Study warns against current approach to LRA insecurity
Friday 17 April 2009.
April 15, 2009 (WASHINGTON) - A recent study by the non-governmental
organization IKV Pax Christi critiques the international offensive
launched against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in December 2008, and
warns against half-hearted responses to the insecurity that followed
this event.
The report, authored by Joost van Puijenbroek and Nico Plooijer, is
titled "How EnLightning is the Thunder?" - a heading which implicitly
questions the effectiveness and rationale behind the so-called
"Operation Lightning Thunder" carried out jointly by Southern Sudan,
Uganda and DR Congo with US backing.
If the current situation is prolonged, it could result in further arming
of local self-defence units and "disastrous" humanitarian and security
consequences, says the NGO.
IKV Pax Christi's involvement with LRA issues started in 1997, seeking
ways to bring the conflict in Northern Uganda to an end. The NGO
organized a cross-border conference on security held in Arua, Northwest
Uganda in September-October 2008.
LRA is responsible for simultaneous Christmas day 2008 massacres in the
towns of Faradje, Doruma and Gurba in DR Congo, carried out in concert
before the guerillas fanned out in small groups across a wide area.
The study says that the operation bears a "striking resemblance" to the
Ugandan army's Operation Iron Fist of 2002, in that neither operation
planned adequately for protection of civilian populations which were
particularly vulnerable to reprisals.
"The humanitarian situation in the region affected by the LRA is
dramatic," explains the report. "In Congo over a 130,000 people are
internally displaced, 896 killed and 711 people abducted, among whom 540
children. As far as we know, more than a hundred people among whom
children have been abducted in the Central African Republic and an
unknown number have been killed. In Sudan over a hundred people have
been killed, over 60 people abducted and 30,000 people have fled their
homes."
In the period of months prior to the Christmas Massacres, security
worsened day by day resulting in a near total depopulation of an area
close to 10,000 square kilometers. During the same period, local defense
groups ballooned as they even demanded the departure of ineffective
national and UN forces, according to the report.
However, Operation Lightning Thunder commenced on December 14 in
northeastern DR Congo, relying heavily on air strikes and spearheaded by
Ugandan forces. When the LRA camps were taken, no casualties were found.
As the international military operation faded and the guerillas
scattered, retaliatory massacres soon extended into Southern Sudan.
According to figures cited by IKV Pax Christi, the LRA killed over 40
people and abducted others near Mboroko Payam, abducted 13 at Payam Tore
Wandi, and killed four and abducted ten at Bangolo,
By January 2009, 7000 Congolese fleeing the LRA had sought refuge in
Western Equatoria State (WES), with the highest concentration of them
being hosted in Gangura, Yambio Town and Sakure. In addition, a
cumulative total of 22,527 Sudanese were displaced by the LRA attacks in
Southern Sudan.
IKV Pax Christi claims that Vice President Machar was presented with
pleas from WES authorities to arm a local security unit, but that he
rejected the proposal, as it contradicts the government policy of
disarming the civilian population of Sudan.
"The SPLM deputy secretary general voiced extreme caution on arming
civilians, citing negative security repercussions. This is most probably
linked to the very tense relationship between different groups within
the states of Equatoria, especially Azande versus Dinka in this
context," says the report.
Western Equatoria does not have a long history of armed militias, unlike
other states of South Sudan. One historian has posited that the ferocity
of SPLA raiding against other areas hosting militias discouraged the
same development in WES.
Meanwhile, in its conclusion the NGO recommends trying to pursue a peace
agreement that builds upon the Juba Peace Process, noting that a
second-best scenario would be effectively executing the warrants of the
International Criminal Court against LRA leaders.
According to the study, Uganda should unilaterally implement some
elements of the Juba Peace Agreement, especially the provision for the
Northern Uganda Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP).
Finally, the NGO says that an international contact group should be
established comprised of the nations whose military forces are pursuing
the LRA. The contact group would include Uganda, DR Congo, Sudan and
Central African Republic, the United States, the United Kingdom, France,
the UN envoy for the LRA-affected areas, the UN envoy for the Great
Lakes, the AU envoy and the EU envoy.
(ST)
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