Kony 2012: Viral video tries to take down Lord's Resistance Army Leader | loonwatch.com From the BBC He claims that his Lord’s Resistance Army movement has been fighting to install a government in Uganda based on the Biblical 10 Commandments. But his rebels now terrorise large swathes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, and he is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Regional armies are trying to hunt them down with the help of 100 US soldiers. Mr Kony was due to sign a peace deal with the Ugandan government in 2008, but peace talks fell apart because the LRA leader wanted assurances that he and his allies would not be prosecuted. Born in the early 1960s in Odek, a village east of Gulu, Mr Kony is remembered as an amiable boy. “He played football and was a brilliant dancer,” one of his former classmates said, recalling the rebel leader’s days at Odek primary. The LRA’s aims were heavily influence by the Holy Spirit Movement, a 1980s group that represented the Acholi people of northern Uganda.

This teenager had her lips, nose and ears cut off by the LRA The movement was formed by Alice Lakwena, a former prostitute who was believed to be Mr Kony’s cousin. They felt excluded from power after northern leader Milton Obote was overthrown in a military rebellion, and eventually replaced by current President Yoweri Museveni in 1986. Ms Lakwena promised her followers immunity from the bullets of the Ugandan army, but Mr Museveni’s troops defeated her movement in 1988 and she fled to Kenya. After this defeat, Mr Kony founded his own rebel group which over the next 20 years has gone on to abduct thousands of children to become fighters or sex slaves. Mr Kony himself is thought to have at least 60 wives, as he and his senior commanders take the pick of the girls they capture. He sees himself as a spirit medium. “They will tell us what is going to happen. They say ‘you, Mr Joseph, tell your people that the enemy is planning to come and attack’,” he has explained.

Young abductees who have escaped from the LRA say Mr Kony would tell them he got his instructions from the Holy Spirit and would often preach in tongues. “I will communicate with Museveni through the holy spirits and not through the telephone,” he once said. He has created an aura of fear and mysticism around himself and his rebels follow strict rules and rituals. “When you go to fight you make the sign of the cross first. If you fail to do this, you will be killed,” one young fighter who escaped from the LRA told US-based Human Rights Watch. “You must also take oil and draw a cross on your chest, your forehead, and each shoulder, and you must make a cross in oil on your gun. They say that the oil is the power of the Holy Spirit.” Mr Kony appears to believe that his role is to cleanse the Acholi people. He uses biblical references to explain why it is necessary to kill his own people, since they have, in his view, failed to support his cause. “If the Acholi don’t support us, they must be finished,” he told one abductee.

Christmas massacre Six years ago, Mr Kony broke his silence and was interviewed on camera in his jungle base at the time in north-eastern DR Congo. He was surrounded by some of what he estimated were his 3,000 heavily armed fighters, and insisted he was not the monster he was portrayed to be. “Let me tell you clearly what happened in Uganda. Museveni went into the villages and cut off the ears of the people, telling the people that it was the work of the LRA. I cannot cut the ear of my brother; I cannot kill the eye of my brother.” He gave the interview at the start of delicate peace process brokered by the authorities South Sudan. But the negotiations saw splits in LRA ranks and Mr Kony’s deputy, Vincent Otti, who played a key role in the talks, died in mysterious circumstances. It is believed he may have been murdered on the orders of Mr Kony, who refused to sign the deal. The LRA later went on a major offensive, carrying out a massacre on Christmas Day 2008.

On that day and over the following three weeks, the LRA beat to death more than 800 people in north-eastern DR Congo and South Sudan, and abducted hundreds more. **************** Articles about Lord S Resistance Army - latimes Video on Ugandan militia leader Joseph Kony sparks an uproar March 8, 2012 | By Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times Even after decades of well-documented murder and plunder, even after the International Criminal Court indicted him and a U.S. president dispatched a special forces team to help catch him, African warlord Joseph Kony remained largely obscure to the West. That changed with startling swiftness this week, with the viral proliferation of a smoothly produced 29-minute video, "Kony 2012," that calculatedly taps the power of social media in an effort to make the fugitive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army a figure of global infamy. Advertisement Forced to Be Killers, Ugandan Youths Struggle for Normal Life February 22, 1998 | HENRY WASSWA, ASSOCIATED PRESS Grace Aleng gave birth on the open ground to a girl fathered by one of her rebel abductors.

