The oldest conflict in Africa has taken more than 30,000 children as child soldiers, many others used as sex slaves, almost all have been abducted from their families. All 30,000 plus children, some as young as eight, have suffered in the violent hands of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), in northern Uganda. According to the UN approximately 90% of the LRA is composed of children, making the this slave army nothing more than one the world's largest violations on children's rights. As the conflict has now dragged on for decades, many children seem to have found no escape from the fighting, many who have been freed, only find themselves caught back in the violence as they are re-abducted, or worse killed for trying to escape. Others have found that with little to no skills, alienation by their former villages, and few places to turn for any form of rehabilitation or education, that the national Ugandan Army is the only place to turn, and thus the prospect of a normal life is little more than a distant dream.
Peace talks where renewed in Juba, Sudan, between the Ugandan government and the LRA, a new two-month truce agreed on May 19, is to last until the end of July. On July 4th the Ugandan government also made efforts to set up a special tribunal to deal with war crimes allegedly committed by northern rebels during a 20-year conflict, but that it would not handle charges of abuse by the Ugandan army. LRA guerrillas immediately rejected the move as a breach of a deal signed on Saturday that aims to end a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted nearly 2 million more (Reuters). Many in the human rights field are heavily concerned that the trials will not allocate significant punishment for the crimes committed, and thus could be disastrous if the punishment does not fit the crime. A figurative slap on the hand will only bring more injustice to those who have been victims, especially children who have been and are still held as child soldiers.
” The latest Juba agreement recognizes that trials are needed for the most serious crimes committed in northern Uganda, and this is welcome, but the agreement leaves open the question of penalties if there are convictions. Penalties should reflect the gravity of the crimes, with imprisonment as the principal penalty. “, said Richard Dicker, Director, International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch.
“The ICC's arrest warrants for four LRA leaders on war crimes and crimes against humanity are a chance to ensure justice for some of the most serious crimes committed in northern Uganda and to show would-be perpetrators that no one is above the law, thereby helping to promote a peace that is durable. …the ICC would remain the appropriate forum to try the LRA leaders…” (Adequate Penalties Needed Along With Trials). The LRA has stated that they will not sign a detailed peace agreement with the Ugandan government, unless the warrants are withdrawn. The ICC currently looks to be standing strong in it's decision, and has no plans to back down anytime in the future. According to the ICC lead prosecutor, "To withdraw the warrants there has to be a legal challenge by Uganda or the LRA," he stressed. He said many witnesses had been interviewed. "I will not tell you how many but they are enough. They gave statements and we have all the evidence to prove the case" (Kony Must Face Trial) .
The Ugandan government first looked towards the ICC for assistance in investigating the LRA in 2003, then Ugandan President Museveni was the first head of state to place a domestic war crimes case before the ICC, in January 2004. Although a great achievement in many senses, the continuing violence in the country, makes the prospect of peace and justice seem a long way off. In October 2005, the ICC issued indictments for five leading LRA officials, including Joseph Kony, the LRA leader who is the primary force behind the violent abductions and enslavement of child soldiers. While a landmark moment for the ICC, the continuing LRA violence complicates the case, and any legal resolutions in Uganda. Nevertheless in October 2005, the ICC issued indictments for five top LRA officials. For now, as the fighting continues, so does the debate over International or local traditional justice, for many Ugandans. Some believe that Kony and his leaders should be allowed to be dismissed into exile, for the sake of quicker peace. Exiling leaders who have committed grave crimes against humanity is not a foreign concept for many African nations, so for many it is a viable means to a resolution of a longstanding internal conflict, most have longed for longer than they can remember.
Photo: Human Security in Northern Uganda
The daily life in the LRA for children, is unimaginable, as they are forced to endure mental, sexual and physical abuses. Often children are forced to kill members of their own families, friends, neighbors, and this is only a small part of the killing and violence they are forced to partake in. Many children are taken not only as soldiers, but to be domestic and sexual slaves, some young girls have bore new soldiers for the LRA's continuing rampage.
Grace Grall Akallo, a former LRA child soldier, now a Spokesperson for World Vision, said of her experience,
“I, and the other girls captured with me, were trained to assemble and disassemble, clean and use guns. We were used as slave labor by the LRA and Sudanese government soldiers. We were forcibly given to senior LRA commanders as so-called ‘wives.'”
Justin Okot, has faced seven years of forced captivity as a child soldier with the LRA, now held by the SPLA in Sudan, his fate is still unknown. Now only 20 years old, he longs for nothing more than to see his family again and continue his education. At 13 Justin, was kidnapped by LRA rebels, seized from his bed in the middle of the night, Justin was lucky to be the only one of his brothers taken. For Justin and all of the other child soldiers, leaving was not an option…
"If you try to escape, they definitely kill you – so many people have been killed trying to escape. If you get too tired to walk, or too sick to work, they kill you.” (“I was forced to be an LRA rebel for seven years”)
One can only hope that there is an end in sight for the child soldiers of Uganda, and that they will have justice served in their name, to all who have victimized them, and stolen their innocence.
Please see my previous piece on Child Soldiers in Africa
Links:
USA Support Needed for International Campaign to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
Choike – Child Soldiers – In depth Information and Great Links
Human Rights Watch – Child Soldiers
Child Soldiers 1379 Report
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
World Revolution
The Middle East North Africa (MENA) Regional Network to Stop the Use of Children as Soldiers
Stolen Childhood
Children with Guns
War Child
Optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict
The Child Soldiers Project
Anna Kari – Has some amazing photos of Ugandan child soldiers
Invisible Children – Documentary about Child Soldiers and Night Commuters in Northern Uganda
NPR – Child Soldiers Fight Forgotten War in Uganda
Uganda Watch Blogspot
Arrest Warrant for Joseph Kony
