In Uganda, Terror Forces Children's Nightly Flight
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, February 13, 2004; Page A01 GULU, Uganda -- Night was falling quickly. In the faded red and orange light of Africa at dusk, two 15-year-old girls, Jennifer Adoch and Susan Oyella, arms linked, backs straight, hair tightly shaved, hiked dusty trails without shoes, their feet swollen and callused.
[See the attached file] [See the attached file] [See the attached file]
They walked with thousands of other children, all rushing away from the danger of nighttime rebel raids on their villages and toward the safety of the town center to sleep. Tiny boys in tattered clothing, girls with chubby cheeks clutching ragged dolls, others with foam mattresses balanced on their heads, others with nothing at all were walking. Jennifer and Susan sang a marching song. "People in Gulu are suffering. Education is poor. Communication is poor. There are no more virgins in Gulu," the girls sang sweetly in English. "They were all raped. Hear us now: There are no more virgins in Gulu." T he children are called simply "the night commuters." About 15,000 young Ugandans trek every evening from more than 300 villages, some more than five miles away, into the safety of Gulu, about 175 miles north of the capital, Kampala. Other towns in northern Uganda, such as nearby Lira and Kitgum, also have their nightly flood of children. Rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, a guerrilla movement active in northern Uganda since 1987, raid villages at night, abducting boys and girls to fill the ranks of their army and to become sex slaves and porters. After the government launched an offensive two years ago, the kidnappings increased. Last year, an average of 30 children every day were snatched from boarding schools and homes, according to UNICEF. Terrified of abductions, which almost always took place at night, the children began to sleep in the towns, where it was harder for rebels to attack. Parents stayed behind in the villages to watch over their possessions. They, too, have been the victims of rebel kidnappings, but children are the main targets. An estimated 34,000 children have been abducted since 1994. "My family was killed by rebels so I started footing it to the bus park. So many [children] were there, too," said Jennifer, her large eyes shifting down. In the dark, three months ago, she was offered about 30 cents to sleep with a man. She said she closed her eyes and accepted the offer. "I'm not lazy. I can run. I have been beaten. I have been taken to discos and raped. I am not scared anymore," Susan said. The Children
On the road to Gulu, Innocent Opinonya, 14, walked gracefully and with perfect posture. Also walking, but with her back hunched over and her sho ulders folded into her body, was his sister Prossy Atimango, who was just 16 but seemed 60. Prossy quietly recalled being taken as a "rebel wife" on a Tuesday in the last week of July 1998. She was mute for three months after escaping last year. Her first words to her brother were ones he still remembers: "I am still fearing in the village that they may abduct me. Let's hide in Gulu town." Prossy looked so solemn that she appeared to be lost in nightmares. She said she was raped many times. She described being forced to participate in killing a fellow prisoner -- a girl with light brown eyes -- who disobeyed a guerrilla commander. "I am really ashamed. I was disrespecting my heart. I wanted to be dead, afterwards. I wasn't experiencing life. It was living a curse," mumbled Prossy, her eyes welling with tears. She pulled her jacket over her head and said again: "I wanted to be dead. I wanted to take my own life." "Then you found me," Innocent piped in, touching her hand. "I was fear ing, too, and I told you we could be together." CONTINUED
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In a message dated 2/12/ 2004 7:00:18 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Please research the organization favored by M7 to broker peace in Northern Uganda. Part of the reaseon that St Egidio is favored by M7 is because it leaves M7 to be in charge of security. This organization does not have an army whereas he UN would marshall an army as it did in next door DRC. Anyhow, good reading. Granted that this organization had success in Mozambique, it makes the possibility of success weaker. The UN has a much longer and greater nuber of involvement with much more resourcs than this organization. If M7 is serious, we should give it a chance.
_______________________________________________________________Museveni snubs UN hand in Kony war
By Frank Nyakairu
Feb 13, 2004
KAMPALA – President Museveni does not favour United Nations’ intervention in the conflict in northern Uganda.
This reportedly came out of a meeting, Museveni had with three Italian senators from the Human Rights Commission.
He met the senators on Tuesday at State Lodge, Nakasero.
“The president does not favour United Nations as a third party but favours the community of Sant’ Egidio [Italian religious Organization] [to play] a third party role,” Mr Enrico Pianeta the president of the commission told journalists yesterday.
Enrico led a three-man delegation of senators composed of Mr Antonio Iovene and Mr Alessando Forlani.
“The president has given his reasons for his lack of trust in the UN by giving examples in this region in which they (UN) have been unsuccessful,” Enrico added.
The Missionary News Agency-MISNA quoted the President as saying; “Uganda does not need a multinational force: when we asked for help from the UN it did not arrive and now it is too late”.
The Special Presidential Assistant on the media Mr Onapito Ekomoloit also confirmed the president’s stand.
“The president was very clear, he said the situation does not demand the UN`s intervention because we are dealing with terrorists,” Onapito said by telephone yesterday.
Enrico said that though Museveni prefers a military solution to the northern conflict, he is willing to let a third party to intervene.
The community of Sant’ Egidio is an Italian catholic organization that has brokered peace between Frelimo, and the anti-communist Renamo in the Mozambican civil war in the 1990s.
The LRA has fought the Ugandan government since 1988. Scores have died and over a million have been forced in protective camps.
