence in Northern Uganda.

The community leaders reach out to local communities, the Government of Uganda, national and international actors to join this common effort.

We urge the Lord’s Resistance Army members to respond positively to the appeal to end violence.

We appeal to the Government of The Sudan to continue cooperating with the Government of Uganda, the ICC, international actors and all stakeholders in an effort to bring peace to Uganda.

In working towards an end to violence, all parties agreed to continue to integrate the dialogue for peace, the ICC and traditional justice and reconciliation processes.

We call upon national and international actors to enhance interventions to alleviate the grave humanitarian situation in the region.

List of Delegates from Northern Uganda

Acholi Representatives
Rwot David Onen Acana II, Paramount Chief of the Acholi
Rt. Rev. Onono-Onweng, Bishop of Northern Uganda
Hon. Jacob Oulanyah, MP Omoro Country
Hon. Hillary Onek, MP of Lamwo County
Mr. Ojwee Nahaman, LCV Kitgum
Mr. Komakach Yakobo, LCV Pader
Mr. Ojera Christohper, LCIII Pabbo
Mr. Ogik Benjamin Okech, Traditional Elder
Mr. Omona AlFone Lukilamoi, Traditional Chief

Lango Representatives
Hon. Cecilia Atim-Ogwal, MP Lira Municipality
Hon. Among Betty Ongom, MP Women Representative Apac
Margaret Akullo Elem, Traditional Elder
Rt. Rev. John Charles Odurkami, Bishop of Lango
Father Okucu Lawrence, Vicer General of Lira
Ogwang Tonny Ariz, Lira District Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Security

Iteso Representatives
His Highness Augustine Lemokul Osuban, Traditional Chief of the Iteso (Emorimor)
Hon. Anyolo Samuel, MP Soroti County
Hon. Alice Alaso, MP Women Representative Soroti
Rt. Rev. Charles Bernard Obaikol-Ebitu, Bishop of Soroti
Father Robert Ecogh, Soroti Catholic Diocese
Mr Steven Ilemukorit Okure, LCV of Katakwi

Madi Representatives
Hon. Jesca Eriyo, MP Women Representative Adjumani
Mondia Phillips, District Vice Chairman
Angela Kabba, Women Representative from Adjumani

Stop Acholi Genocide Demo in London

Peoples' Media:
Thursday, 21 April 2005

Five displaced women have been shot dead by UPDF soldiers in Kitgum District.
The women have been killed in Mucwhini Sub County about 15Km East of Gulu.
The soldiers allegedly mistook them for rebels. Four others were injured and rushed to Kitgum Hospital.
The women were from fishing in R. Aringa when the soldiers opened fire on them.
Northern Spokesman Lt. Tabaro Kiconco says the shooting wasn’t intended.

More to follow later...


Recent killings by the same UPDF...Was this also not intended?

DISTRICT SECURITY UPDATE

Gulu - There were reports of LRA movements throughout the district, and of rebels mutilating civilians. Several areas, including Amuru-Omee, Awach-Palaro, Omoro, Minakulu, Awoo Bobi, Opit, Lalogi, and Awere remained unsafe, with large LRA crossings reported from Apac district. LRA Commander Vincent Otti was reported to have crossed back into Sudan. However, later reports towards the end of March indicated that he had returned to the Kilak hills.

Kitgum - Insecurity in the northern part of Kitgum near the Sudan border remained a challenge to humanitarian actors, hindering access to about 40,000 IDPs in the region. The deteriorating security situation was reportedly orchestrated by a fresh batch of about 300 LRA rebels, who reportedly crossed over from Sudan and began unleashing atrocities upon civilians, looting IDPs' property, attacking military detachments, killing and mutilating civilians.

Pader - Security continued to deteriorate, with frequent attacks on UPDF (Ugandan army) detachments. There were unconfirmed reports that the UPDF soldiers in the district had been withdrawn for deployment in the peace-keeping exercise in Somalia. This seems to have spurred the morale of the LRA rebels, who carried out attacks on UPDF detachments and IDP camps. The early onset of the first rains in the northern region worsened the situation, as the vegetation grew thicker, making it difficult for the UPDF to spot the rebels.

