WRITTEN QUESTION E-1958/00

by Mario Mauro (PPE-DE), Johan Van Hecke (PPE-DE) and Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(16 June 2000)

Subject: Human rights violations in northern Uganda

1. Is the Commission aware of what is happening in northern Uganda, where more than ten thousand children have been abducted in recent years and more children are still being abducted on an almost daily basis, by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army?

2. Is the Commission informed about the role of the Sudanese armed forces in training, arming and using these children for military operations against the Ugandan army and the SPLA in South Sudan?

3. Is the Commission informed that many of these children are dying of cholera in the camps in South Sudan, of mistreatment or of life-threatening conditions on the battlefield both in Uganda and South Sudan?

4. If so, what measures will the Commission take on the basis of this information? If not, what will the Commission do to investigate these events?

5. What is the Commission doing to facilitate, press for and speed up the implementation of the Nairobi Peace Accord, signed in December between Uganda and Sudan, and of the Amnesty Bill, passed by the Ugandan Parliament in December but suffering from serious delays?

6. Is the Commission aware of the presence in some Member States of representatives of the LRA, guilty of the most serious abuses against children anywhere in the world, who seem to be travelling unhindered within and outside the European Union? If so, what concrete actions is the Commission going to take to stop these people from operating and mobilising support in these Member States?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(20 July 2000)

1. to 3. The Commission is fully aware of the situation in the North of Uganda of the terrible conditions both in the camps and in the battlefields and is following events closely through its delegation in Kampala.

4. and 5. The Commission is intervening at various levels to try to improve the situation in the North of Uganda. Together with the representatives of Member States in Kampala, the Commission is in permanent political dialogue with the Ugandan authorities and is constantly lobbying for the implementation of the Nairobi peace agreement and the amnesty law. The Commission has just taken the leadership of donors for discussions with the government to accelerate the implementation of the amnesty law and is preparing with the government and the local authorities a scheme of financial support for those returning to Acholi district. The Commission is also directly supporting a return programme for abducted children in Sudan, which for the time being however only covers Sudanese children.

The Commission has already given financial support to the Concerned Parents Association established after the abduction of the Aboke Girls for their work of international awareness raising and for help to the families, and for the rehabilitation of the victims of mines in Northern Uganda through the Italian non-governmental organisation AVSI. In addition, the Commission is preparing a general rehabilitation programme for the Gulu and Kitgum districts which will be implemented through the local authorities. Implementation of this programme depends however on the development of the security situation in the region. The Commission is also chairing the donor coordination group for the North of Uganda.

6. The Commission does not have detailed information about the presence or the activities of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) representatives in Member States. Questions of immigration, residence or political activites of non-Community citizens are dealt by Member States themselves.