Bush Signs Law to Monitor Kony And UPDF
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The East African (Nairobi)
August 9, 2004
Posted to the web August 10, 2004
Kevin J. Kelley And Wairagala Wakabi
Washington/Kampala
A LAW signed last week by President George W. Bush will see the US monitor more
closely the actions of both sides engaged in the Kony war in northern Uganda.
Under the terms of the new law, known as the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act, the
US Secretary of State must report to Congress early next year on the sources of
support for the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which is led by Joseph Kony.
The top American diplomat is also required to assess the conduct of Ugandan government
forces in the conflict zones. This review will focus on the military's responses to
civilian complaints and its efforts to ensure that any member of the armed forces that
abuses a civilian is held accountable for such abuse.
Other sections of the law, which was sponsored by Senator Russ Feingold, require no
specific actions on the part of the US government. But the initiative does convey the
sense of Congress that the Bush administration should play a greater role in helping
to end the 17-year-long war.
A Democrat known for his involvement in African issues, Senator Feingold said last
month that his legislation is an attempt to energise both the government of Uganda and
the international community to address this horrifying crisis.
Because it does not signify any shifts in US policy toward Uganda, Senator Feingold's
legislation encountered no obstacles as it moved through Congress and on to the White
House, where President Bush signed it without comment. The absence of controversy also
reflected the generally low level of interest in Uganda on the part of US legislators.
At the same time, the law does highlight Washington's refusal to give uncritical
backing to the Ugandan government's prosecution of the Kony war.
A preamble to the law says that the US and the Republic of Uganda enjoy a strong
bilateral relationship. The text also notes that the US regards the LRA as a terrorist
organisation responsible for the abduction of thousands of Ugandan children.
But the law further observes that the government's military campaigns have not
succeeded in bringing security to civilian populations in the region. The Northern
Uganda Crisis Response Act then calls on the Bush administration to increase pressure
on President Yoweri Museveni in regard to human rights concerns.
The US, the law says, should urge Mr Museveni's government to improve the
professionalism of Ugandan military personnel currently stationed in northern and
eastern Uganda, with an emphasis on respect for human rights, accountability for
abuses, and effective civilian protection. The Ugandan government should also be
persuaded to permit international human rights monitors to operate in the north and
east of the country, the law adds.
Senator Feingold further intended that his legislation should serve as a crystal clear
warning to the government of Sudan. Relations between Washington and Khartoum cannot
improve, the senator declared last month, until Sudan's rulers have cut off all forms
of support for the LRA. The law itself refers to the finding by Human Rights Watch
that Sudan has been the only known sponsor of the Lord's Resistance Army since the
mid-1990s. It also notes the Sudan government's denial that it assists the LRA.
Meanwhile, Ugandan military officials say the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF)
will remain deep inside Sudan until they conclude the campaign against the LRA rebels.
Since March 2002, the Sudanese government has been giving the UPDF about eight months
at a time to hunt Kony inside Sudan, and has even drawn a line beyond which the
Ugandan forces could not go.
But now, in a move that could deal a severe blow to the insurgents, the stay of the
UPDF is unlimited, and the "red line" around Nisitu-Tolit-Jabelein has been scrapped.
"We are still working with the Sudanese army, and the red line is no more," UPDF
spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza told The EastAfrican last Thursday.
He added that the Ugandan forces would not leave the area before completing the
ongoing operations against the LRA, in an area the UPDF was only able to access for
the first time at the end of last month.
The biggest blow to the rebels in a very long time came on July 28 when a combined
force of the Sudan Peoples Armed Forces (SPAF) and the UPDF attacked Kony's camp,
which was said to be two kilometres from an SPAF camp.
Over 120 LRA fighters were killed and several residents of what is believed to be
Kony's last camp captured - among them four of his wives and 13 children.
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The Biriniang attack followed demands by Kampala that the Sudanese army arrests Kony,
as he was in territory, which the protocol between the two countries did not allow
Ugandan forces to access.
A letter Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi wrote to his Sudanese counterpart on the
instructions of President Yoweri Museveni said Kony was about two kilometres from
Nisitu, in a zone where the UPDF were not allowed to go, so it asked Sudanese
authorities to arrest the rebel leader.
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