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By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, February 13, 2004; Page A01 GULU, Uganda -- Night was falling quickly. In the faded red and orange light of Africa at dusk, two 15-year-old girls, Jennifer Adoch and Susan Oyella, arms linked, backs straight, hair tightly shaved, hiked dusty trails without shoes, their feet swollen and callused.
[See the attached file] [See the attached file] [See the attached file]
They walked with thousands of other children, all rushing away from the danger of nighttime rebel raids on their villages and toward the safety of the town center to sleep. Tiny boys in tattered clothing, girls with chubby cheeks clutching ragged dolls, others with foam mattresses balanced on their heads, others with nothing at all were walking. Jennifer and Susan sang a marching song. "People in Gulu are suffering. Education is poor. Communication is poor. There are no more virgins in Gulu," the girls sang sweetly in English. "They were all raped. Hear us now: There are no more virgins in Gulu." T he children are called simply "the night commuters." About 15,000 young Ugandans trek every evening from more than 300 villages, some more than five miles away, into the safety of Gulu, about 175 miles north of the capital, Kampala. Other towns in northern Uganda, such as nearby Lira and Kitgum, also have their nightly flood of children. Rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, a guerrilla movement active in northern Uganda since 1987, raid villages at night, abducting boys and girls to fill the ranks of their army and to become sex slaves and porters. After the government launched an offensive two years ago, the kidnappings increased. Last year, an average of 30 children every day were snatched from boarding schools and homes, according to UNICEF. Terrified of abductions, which almost always took place at night, the children began to sleep in the towns, where it was harder for rebels to attack. Parents stayed behind in the villages to watch over their possessions. They, too, have been the victims of rebel kidnappings, but children are the main targets. An estimated 34,000 children have been abducted since 1994. "My family was killed by rebels so I started footing it to the bus park. So many [children] were there, too," said Jennifer, her large eyes shifting down. In the dark, three months ago, she was offered about 30 cents to sleep with a man. She said she closed her eyes and accepted the offer. "I'm not lazy. I can run. I have been beaten. I have been taken to discos and raped. I am not scared anymore," Susan said. The Children
On the road to Gulu, Innocent Opinonya, 14, walked gracefully and with perfect posture. Also walking, but with her back hunched over and her sho ulders folded into her body, was his sister Prossy Atimango, who was just 16 but seemed 60. Prossy quietly recalled being taken as a "rebel wife" on a Tuesday in the last week of July 1998. She was mute for three months after escaping last year. Her first words to her brother were ones he still remembers: "I am still fearing in the village that they may abduct me. Let's hide in Gulu town." Prossy looked so solemn that she appeared to be lost in nightmares. She said she was raped many times. She described being forced to participate in killing a fellow prisoner -- a girl with light brown eyes -- who disobeyed a guerrilla commander. "I am really ashamed. I was disrespecting my heart. I wanted to be dead, afterwards. I wasn't experiencing life. It was living a curse," mumbled Prossy, her eyes welling with tears. She pulled her jacket over her head and said again: "I wanted to be dead. I wanted to take my own life." "Then you found me," Innocent piped in, touching her hand. "I was fear ing, too, and I told you we could be together." CONTINUED
1 2 3 4 Â Â Next >
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In a message dated 2/12/ 2004 7:00:18 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Subj: [fpa_members] St. Egidio to mediate peace talk?Members,
Date: 2/12/2004 7:00:18 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Please research the organization favored by M7 to broker peace in Northern Uganda. Part of the reaseon that St Egidio is favored by M7 is because it leaves M7 to be in charge of security. This organization does not have an army whereas he UN would marshall an army as it did in next door DRC. Anyhow, good reading. Granted that this organization had success in Mozambique, it makes the possibility of success weaker. The UN has a much longer and greater nuber of involvement with much more resourcs than this organization. If M7 is serious, we should give it a chance.
_______________________________________________________________Museveni snubs UN hand in Kony war
By Frank Nyakairu
Feb 13, 2004
KAMPALA – President Museveni does not favour United Nations’ intervention in the conflict in northern Uganda.
This reportedly came out of a meeting, Museveni had with three Italian senators from the Human Rights Commission.
He met the senators on Tuesday at State Lodge, Nakasero.
“The president does not favour United Nations as a third party but favours the community of Sant’ Egidio [Italian religious Organization] [to play] a third party role,” Mr Enrico Pianeta the president of the commission told journalists yesterday.
Enrico led a three-man delegation of senators composed of Mr Antonio Iovene and Mr Alessando Forlani.
“The president has given his reasons for his lack of trust in the UN by giving examples in this region in which they (UN) have been unsuccessful,” Enrico added.
The Missionary News Agency-MISNA quoted the President as saying; “Uganda does not need a multinational force: when we asked for help from the UN it did not arrive and now it is too late”.
The Special Presidential Assistant on the media Mr Onapito Ekomoloit also confirmed the president’s stand.
“The president was very clear, he said the situation does not demand the UN`s intervention because we are dealing with terrorists,” Onapito said by telephone yesterday.
Enrico said that though Museveni prefers a military solution to the northern conflict, he is willing to let a third party to intervene.
The community of Sant’ Egidio is an Italian catholic organization that has brokered peace between Frelimo, and the anti-communist Renamo in the Mozambican civil war in the 1990s.
The LRA has fought the Ugandan government since 1988. Scores have died and over a million have been forced in protective camps.
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