III. BACKGROUND

The current conflict in northern Uganda began soon after the National Resistance Army (NRA) of President Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986 from Tito Okello Lutwa's government. Remnants of the previous government's forces fled into northern Uganda and southern Sudan and formed the Ugandan People's Democratic Army (UPDA). Many of these soldiers originated from the north, including the districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, which are inhabited almost exclusively by the Acholi people and are known collectively as Acholi-land.

The UPDA continued to fight the government in the north until 1988. During this period, several splinter groups formed in Acholi-land, which were based partly on traditional and Christian religious beliefs. One of these groups, which was organized by Joseph Kony, drew support from UPDA deserters, Acholi youth and members of other splinter groups. Kony first named his movement the Lord's Salvation Army which was later changed to the United Christian Democratic Army and, finally, renamed the Lord's Resistance Army. The NRA later became the army of the government of Uganda, and in 1995, was renamed the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF).

The LRA, ostensibly dedicated to the overthrow of the Ugandan government, has brutalized the Acholi population in northern Uganda. It kills and mutilates civilians, abducts children and adults, loots homes and public buildings, and burns villages and fields. Until 2002, the LRA had been principally based in southern Sudan, conducting cross border raids, attacking UPDF positions, and abducting children and taking them to Sudan. The LRA enjoyed the support of the Sudanese government in retaliation for the support which the government of Uganda gave to a Sudanese rebel group, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). In late 1999, the governments of Sudan and Uganda entered into an agreement to cease support for each other's rebel groups, and strengthened diplomatic relations, later exchanging ambassadors. Improved bilateral relations led to Sudan giving permission to the Ugandan government to conduct a military operation inside southern Sudan known as "Operation Iron Fist." The operation was launched in March 2002, when the government of Uganda sent up to 10,000 UPDF troops into southern Sudan to rout the LRA from their bases. Some of the LRA fled into the Imatong Mountains in Sudan, many more crossed back into Uganda in mid-2002.

One justification for "Iron Fist" was the rescue of abducted children. Since the beginning of the operation, at least 2,000 children have been retrieved, captured or have managed to escape on their own. During this same period however, 5,000 more children have been abducted-more than in any previous year.

In response to the conflict and purportedly to protect civilians from LRA attacks, the Ugandan government has forcibly displaced much of the civilian population into camps commonly known as protected villages. From 1996 to 2000, some 400,000 civilians, mostly from Gulu district, were rounded up by the military and forced into camps. Following the return of the LRA into Uganda in 2002, another 400,000 have been forced to relocate into camps, mainly in Kitgum and Pader districts. Currently, some 800,000 people out of an estimated total population of 1,100,000 are internally displaced in Acholi-land. The UPDF has also committed human rights abuses in the north, including the murder and rape of civilians, recruitment of children, and the looting of property.¹

Efforts to broker a ceasefire and lasting peace between the LRA and the government have to date been unsuccessful. The closest attempt, negotiated by then Minister for the North Betty Bigombe in late 1993, fell apart in February 1994. More recently, a group of prominent Acholis initiated contacts with the LRA and carried written and oral messages back and forth between the LRA and the Ugandan government regarding conditions for peace talks. In 2000, the Ugandan government adopted an amnesty law to encourage members of the LRA to give up their arms, but to date, few higher-level LRA fighters have left the LRA. In 2002, the government appointed an official delegation to negotiate with the LRA but as of the time of writing, official talks have not yet taken place. On March 2, 2003, Joseph Kony declared a unilateral ceasefire, but LRA fighters violated the declaration in the following days killing and abducting civilians. President Museveni on March 6, announced that the UPDF would not accept the ceasefire declaration but several days later declared a limited cease fire by UPDF forces so that the government delegation and LRA commanders could meet.²

1 See Human Rights Watch, Hostile to Democracy: The Movement System and Political Repression in Uganda (New York: Human Rights Watch, August 1999), pp. 120-123. See also, Gersony, Robert, The Anguish of Northern Uganda: Results of a Field-Based Assessment of the Civil Conflicts in Northern Uganda (Kampala: U.S. Agency for International Development, August 1997), pp. 45-48, Human Rights Focus, Between Two Fires: The Human Rights Situation in `Protected Camps' in Gulu District, February 2002, pp. 43-54.

2 The New Vision, "No Ceasefire, Says Museveni," Kampala, March 6, 2003, The Monitor, "Museveni Offers 5-Day Ceasefire," Kampala, March 11, 2003.