Lira - The security situation in the district, except for Aromo sub-county and Otuke county, remained generally calm. In Aromo and Otuke, LRA movements were random and fluid, and attacks, abductions and killings caused a lot of fear among IDPs, preventing them from tending their fields. The UPDF continued to advise IDPs not to venture outside the camps before 9:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. Nonetheless, all access roads and IDP camps remained open to humanitarian agencies.

Teso sub-region (Soroti, Katakwi and Kaberamaido districts) - The region continued to enjoy relative calm. In Katakwi, however, reports toward the end of the month that LRA rebels had been seen in Orungo sub-county, caused a lot of panic. Several people who had returned to their villages in Orungo near the border with Lira district, moved into the bigger camps for security. While authorities in Katakwi say that the situation is not alarming, there has been an increased need for humanitarian assistance in the main camps where people have flocked.

II. IDP MOVEMENT AND CAMP ISSUES

Gulu - There were civilian movements away from Minakulu, 35 km south of Gulu, due to increased rebel presence and other insecurity incidents, including abductions and killings. In Bobi camp, about 24km south of Gulu town, children started commuting again because of a large and persistent rebel presence near the camp. For nearly four months, there were no night commuters in Bobi camp. The Lacor night commuter centre registered a slight increase in night commuters, although other centres in the municipality have registered a small decline. According to records from UNICEF, there were, on average, about 11,000 night commuters in Gulu per day in March.

Kitgum - Some IDPs from Kitgum Matidi and Lagoro were reported to have spontaneously relocated to Oryang, a new settlement seven 7 km east of Kitgum. This brought to three the number of satellite camps recently established by IDPs in Kitgum. The others are Ogili in Palabek and Akilok in Orom sub-counties. UNICEF, ICRC and other aid agencies planned assessments of the situation in these camps. The Kitgum District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) set up a Return and Resettlement Task Force to develop a return plan, including the voluntary decongestion of IDP settlements; and to set standards for the development of new IDP settlements.

Pader - Some IDPs were reportedly moving to Omot and Lukole sub-counties. However, both sub-counties lack schools, and the nearest, Ngora Primary School, is 3kms away, making access to it difficult due to late deployment of soldiers on the main road.

Lira - People continued migrating from the urban camps/areas (IDPs living with host families) to rural camps. IDPs also returned from Apac and other areas outside Lira. The population in most of the rural camps has increased by about 30% since December 2005. An inter-agency assessment in March highlighted the disparity between the old planning figures (WFP verification exercise, October 2004) and the current reality in the camps. This calls for a new verification exercise.

Teso - Most parts of Teso sub-region had started receiving rainfall by mid March, prompting movement of IDPs to camps nearer their areas of origin, while leaving behind some members of their families, especially children and the elderly. Although most IDPs, especially in Katakwi, may not be able to access their own land, they can borrow some portions of land for cultivation from their hosting communities.

III. ACCESS ISSUES

Gulu - The Awach-Palaro area remained extremely insecure and inaccessible, and district security officials advised some aid agencies against travelling there. The Amuru-Omee area was also extremely unsafe, although agencies could access it with military escort. The UPDF restricted IDP movements to a maximum of 2km outside the camps.

Despite the insecurity, IDPs slowly began accessing their land for the first planting season, as the rains started.

Kitgum - In the face of increased security, agencies raised concern about the composition of soldiers escorting aid workers, complaining about the limited numbers and quality of soldiers. It is alleged that UPDF soldiers who used to provide escort services were withdrawal from the north to serve in the peacekeeping operation in Somalia and replaced by ill-trained and ill-equiped local militias.

Following requests by aid agencies for more access to land for IDPs to cultivate, district security officials considered increasing the 'protected radius' around camps from 1km to between two and three kilometres. However, given the recent deterioration in security, increased access to land is only likely to be achieved in areas where security is relatively stable.

Lira - All IDP camps and access roads are open to humanitarian agencies. Rebel movements, abductions and killing were reported in Aromo and Amugo sub-counties, and Otuke county, but this did not deter humanitarian agencies from accessing the areas, as the threat was not considered to be so serious.