Then she was forced to rejoin the terror campaign being waged by the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda. "I picked up a gun and strapped the baby on my back," the emaciated 18-year-old recalled while nursing her scrawny baby. "But we were defeated by government forces, and I found a way to escape." WORLD U.S. sending military advisors to Uganda October 15, 2011 | By Brian Bennett and Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times President Obama is sending about 100 special forces troops to central Africa to help target the leadership of the Lord's Resistance Army, a notorious militia that has been raping and pillaging in the remote jungles of northern Uganda and neighboring countries for more than two decades. The first team of armed advisors arrived in Uganda on Wednesday. Over the next month, the remaining U.S. troops, most of them Army Green Berets, will be sent to Uganda and surrounding countries, including South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Congo. NEWS Ugandan Rebels Terrorize in the Name of the Lord April 1, 1996 | BOB DROGIN, TIMES STAFF WRITER Brig. Gen.

Chefe Ali, army commander of the north, held his gleaming cavalry sword high as he mounted his steed--in this case, the back of a bicycle pedaled by an aide--and charged off into the bush here last week to inspect the depredations of Africa's latest nightmare. For two hours, terrified villagers told Ali of atrocities and attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army, a fanatic Christian fundamentalist cult led by a self-proclaimed prophet with a murderous manner. WORLD Cease-Fire Takes Effect in Ugandan Rebel War August 30, 2006 | From the Associated Press A cease-fire went into effect Tuesday between Uganda's government and a rebel movement that terrorized the nation for nearly two decades. The truce signed Saturday is aimed at ending the war between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army, notorious for cutting off the tongues and lips of civilians, enslaving thousands of children and driving about 2 million people from their homes. "From today, troops can only shoot in defense of civilians," Army Maj. Felix Kulaije said.

WORLD World Briefing / Uganda September 10, 2009 | Times Wire Reports An army spokesman said Ugandan forces have rescued 100 kidnapped children and young adults during an operation against a brutal rebel group in neighboring Central African Republic. Lt. Col. Felix Kulaigye said Ugandan forces also captured a senior commander of the Lord's Resistance Army. Kulaigye said troops had killed four of the group's junior commanders since entering the country two weeks ago. The rebels originated in northern Uganda and have fought the government for 20 years. WORLD Joint offensive against rebels December 16, 2008 | From Times Staff and Wire Reports Three African armies have launched an offensive against Ugandan rebels based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uganda, southern Sudan and Congo wiped out the main camp in Congo used by the elusive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, said a spokesman for Congo's army. There was no immediate word on casualties. It was unclear whether Kony was there. The rebels, who have been fighting for 20 years, are notorious for kidnapping children and using them as soldiers.

OPINION Too Much Apathy in the Face of African Horrors June 7, 2005 Re "A Land of Grief," June 5: As horrific as the photo article by Francine Orr was, it is equally disconcerting how little attention is being given to the suffering of these innocent children and civilians by the world governmental bodies. The notion that another Rwanda, Sudan or Cambodia is about to pass without meaningful intervention by the U.N. is a reflection of the ability of most nations to ignore such suffering unless it is at their respective front doors, as well as the U.N.'s political selectiveness. WORLD Horror In Uganda June 5, 2005 A LAND OF GRIEF Fanatical rebels have terrorized northern Uganda for years, enslaving and torturing those who seek safety in squalid camps and at town facilities A rebel group calling itself the Lord's Resistance Army says it wants to rule the East African nation of Uganda according to the Ten Commandments. But it thrives on abducting children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves, and mutilates civilians.

The group's conflict with government forces has received relatively little international attention even though an estimated 30,000 children have been kidnapped and as many as 1.6 million civilians have been displaced. WORLD World Briefing / Uganda September 10, 2009 | Times Wire Reports An army spokesman said Ugandan forces have rescued 100 kidnapped children and young adults during an operation against a brutal rebel group in neighboring Central African Republic. Lt. Col. Felix Kulaigye said Ugandan forces also captured a senior commander of the Lord's Resistance Army. Kulaigye said troops had killed four of the group's junior commanders since entering the country two weeks ago. The rebels originated in northern Uganda and have fought the government for 20 years. WORLD Joint offensive against rebels December 16, 2008 | From Times Staff and Wire Reports Three African armies have launched an offensive against Ugandan rebels based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uganda, southern Sudan and Congo wiped out the main camp in Congo used by the elusive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, said a spokesman for Congo's army. There was no immediate word on casualties.

It was unclear whether Kony was there. The rebels, who have been fighting for 20 years, are notorious for kidnapping children and using them as soldiers. WORLD Cease-Fire Takes Effect in Ugandan Rebel War August 30, 2006 | From the Associated Press A cease-fire went into effect Tuesday between Uganda's government and a rebel movement that terrorized the nation for nearly two decades. The truce signed Saturday is aimed at ending the war between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army, notorious for cutting off the tongues and lips of civilians, enslaving thousands of children and driving about 2 million people from their homes. "From today, troops can only shoot in defense of civilians," Army Maj. Felix Kulaije said. WORLD Rebels Ask Government to Agree to a Cease-Fire August 5, 2006 | From Times Wire Reports Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army declared a cease-fire and called on the government to lay down its arms ahead of peace talks scheduled to resume in Sudan next week.

