ugnet_: The 'Carnival' killing in Uganda - BBC

[Omar Kezimbira]

Last Updated: Saturday, 28 February, 2004, 12:08 GMT E-mail this to a friend Printable version

The 'carnival' killing in Uganda

By Andrew Harding BBC correspondent, Lira The LRA are accused of killing 200 people in the refugee camp Andrew Harding travelled to Lira after a massacre in the area of 200 people by rebels a week ago which led the Ugandan parliament to declare the northern part of the country a disaster zone. I have seen lynch mobs before. But from a distance. This was the first time I have been caught up in the middle of one. Two things stand out in my memory, like scabs you can't help picking. One is the laughter. The sound of men giggling and cheering as they casually picked up stones and chased their victims down the street. At times there was almost a carnival atmosphere. The other is the sheer number of women involved. Not just those being attacked - no surprise there - but the ringleaders of the mob. I watched an elegant lady in a beautiful green and yellow dress go to hut after hut, directing the violence. "Smash this bicycle" - she ordered a group of teenaged boys. "Here, let's throw all this inside that hut. Now stand back - I'm going to set fire to it. OK. Let's go this way." Just before the frenzy started, I felt a small hand grab my own. We were in the middle of a huge crowd - a peace rally marching through town. About 10,000 people marched through Lira calling for protection They were families demanding that Uganda's military do more to protect them from the Lords Resistance Army - killers who are terrorising the countryside, massacring and abducting. I was busy. I nearly pushed the hand away. But I looked down and a skinny boy stared at me and immediately started crying. He blurted out that his parents, his brother and his sister, had just been killed by the LRA. " I don't know what to do," he said. I told him to stick close to me. We will try to help. But I need to work right now. A few minutes later, the boy, Innocent Odongo, tugged at me. Those men over there, he said. They want to fight. I heard what they're saying. We should go. And then it started. Lynch mob The next hour was a blur of adrenalin. And snap decisions. As a journalist - the impulse is to follow the action. And so my cameraman, Phil Davies, and our producer, Nawaz Shah, ran with the crowd. But to begin with, we were not sure what impact our presence would have. Cameras can incite people. But they can also scare them. And what if the mob turned on us? Uganda security forces opened fire on the protesters The first test came within seconds. A woman was dragged out of her hut, wailing with fear. Rocks bouncing off her tin roof. Flames already licking at the walls. We moved in close. Phil shouted to me: "Stay with her." The ringleaders saw us, and the camera, and started to wave the crowd back. "Leave her alone," they said. "That's enough." And off they ran...to the next street. Lynch mobs are not uncommon in east Africa. If you shout "thief" in some parts of Nairobi, you might as well shout - "kill that man". Vigilante justice is what you get when you mix poverty with a society that knows the police will do nothing. In Uganda - there was an extra ingredient. Tribalism. The mob was attacking members of the Acholi minority, accusing them of being linked to the LRA. It is nonsense. A lot of LRA members are indeed Acholi - but almost all of them have been abducted against their will. This was just an angry crowd, looking to take out its frustration on the easiest scapegoat. Eventually, the army arrived. It took them a good hour to get from their barracks half a mile away. We heard gunfire in the distance. Later, a colleague told us they had shot into the air and into the crowd. Slowly, the morgue and the hospital filled up, and the town calmed down. We hired some bicycle taxis, and headed back to a guest house on the edge of Lira. Innocent came with us. We called a small Dutch charity that I'd heard about and two women came round almost immediately. They run an orphanage and promised to look after him. I have spoken to them by phone a couple of times since, and Innocent is doing OK Narrow escape The day before the riot, we'd driven out into the countryside. Uganda's President, Yoweri Museveni, had invited us to see what his army was doing to crush the LRA. We went with the President in a heavily armed convoy. But by the time we got to the army camp, it was time to head back to the capital, Kampala. We had deadlines to meet. "That's OK", said the President. "The cars can go back in the same armed convoy. You can stay a bit longer and fly home in my helicopter." We agreed to stay on. The decision probably saved our lives. Our car hit a landmine on the way back to Kampala. The soldier sitting in my seat, was killed. From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday, 28 February, 2004 at 1130 GMT on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World Service transmission times. E-mail this to a friend Printable version

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