IV. REFUGEE ISSUES

REFUGEE MOVEMENTS

In March, UNHCR Uganda registered 1,621 new arrivals (895 in Pakelle and 726 in Arua), a dramatic increase, according to the refugee agency. The main reasons for the refugee movements are:

* Insecurity due to LRA activities: The majority of the new arrivals came from the IDP camps in Mugali, Magwi and Nimule in Southern Sudan, following attacks by the LRA.

* Food insecurity

* Family reunification: Another group of new arrivals came from Katigiri, Lainya Rojo and Juba county. These, most of whom were mainly women and children from Juba, were returning to their homes but found that their relatives had relocated to Rhino Camp and Imvepi or Koboko.

* Forced recruitment by SPLA: unconfirmed refugees reports indicate that SPLA is carrying out forced recruitment.

* Education opportunities: Many of the new arrivals from Maridi area came in search of education opportunities, claiming that the schools in Sudan were expensive.

* Social-cultural factors: Some female new arrivals reported that they had to face problems related to 'wife inheritance'.

* Insecurity: Refugees coming from Bar-el-Ghazel claimed that there is currently rampant tribal fighting among the Agar vs Ngok and Apuk Dinka tribes . Reasons for this fighting were cattle rustling and women. In Aweil and Gogorial, some militia known as Murahiliin were abducting children and women and looting property and cattle.


SECURITY

The LRA has continued destabilising refugee settlements in Adjumani district. Security incidents reported in March included an attack in Melijo, close to Olua refugee settlement (south east of Pakelle) on 25 and the 26 March. Some13 people were abducted to carry looted food and non food items, one of whom has not returned.

PROTECTION

The main protection issue is the physical safety of refugees living in settlements east of Adjumani district and in the Zoka belt (south of Adjumani). The capacity of the LRA to attack is extremely high, and there is concern that the UPDF is unable to provide adequate security to civilians. The insecurity is likely to prevent refugees displaced by the LRA attacks last year from returning to their original settlements.

Meanwhile, some 800 new arrivals are still living at the reception centre in Palorinya, due to lack of land for agricultural and residential purposes. The overcrowded situation is fertile ground for the spread of epidemics and SGBV. The steady increasing in the number of new arrivals can only worsen the situation if a solution - i.e. the establishment of a new settlement - is not found immediately. Land for the establishment of new settlement has already been identified, but national authorities (National Forest Authority and Office of the Prime Minister) are yet to consider the setting of new settlements as a top priority.

V. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

FOOD SECURITY

Insecurity in northern Uganda remained the biggest obstacle to cultivation, in spite of the onset of the rainy season. Several IDPs caught venturing outside the camps in search of food, water or firewood, and those found tending their fields, were abducted, mutilated or killed. This has rendered the population in the Acholi sub-region (Gulu, Kitgum and Pader) perpetually dependent on food distributed by WFP and other humanitarian agencies. Meanwhile, according to FewsNet, food conditions continued to deteriorate in Karamoja in March, where approximately 117,000 people were currently receiving food assistance with the number expected to increase to 570,000 by April 2005. Declining livestock prices and high cereal prices were projected to lower pastoral households' ability to procure food. A good season is imperative to improve crop and livestock production and replenish food stocks.

PUBLIC HEALTH AND NUTRITION

In spite of the alarm caused by the incidence of cholera in Gulu the previous month, no cases were reported in April. There were reports of rabies in Anaka camp, where four people reportedly died after being bitten by stray dogs. District health officials were yet to intervene.

In Kitgum, agencies involved in the health sector, including the DDHS and UNICEF mounted a massive immunization campaign against polio (OPV), measles and other child related diseases. The exercise covered about 75,470 children between the ages of one month to five years. About 33,200 adolescent girls, childbearing women and lactating mothers were vaccinated against tetanus. According to the DDHS, the vaccination campaign was successful, with about 95% coverage for measles and 85% for OPV.