A spokesman contacted by satellite telephone at the rebels' camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo said the cessation of hostilities was issued by the rebels' deputy commander, Vincent Otti, on behalf of LRA leader Joseph Kony. OPINION Too Much Apathy in the Face of African Horrors June 7, 2005 Re "A Land of Grief," June 5: As horrific as the photo article by Francine Orr was, it is equally disconcerting how little attention is being given to the suffering of these innocent children and civilians by the world governmental bodies. The notion that another Rwanda, Sudan or Cambodia is about to pass without meaningful intervention by the U.N. is a reflection of the ability of most nations to ignore such suffering unless it is at their respective front doors, as well as the U.N.'s political selectiveness. WORLD Horror In Uganda June 5, 2005 A LAND OF GRIEF Fanatical rebels have terrorized northern Uganda for years, enslaving and torturing those who seek safety in squalid camps and at town facilities A rebel group calling itself the Lord's Resistance Army says it wants to rule the East African nation of Uganda according to the Ten Commandments.

But it thrives on abducting children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves, and mutilates civilians. The group's conflict with government forces has received relatively little international attention even though an estimated 30,000 children have been kidnapped and as many as 1.6 million civilians have been displaced. WORLD U.S. sending military advisors to Uganda October 15, 2011 | By Brian Bennett and Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times President Obama is sending about 100 special forces troops to central Africa to help target the leadership of the Lord's Resistance Army, a notorious militia that has been raping and pillaging in the remote jungles of northern Uganda and neighboring countries for more than two decades. The first team of armed advisors arrived in Uganda on Wednesday. Over the next month, the remaining U.S. troops, most of them Army Green Berets, will be sent to Uganda and surrounding countries, including South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Congo.

WORLD Video on Ugandan militia leader Joseph Kony sparks an uproar March 8, 2012 | By Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times Even after decades of well-documented murder and plunder, even after the International Criminal Court indicted him and a U.S. president dispatched a special forces team to help catch him, African warlord Joseph Kony remained largely obscure to the West. That changed with startling swiftness this week, with the viral proliferation of a smoothly produced 29-minute video, "Kony 2012," that calculatedly taps the power of social media in an effort to make the fugitive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army a figure of global infamy. History of the Lord's Resistance Army - World Blog World Blog History of the Lord's Resistance Army By World Blog Joseph Kony, the Lord's Resistance Army leader, who has become infamous as a result of the viral "KONY 2012" video, has been on the international radar for at least 25 years. See Reuters detailed timeline about Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army below.

Lord's Resistance Army insurgency | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Lord's Resistance Army insurgency The factual accuracy of this article may be compromised due to out-of-date information Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Northern Uganda , South Sudan, eastern DR Congo , Central African Republic Status Lord's Resistance Army militarily defeated and overall defunct[ citation needed ] Founder and current leader Joseph Kony whereabouts unknown Current living commanders: Dominic Ongwen and Okot Odhiambo locations unknown Majority of L.R.A armed forces installations and encampments located in South Sudan and Uganda have been dismantled L.R.A may continue to commit attacks in the eastern DRC, [1] and increasingly so in the CAR.

[2] Belligerents 100 [4] (2012) 300–400 [7] Varied (thousands / hundreds at different times) Casualties and losses 157 killed on 2009 397 LRA ﬁghters between July 2009 and June 2010 [8] other 25 killed in 2010 [8] 65,000+ killed (Northern Uganda only) [9] The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged since 1987 by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group, [10] currently operating in South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Central African Republic. The movement, led by Joseph Kony , who proclaims himself the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium, aims to overthrow Yoweri Museveni 's Ugandan government and to establish a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition, according to its leaders.

[11] [12] The conflict, one of Africa's longest running, resulted in a very severe humanitarian crisis . The LRA is accused of widespread human rights violations , including mutilation , torture, slavery, rape, the abduction of civilians, the use of child soldiers , and a number of massacres. [13] By 2004, the LRA had abducted more than 20,000 children, while one and half million civilians had been displaced and an estimated 100,000 civilians killed. [14] Contents Edit The January 1986 overthrow of President Tito Okello , an ethnic Acholi, by the National Resistance Army (NRA) of south-west Uganda born Yoweri Museveni marked a period of intense turmoil. The NRA in their efforts to liberate the entire country meted out a lot of atrocities on the people of Acholi. This act spurred some Acholis to resist the medieval acts.

