Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act
PL 108-283 (S.2264), enacted 08/02/2004

118 STAT. 912
PUBLIC LAW 108–283—AUG. 2, 2004
Public Law 108–283
108th Congress
An Act
To require a report on the conflict in Uganda, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Uganda Crisis Response
Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States and the Republic of Uganda enjoy
a strong bilateral relationship and continue to work closely
together in fighting the human immunodeficiency virus and
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (‘‘HIV/AIDS’’) pandemic
and combating international terrorism.
(2) For more than 17 years, the Government of Uganda
has been engaged in a conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army
that has inflicted hardship and suffering on the people of
northern and eastern Uganda.
(3) The members of the Lord’s Resistance Army have used
brutal tactics during this conflict, including abducting and
forcing individuals into sexual servitude, and forcing a large
number of children, estimated to be between 16,000 and 26,000
children, in Uganda to serve in such Army’s military forces.
(4) The Secretary of State has designated the Lord’s Resist-
ance Army as a terrorist organization and placed the Lord’s
Resistance Army on the Terrorist Exclusion list pursuant to
section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)).
(5) According to Human Rights Watch, since the mid-1990s
the only known sponsor of the Lord’s Resistance Army has
been the Government of Sudan, though such Government
denies providing assistance to the Lord’s Resistance Army.
(6) More than 1,000,000 people have been displaced from
their homes in Uganda as a result of the conflict.
(7) The conflict has resulted in a lack of security for the
people of Uganda, and as a result of such lack, each night
more than 18,000 children leave their homes and flee to the
relative safety of town centers, creating a massive ‘‘night com-
muter’’ phenomenon that leaves already vulnerable children
subject to exploitation and abuse.
Northern Uganda
Crisis Response
Act.
Aug. 2, 2004
[S. 2264]
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118 STAT. 913
PUBLIC LAW 108–283—AUG. 2, 2004
(8) Individuals who have been displaced by the conflict
in Uganda often suffer from acute malnutrition and the mor-
tality rate for children in northern Uganda who have been
displaced is very high.
(9) In the latter part of 2003, humanitarian and human
rights organizations operating in northern Uganda reported
an increase in violence directed at their efforts and at civilians,
including a sharp increase in child abductions.
(10) The Government of Uganda’s military efforts to resolve
this conflict, including the arming and training of local militia
forces, have not ensured the security of civilian populations
in the region to date.
(11) The continued instability and lack of security in
Uganda has severely hindered the ability of any organization
or governmental entity to deliver regular humanitarian assist-
ance and services to individuals who have been displaced or
otherwise negatively affected by the conflict.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the Government of the United
States should—
(1) work vigorously to support ongoing efforts to explore
the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in northern
and eastern Uganda;
(2) work with the Government of Uganda and the inter-
national community to make available sufficient resources to
meet the immediate relief and development needs of the towns
and cities in Uganda that are supporting large numbers of
people who have been displaced by the conflict;
(3) urge the Government of Uganda and the international
community to assume greater responsibility for the protection
of civilians and economic development in regions in Uganda
affected by the conflict, and to place a high priority on providing
security, economic development, and humanitarian assistance
to the people of Uganda;
(4) work with the international community, the Govern-
ment of Uganda, and civil society in northern and eastern
Uganda to develop a plan whereby those now displaced may
return to their homes or to other locations where they may
become economically productive;
(5) urge the leaders and members of the Lord’s Resistance
Army to stop the abduction of children, and urge all armed
forces in Uganda to stop the use of child soldiers, and seek
the release of all individuals who have been abducted;
(6) make available increased resources for assistance to
individuals who were abducted during the conflict, child sol-
diers, and other children affected by the conflict;
(7) work with the Government of Uganda, other countries,
and international organizations to ensure that sufficient
resources and technical support are devoted to the demobiliza-
tion and reintegration of rebel combatants and abductees forced
by their captors to serve in non-combatant support roles;
(8) cooperate with the international community to support
civil society organizations and leaders in Uganda, including
Acholi religious leaders, who are working toward a just and
lasting resolution to the conflict;
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118 STAT. 914
PUBLIC LAW 108–283—AUG. 2, 2004
(9) urge the Government of Uganda to improve the profes-
sionalism 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;
(10) work with the international community to assist
institutions of civil society in Uganda to increase the capacity
of such institutions to monitor the human rights situation
in northern Uganda and to raise awareness of abuses of human
rights that occur in that area;
(11) urge the Government of Uganda to permit inter-
national human rights monitors to establish a presence in
northern and eastern Uganda;
(12) monitor the creation of civilian militia forces in
northern and eastern Uganda and publicize any concerns
regarding the recruitment of children into such forces or the
potential that the establishment of such forces will invite
increased targeting of civilians in the conflict or exacerbate
ethnic tension and violence; and
(13) make clear that the relationship between the Govern-
ment of Sudan and the Government of the United States cannot
improve unless no credible evidence indicates that authorities
of the Government of Sudan are complicit in efforts to provide
weapons or other support to the Lord’s Resistance Army.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 6 months after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a
report to the appropriate congressional committees on the conflict
in Uganda.
(b) CONTENT.—The report required by subsection (a) shall
include a description of the following:
(1) The individuals or entities that are providing financial
and material support for the Lord’s Resistance Army, including
a description of any such support provided by the Government
of Sudan or by senior officials of such Government.
(2) The activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army that create
obstacles that prohibit the provision of humanitarian assistance
or the protection of the civilian population in Uganda.
(3) The practices employed by the Ugandan People’s
Defense Forces in northern and eastern Uganda to ensure
that children and civilians are protected, that civilian com-
plaints are addressed, and that any member of the armed
forces that abuses a civilian is held accountable for such abuse.
(4) The actions carried out by the Government of the United
States, the Government of Uganda, or the international commu-
nity to protect civilians, especially women and children, who
have been displaced by the conflict in Uganda, including women
and children that leave their homes and flee to cities and
towns at night in search of security from sexual exploitation
and gender-based violence.
(c) FORM OF REPORT.—The report under subsection (a) shall
be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex.
(d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.—In
this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means
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118 STAT. 915
PUBLIC LAW 108–283—AUG. 2, 2004
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2264:
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 150 (2004):
May 7, considered and passed Senate.
July 14, 19, considered and passed House.
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.
Approved August 2, 2004.
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