Two-Pronged Effort Needed to End War in Uganda

In a press release today, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said that the best approach to ending the decades long conflict in Northern Uganda is a two-pronged approach that included strengthening the peace negotiations between the Lord's Resitance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government and the long-term redevelopment of the region.

One of the major stumbling blocks in the peace negotiations has been the war crimes indictments of LRA leader Joseph Kony, Vincent Otto and two other LRA leaders by the International Criminal Court. "Addressing the LRA leaders' core security and livelihood concerns is key to peace, but direct engagement with their leaders, Joseph Kony and Vincent Otti, is needed," Adam O'Brien, an ICG analyst, said on 26 September in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. Otti has maintained that the LRA fighters would remain in hiding regardless of the outcome of the peace talks if the indictments against the LRA leaders weren't lifted. "Unless and only when the matter of the ICC is settled, none of our soldiers will get out of the bush and government should forget about any signature," Otti said.

The ICG has pointed out that an acceptable settlement would require the prosecution of the rebels and leaders that were responsible for the most heinous war crimes, including child rape, murder and the conscription of child soldiers.

In the face of such difficulties in the negotiations, the ICG report asked the international community to put pressure on both parties to resolve the situation peacefully and to recommit their resources to ensuring justice and peace for both parties in the negotiations.

"The Juba peace process has matured in the last year and improved the lives of millions of civilians, both in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. But negotiating the remaining details and implementation requires more leverage, focus and discipline," O'Brien said,pointing out that many northern Ugandans were uninformed about the peace talks in Juba, leading to feelings of marginalization.

The peace talks have been ongoing for more than a year with slow progress being made to end the 20 year war. LRA soldiers have moved from Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo, increasing the security and safety of Ugandas. The report also stated that progress would have been impossible without the support of the international community and urged other nations to offer rewards for additional progress and sanctions for impeding the process.

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Integrated Regional Information Networks