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North Uganda must come out of the dead-end of death and destruction
it has reached: the rebels of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) continue
unpunished to massacre civilians, the government troops always more often
commit crimes against the population, while the number of displaced has
risen to over 800-thousand, most of which run the risk of malnutrition.
This is the catastrophic scenario traced by the religious leaders of the
ARLPI (Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative), headed by the Catholic
Archbishop of Gulu, Monsignor John Baptist Odama. At the conclusion of the
annual assembly held in these days in Gulu, main city of North Uganda,
they issued a document to inform the world of the disastrous conditions of
these territories. “The Lord calls us to be participant in what is
occurring in North Uganda – indicates the document received by MISNA – and
tells us: speak on behalf of these people! Do something for their
sufferance. The situation is desperate”. The document expresses serious
concern over what is occurring in the region: the rebels of the LRA kill
without mercy, kidnap dozens of children daily, attack villages and
conduct ambushes along the roads, on which nearly anybody dares circulate
anymore. The religious leaders also denounced the “intolerable and
degrading conditions” of the displaced. Those able to return home, often
find their huts devastated and pillaged by guerrillas or even by
government soldiers. The Kampala troops – criticise the Catholic,
Protestant and Orthodox leaders, signatories of the document – are always
more frequently conducting undisciplined acts: “Innocent people – they
wrote in the document issued to MISNA – were recently killed or robbed at
road blocks in Kitgum, Pader, Ngora and in many other locations”. To make
an already obscure situation worse - observed the religious leaders – “is
that most of these facts are systematically silenced or distorted”. As
denounced many times by MISNA, the Kampala government press tends to give
brilliant accounts of the military operations against the rebels, many of
which end up being failures and incapable of guaranteeing security to the
population. The ARLPI leaders – also a principle voice of the Ugandan
civil society – relaunched with urgency the necessity to “start respecting
human life and reach peace”. For this reason they also addressed the
rebels: “Dear brothers and sisters of the LRA, it is not enough to say ‘we
want peace’ but you must prove it in your actions. Do not refuse”. This
appeal was directly addressed to Kampala authorities: “Dear brothers and
sisters of the Ugandan government – read the ARLPI letter – do not tire of
pursuing a peaceful solution. Take care of your citizens and as soon as
possible address the issue of discipline among the military ranks”. In
conclusion the heart-felt call to the international community: “Do not
watch our tragedy from far – concluded the religious leaders of North
Uganda – and do not delay sending humanitarian aid. Do not drop a curtain
of silence of the international mass-media on our serious
problems”. |