In Teso sub-region, OCHA mobilised stakeholders to discuss the problem of sleeping sickness. In response, WFP acknowledged the need to support sleeping sickness patients in Lwala hospital and was considering to provide food for 70 patients and one attendant each at the hospital for three months.

WATER AND SANITATION

The major issue in this sector was the need to enhance coordination at field level. In some districts in northern Uganda, agencies in the sector started working towards promoting best practices, including the management and use of water and sanitation tools distributed in IDP camps, harmonization of hygiene promotion strategies, recruitment and management of volunteers and other approaches. Lack of coordination in the sector has led to poor community participation and management.

EDUCATION

The salient issues in the education sector in the conflict-affected districts include:

* Continued lack of accommodation for teachers;

* School feeding programme still not implemented by WFP;

* Weak management of learning centres in IDP camps;

* Lack of reliable data from schools in camps, regarding enrolment; and

* Large numbers of children still not going to school in spite of the availability of the service and scholastic materials.


SHELTER AND NON-FOOD ITEMS

Humanitarian agencies continued distribution of non-food items, including blankets, clothes, soap and cooking utensils, in IDP camps. However, IDPs in rural camps identified a gap in shelter materials, particularly complaining about the long distances they have to travel in search of thatch and poles for construction. Having to venture outside the camps places the displaced people at a risk of abduction or death in the hands of LRA rebels. Furthermore, fire outbreaks in some IDP camps continued to be a menace in Gulu, causing heavy loses and leaving thousands of already vulnerable households homeless.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND PROTECTION

The major protection and human rights issues included:

* Allegations of arrest of civilians by the UPDF and detention in military barracks;

* Restriction by the UPDF of IDPs' access to farmland, in some cases to no more than 1km outside the camps due to insecurity.


VI. POLICY ISSUES

The main policy issues in March included the following:

* While partners have been called upon to support the implementation of the IDP policy, many agencies are still concerned about the government's commitment and contributions/resources to its implementation.

* The custody of children from captivity has become a major policy issue, as the former LRA commanders demand the custody of their children, along with the mothers/ 'wives', some of them below 18 years of age. The lack of acceptance by the families and communities of these child mothers is of great concern, hence the need for the Department of Community Services to become more involved with the relevant child agencies in such a serious protection issue.

* The lack of support for the IDPs in northern Apac district has been raised in different fora. Many of these IDPs bordering Gulu district are forced to seek relief assistance from Gulu camps such as Bobi, Lalogi and Opit. WFP and OCHA are considering carrying out an assessment in these camps.

* The UPDF continues to restrict the movements of IDPs, and their access to land, to a limited distance from the camp borders for security reasons, thus affecting food security, while the constant quest for food security by many camp residents remains a very hazardous undertaking.

* The need for the creation of fire breaks to avoid camp fires through the erection of low gauged iron sheets requires serious consideration from aid agencies and the government. This has been the worst year for fires yet. The de-congestion exercise at Pabbo has been useful, but it has been slow and expensive. Moreover, it is questionable in the current poor security environment whether the army would allow more sites to be created.

* There appears to be no consistency in the messages which the ICC is receiving about its prosecution process in northern Uganda. A high level delegation from Gulu went to The Hague to lobby for a delay in the issuing of arrest warrants to senior LRA officers. Later, however, there appears to be a high level delegation from Pader, travelling to The Hague to argue for the prosecutions to begin. In March, the Minister of State for Northern Rehabilitation made it clear that the government wanted the ICC prosecution to go ahead as soon as possible.


VII. MISSIONS AND VISITS

The main missions to the conflict-affected districts in March included the following:

* A large USAID mission visited the northern districts to examine post- conflict recovery planning.

* The ECHO desk officer for Brussels and the ECHO programme officer and administrator from Kampala also undertook a visit to most of the war affected districts. The aim was to assess the current humanitarian gaps and how ECHO's strategy for 2005 would address them. The biggest gap remains in the water and sanitation sector.

* Ms Elizabeth Lwanga, Director of the Africa Bureau in UNDP New York, visited northern Uganda .The visit was partly to consolidate UNDP's thinking on recovery interventions in the region.

