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Testimonies from "Stolen Children: Abduction and Recruitment in Northern Uganda"
(children's names have been changed)
Children abducted by the LRA:
Early on when my brothers and I were captured, the LRA explained to us that all five brothers couldn't serve in the LRA because we would not perform well. So they tied up my two younger brothers and invited us to watch. Then they beat them with sticks until the two of them died. They told us it would give us strength to fight. My youngest brother was nine years old.
-Martin P., age thirteen, abducted in February 2002
I was scared. There were many bullets fired. I dropped down for safety, but could see the tree leaves falling from the bullets. . . . I didn't shoot, but six rebel soldiers and many abducted children were killed. Over twenty children died. I was running for safety and had to jump over many of the bodies. The youngest was about twelve.
-Grace T., age sixteen, abducted in July 2002
One eighteen-year-old male tried to escape but was soon captured. Soldiers laid him on the ground and told us to step on him. All the new recruits participated-we trampled him to death. During my time with the LRA, there were other children who escaped and seven of these were caught. Of them, two were hacked to death with machetes and five were clubbed or trampled. We were either made to participate or watch the killings. The youngest recruit killed was maybe nine or ten years old.
-Mark T., seventeen, abducted in August 2002
As we moved from place to place, we would have to sleep on the grass, under trees, or in the sand. I had to fetch water, wash clothes, and cook the meals. The wives would sometimes beat me or make me carry heavy loads. If I walked slowly, I was beaten. I was beaten practically every day.
-Susan A., age twelve, abducted in October 2002
I'm not happy at all because they ruined me. I had to cut short my studies. I have no hope that I will one day be somebody. I gave birth to two children and was not prepared. I have two children and no means of survival. I worry about what will happen next.
-Christine A., age twenty, abducted in 1996
Child recruitment by Ugandan government forces:
I joined nine others who were there, mostly boys. The soldiers lured us into accepting to fight with the UPDF with offers of money and benefits, but I refused. One boy, sixteen, accepted and he immediately started training at the barracks with the other soldiers. He was moved from us and kept in better quarters.
When I arrived at the barracks, there were twenty-four escapees there-almost all were boys under seventeen. We were asked if we would join the UPDF. Five of the boys accepted, but I refused. The youngest was a fifteen-year-old named Michael. Soldiers would tempt and taunt us, insulting us for being in an army like the LRA which only runs away during the fighting. 'Be a real man, fight with a real army now like the UPDF. You will get money for your work, a gun and a uniform.'
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