II. RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Lord's Resistance Army:

· Cease attacks on civilians and civilian objects.
· Stop abducting civilians, including children.
· End all killing, torture, and sexual abuse of civilians and abductees.
· Release all abductees remaining in captivity.
· Support, cooperate with, and create a conducive environment for the proper functioning of an internationally led human rights monitoring body on northern Uganda, based in Uganda.

To the Government of Uganda:

· End impunity for human rights violations by government security and armed organizations.
· Ensure that the UPDF take immediate steps to investigate and prosecute alleged human rights violators over whom it has jurisdiction.
· Publicly clarify command structure and responsibility of government security organizations.
· Disband all organizations, such as the Kalangala Action Plan and the Labeca group, which engage in functions reserved to the police and security forces (such as investigation of possible crimes and detention), where those organizations have not been created by an act of Parliament.
· Revise the constitutional limit on pre-trial detention without bail, which currently allows for the detention on remand without bail for a period up to 360 days in cases triable only by the High Court, such as terrorism and treason, to conform to international human rights standards.
· Release or bring promptly to trial all persons detained on treason, terrorism, or other security related charges, who have been in detention for longer than the constitutionally permitted period of 360 days.
· Promptly review all cases of treason and terrorism suspects to ensure that sufficient evidence exists to justify detention.
· Cease using treason or terrorism charges as a holding charge for those arbitrarily detained in areas in which rebels are active.
· Undertake a prompt and comprehensive review of national legislation governing treason, terrorism, and other public order charges to ensure compliance with international human rights standards. In particular:

- no arrests should take place without sufficient evidence. Cease the practice of "arrest now, investigate later."
- the use of confessions as a basis for pre-trial detention should be limited to confessions freely made in the presence of counsel.
- Pre-trial detention should be kept to a minimum.
- the independence of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, including from interference by the army, should be guaranteed.

· Ensure efficient mechanisms that enable victims and their families to report allegations of human rights abuses. Reporting mechanisms should be designed to ensure legal action can be taken and reporters of abuse are protected.
· Thoroughly investigate all alleged cases of sexual abuse or rape by members of the UPDF, and bring to justice those responsible.
· Ensure that all members of the UPDF receive HIV/AIDS education and awareness training, and have access to counseling and testing services.
· Take effective measures to protect civilians.
· Instruct the UPDF and security personnel to take all possible steps to protect children from abduction by the LRA.
· When fighting the LRA, take all feasible steps to minimize child casualties.
· Transport children as quickly as possible from outlying barracks in the districts to the Child Protection Units. Ensure that children are kept at the CPU's no longer than forty-eight hours.
· Identify and demobilize all children currently serving in the Local Defence Units (LDUs) or UPDF.
· Immediately end all recruitment of those under the age of eighteen years into the LDUs or UPDF and ensure that all individuals recruited in the future are at least eighteen years of age, pursuant to the Ugandan constitution.
· Investigate allegations of recruitment of released or returned child abductees while held at UPDF barracks, such as the child abductees held at Achol-Pii barracks in late 2002. Promptly bring those responsible for child recruitment to justice.
· Relocate Sudanese refugee camps a safe distance from the border with Sudan and other areas of LRA activity, and with sensitivity to the ethnic composition of the refugees and host communities.
· Provide a public accounting to the citizens of Uganda of the reasons for which displacement of northern Ugandans has been ordered, pursuant to article 17, Protocol II of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
· Provide satisfactory conditions, such as spelled out in the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, of shelter, hygiene, health, safety and nutrition for internally displaced persons.
· Ensure protection for existing IDP camps and, except for extreme circumstances of insecurity, allow those who wish to leave the camps to do so.
· Support, cooperate with, and create a conducive environment for the proper functioning of an internationally led human rights monitoring body on northern Uganda, based in Uganda.

To Ugandan Legal Institutions Including the Police, the Judiciary, and the Uganda Human Rights Commission

· Ensure that the treason and anti-terrorism provisions of the Ugandan Penal Code are not applied to any person without a thorough investigation and are not used to detain persons (especially if they are political opposition members) against whom there is little or no evidence.

To the Sudanese Government:

· Protect Sudanese civilians from attacks by the LRA and end all forms of support for the LRA.
· Remove all children in LRA custody within the borders of Sudan from the LRA and arrange to have them cared for in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

To the U.N. Secretary-General:

· Appoint a special representative for the abducted children of northern Uganda to conduct "shuttle diplomacy" between the LRA and the Ugandan government with the aim of securing the release into safety of all those abducted by the LRA as children, and to seek an end to future abductions. The envoy should work closely with the appointed government peace team, religious and other civilian leaders in northern Uganda, as well as with NGOs and U.N. agencies involved in the situation.

To the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF):

· Establish and maintain an office in northern Uganda in order to strengthen child protection activities on behalf of children in the north, including refugee children.
· Continue to monitor child recruitment by Ugandan military forces, including the UPDF and LDUs, and continue to raise the issue with the relevant authorities.

To Donor Countries:

· Closely monitor any military assistance to the Ugandan government to ensure that human rights standards are strictly observed by the UPDF and security forces.
· Continue to support international NGOs and U.N. agencies working in northern Uganda for the protection of children, refugees, internally displaced persons, and other civilians.
· Sponsor and support the creation of a full-time international human rights monitoring field presence in northern Uganda and Kampala. The monitoring unit should investigate incidents of abuses and submit regular and public reports on the conflict in northern Uganda.
· Insist that all parties cease targeting civilians and provide immediate and unimpeded access for humanitarian activities both in southern Sudan and northern Uganda.
· Contribute the necessary funds for the assistance of the at-risk population of northern Uganda.
· Encourage the government of Uganda and the UPDF to provide proper security for relief and humanitarian activities in northern Uganda as needed, and not on the basis or condition of payments in cash or kind to the UPDF for fuel, food, and other items.
· Provide diplomatic and financial support for the appointment of a special representative for the abducted children of northern Uganda.
· Encourage the government of Uganda to disband paramilitary groups.
· Support the Sudanese refugees from Achol-pii refugee camp in their desire to be relocated far from insecure areas of Uganda.

To the Canadian Government:

· Follow up on commitments made at the Winnipeg Conference and continue negotiations with Sudan and Egypt for release of the abducted children.

To the African Union and the African Commission on Human and People's Rights:

· Investigate and report on human rights abuses in northern Uganda and widely circulate the findings to African Union members.
· Work with and support the East African community and the InterGovernmental Authority on Development in discussions on solutions for human rights abuses in northern Uganda.