* The US Ambassador to WFP and FAO in Rome, Tony Hall, visited the north and went out with WFP and FAO on respective food and seed distributions.

* Officials from the Swiss Development Co-operation visited northern Uganda on a follow-up mission to their visit last year. They met with IDPs and night commuters.



Note
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Date: 31 Mar 2005

Two Members of Parliament were yesterday charged with murder and sent on remand at Luzira Prisons. Ronald Reagan Okumu (Aswa), a deputy executive coordinator for the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), and Michael Nyeko Ocula (Kilak) were arrested as they walked from Parliament to the CID to make statements, on the Speaker’s advice. However, Police spokesman Assuman Mugenyi said the MPs were arrested at the CID headquarters over the February 12, 2002 murder of Alfred Bongomin, the LC3 chairman of Pabbo camp in Gulu.He said investigations were complete and that the accused would appear in court today, but the opposition MPs insisted that they had already been charged. “We have been investigating this matter. Our investigations are complete,” Mugenyi said. Okumu described the arrest and charges as political manoeuvre by the Movement to intimidate the opposition. Opposition MPs rushed to Buganda Road Court on learning of the arrest. Bugweri South MP Abdu Katuntu said, “The Movement is becoming more desperate. Their buffoonery has just started. They have been coaching an LRA returnee on what to say. We expected this and it only energises our struggle against dictatorship.” Katuntu, an FDC official, said in tramping up charges, the Government hoped to “intimidate and get opposition MPs out of circulation for one year.” “No intimidation,” he said, “will make us waiver in our fight.” Bugabula South MP Salaamu Musumba said she was saddened by the inability of the Speaker to protect MPs and by the breach of parliamentary privilege. She said members may not be arrested on their way to or from Parliament. “These guys were got from Parliament,” she said. She said the charge sheet had been amended and that the court sat after 5:00pm, past the usual working hours. “It took three minutes in court,” she said. Terego MP Kassiano Wadri said he was shocked that Okumu and Ocula were in court. “They say the crime was committed in 2002 but claim investigations are not complete and that it was committed in Gulu. Why don’t you take them to Gulu High Court? What is all this?” he said. Mugenyi said three other suspects, Steven Olanya, Alex Otim and Walter Laryang, were arrested two weeks ago over the same case and remanded in Luzira. Prior to their arrest Okumu and Ocula were required to report to the CID headquarters at 9:00am but did not. At lunchtime, Okumu said he was not aware of the summons. “The Speaker has just notified me of a letter from the CID. He apologised for not passing the letter to me,” Okumu said. He said the Speaker gave him CID chief Elizabeth Kuteesa’s telephone number. “Kuteesa insisted that the letter was in my pigeon hole. I told her there was nothing because I had just been to my pigeon hole,” he said. “It is really a shame,” she said. “This is a very disastrous development because for me my interpretation is that Acholi will die everywhere, from Kampala they die of the bad roads, in Gulu, Kony is killing them its not fair.” Mr Norbert Mao (Gulu Municipality) said, “As a matter of protest, we are going to boycott Parliament. Can you imagine the Speaker even advised Reagan to go to the police?” Mr Martin Wandera (Workers) said it was extremely regrettable though its no surprise “because this administration has demonstrated how callous it can be.” He added: “For government to behave in a manner that made some of the people go to the bush is extremely unfortunate. To use the justice system to harass the opposition is extremely unfortunate.” Walubiri who represents the duo said it was irregular that police wrote a letter through the Speaker and it (letter) was not given to the MPs in time. He said the Speaker adjourned the House prematurely without any notice. “Let me hope he was not a party to the whole thing,” Walubiri said. He said it was also irregular that the MPs reported to the CID headquarters and were immediately rushed to court, charged and remanded. “I think this is highly irregular. Ordinarily members of Parliament ought not to be subjected to this kind of process,” he said. The two MPs were planning a big demonstration to end the war in northern uganda, but the cunning regime of Yoweri museveni benefits from that war and the demo was to work against the regime. Meanwhile another 150 MPs have officially enlisted with a notorius para-military group(KAP).