From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 21 Jul 92 09:19 PDT
Subject: GL: Uganda hoodwinks the world
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700239:000:4605
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Jul 21 09:19:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: GL: Uganda hoodwinks the world

/* Written  7:14 pm  Jul 21, 1992 by peg:greenleft in cdp:greenleft.news */
Uganda `hoodwinks' world, say opponents

By Norm Dixon

LONDON - Britain's Ugandan community has appealed to 
international aid donors not to be taken in by ``the fallacious 
propaganda of the government of Uganda''. John Obwona-lanana, 
chairperson of the Ugandan Community in the UK, spoke to Green 
Left Weekly during a protest outside a seminar organised by the 
Ugandan government.

``This is a bid to hoodwink the world and bluff international 
opinion, particularly the donor countries, into believing that 
the violation of human rights has improved and that [the Ugandan 
government] is prepared to restore democracy. The real motive is 
to try to solicit foreign exchange.''

Uganda's recent history is one of unrelenting misery: the 
genocidal reign of Idi Amin from 1971 to 1979; the bloody ousting 
of Amin by the Uganda National Liberation Front with the 
assistance of the Tanzanian army; the terror of the Milton Obote 
regime, which rivalled Amin in brutality and killed as many as 
300,000 in its struggle against the rebel National Resistance 
Army between 1981 and 1986.

With the victory of the NRA, led by Yoweri Museveni, Ugandans 
hoped that the string of brutal, corrupt dictatorships which 
ruled by fanning ethnic and tribal divisions might have finally 
come to an end. Sadly, this has not been the case, Obwona-lanana 
and other Ugandans at the June 23 demonstration told Green Left.

Museveni immediately signalled that the rights of ethnic and 
tribal minorities in the north and east would not be respected. 
He accused people from these areas of being the core of the 
armies of previous repressive regimes.

Members of the Acholi community, a people from Uganda's north, 
informed Green Left that, upon coming to power, the new president 
stated that the people who inhabit these areas - who he referred 
to as ``primitive'' and ``biological substances'' - must be 
``crushed'' and ``wiped out''.

Museveni also stated that, in his view, Uganda did not extend 
beyond the Karuma Falls on the Nile River; he subsequently 
demanded that people travelling between southern Uganda and the 
north be required to carry special permits. Roads, schools, 
hospitals and dispensaries were intentionally neglected.

This discrimination sparked resistance in these regions, which 
was met with military force. Despite claims that the military has 
succeeded in crushing this resistance, the military persecution 
continues, Obwona-lanana said. ``The situation is chaotic. The 
northern part of Uganda is a fully ravaged war area. NRA soldiers 
go on the rampage in the villages, raping men, women and 
children ... Soldiers that are known to be HIV-positive are sent 
to rape these people.''

The military occupation of the north has led to the imprisonment 
and death of many young people and the destruction of homes, 
crops and livestock. As a result, the people of the north and 
east are thoroughly impoverished.

But while those in the north and east bear the brunt of 
repression, all Ugandans are suffering, Obwona-lanana stressed: 
``He is not putting forward the true interests or aspirations of 
the populace. There is completely no democracy in Uganda. 
Museveni has banned all political activity. There is no political 
movement at the moment that is active in Uganda. He has said 
openly that he doesn't believe in what he calls `western-type 
multiparty democracy'.

``The ordinary people are suffering. There are no social 
services. Hospitals are run down, schools are run down. The 
infrastructure has completely collapsed and there are no steps to 
try to restore them.
People are in abject poverty. Education is almost non-existent, 
particularly in the war-ravaged areas. There is no economic 
growth in Uganda at all at the moment. Yet we know that 53% of 
the national income of Uganda is spent on military armaments.''

The foreign aid Museveni is seeking in London will be ``used for 
the purposes of arming himself to oppress other Ugandans'', 
Obwona-lanana charged.

``I appeal to the people of the world to put pressure on the 
government of Uganda to allow an independent team of journalists 
to go and find out for themselves, who can talk to the ordinary 
Ugandans to find out what their aspirations are and how much they 
are suffering so that the truth can come out. I appeal to the 
people of the world to try to find out the truth for themselves 
and not listen to the lies of Museveni.''

Xref: sparky soc.rights.human:2638 soc.culture.europe:6583 soc.culture.celtic:5221 eunet.politics:978 talk.politics.misc:35574