The raid on the school continues the pattern of LRA deliberate assaults on civilians which have intensified over the past three months. The abduction of the girls from Aboke is the latest in a series of attacks on schools by the LRA and demonstrates yet again that the rebels are blatant in their disregard for the human rights of the very people on whose behalf they claim to be fighting, Amnesty International said. Since the massacre of 115 Sudanese refugees at Achol-Pii in July, LRA troops have been responsible for scores of other deliberate killings and hundreds of abductions, often of schoolchildren. Many captives are tortured and those who try to escape risk being shot.
Abducted girls are at risk of rape.
Children are forcibly recruited into the LRAs ranks or are used to carry equipment and looted property. The LRA has bases in Sudan and is reportedly supported by the Sudan Government. The LRA troops holding the girls taken captive are reported to have crossed the Sudan border. Amnesty International is calling on the Sudanese authorities to take action to ensure that captives are freed and returned safely to Uganda. Although the UPDF have often stepped in to free rebel captives, their own responsibility for human rights abuses is helping fuel the violence in northern Uganda.