The Acholi are sometimes said to have feared the loss of their traditional dominance of the national military; they were also deeply concerned that the NRA would seek retribution for the brutal counterinsurgency , particularly the actions of the army in the Luwero triangle . [15] [16] By August of that year, a full-blown popular insurgency had developed in northern regions that were occupied by the new government forces. Timeline Main article: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency (1987–1994) In January 1987, Joseph Kony made his first appearance as a spirit medium, one of many who emerged after the initial success of the Holy Spirit Movement of Alice Auma . Former Uganda People's Democratic Army commander Odong Latek convinced Kony to adopt conventional guerrilla warfare tactics, primarily surprise attacks on civilian targets, such as villages. The LRA also occasionally carried out large-scale attacks to underline the inability of the government to protect the populace. Until 1991 the LRA raided the populace for supplies, which were carried away by villagers who were abducted for short periods.

The fact that some NRA units were known for their brutal actions ensured that the LRA were given at least passive support by segments of the Acholi population. [17] March 1991 saw the start of "Operation North", which combined efforts to destroy the LRA while cutting away its roots of support among the population through heavy-handed tactics. [18] As part of Operation North, Acholi Betty Oyella Bigombe , the Minister charged with ending the insurgency, created "Arrow Groups" mostly armed with bows and arrows, as a form of local defence. As the LRA was armed with modern weaponry, the bow-and-arrow groups were overpowered. The creation of the Arrow Groups angered Kony, who began to feel that he no longer had the support of the population. In response the LRA mutilated numerous Acholi whom they believed to be government supporters. While the government efforts were a failure, the LRA reaction caused many Acholi to finally turn against the insurgency. However, this was tempered by the deep-seated antagonism towards the occupying government forces.

The conflict forces many civilians to live in internally displaced person (IDP) camps Following the Operation North, Bigombe initiated the first face-to-face meeting between representatives of the LRA and government. The LRA asked for a general amnesty for their combatants and stated that they would not surrender, but were willing to "return home." However, the government stance was hampered by disagreement over the credibility of the LRA negotiators and political infighting. In particular, the military had learned that Kony was negotiating with the Sudanese government for support while talking to Bigombe, and felt that Kony was simply trying to buy time. [17] At a second meeting on 10 January 1994, Kony asked for six months to regroup his troops. By early February the tone of the negotiations was growing increasingly acrimonious, and following a meeting on 2 February, the LRA broke off negotiations stating that they felt that the NRA was trying to entrap them. Four days later, President Yoweri Museveni announced a seven-day deadline for the LRA to surrender. [17] This ultimatum ended the Bigombe Avengers Initiative.

An international conflict (1994 to 2002) Main article: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency (1994–2002) Two weeks after Museveni delivered his ultimatum of 6 February 1994, it was reported that LRA fighters had crossed the northern border and established bases in southern Sudan with the approval of the Khartoum government. [17] Sudanese aid was a response to Ugandan support for the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) fighting in the civil war in the south of the country. Also, convinced that the Acholi were now collaborating with the Museveni government, Kony began to target civilians with his increased military strength. Mutilations became commonplace (especially cutting off ears, lips, nose), and 1994 saw the first mass abduction of children and youth. The most famous of these was the Aboke abductions of 139 female students in October 1996. As most of the LRA combatants are abducted children, a military offensive against the LRA is widely perceived by the Acholi as a massacre of victims.

Government attempts to destroy the rebels are thus viewed as another cause for grievance by the Acholi. The moral ambiguity of this situation, in which abducted young rebels are both the victims and perpetrators of brutal acts, is central to the conflicted attitudes of many Acholi towards the rebels. The government's response in a scorch-earth policy ordering all Acholis to leave their homes in 48 hours and move to "protected villages" beginning in 1996, later called Internally Displaced People's Camps further deepened the antagonistic attitude that many Acholi have toward the government, especially as the population continues to be attacked by the LRA even within the "protected camps." The camps are also crowded, unsanitary, and miserable places to live. [19] Meanwhile, in 1997 the Sudanese government of the National Islamic Front began to recede from its previous hard-line stance. Following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the U.S., the relationship between Sudan and Uganda abruptly changed. Cross-border tensions eased as support to proxy forces fell. Some of the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by the war began to return to their homes.

The number of people displaced by the conflict declined to about half a million, and people began to talk openly of the day when the "protected camps" would be disbanded. [20] The insurgency flares (2002 to 2005) Main article: Lord's Resistance Army insurgency (2002–2005) In March 2002, the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) launched a massive military offensive, named "Operation Iron Fist", against the LRA bases in southern Sudan, with agreement from the National Islamic Front . This agreement, coupled with the return of Ugandan forces that were deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo upon the official end of the Second Congo War , created what the Ugandan government felt was an ideal situation in which to end a conflict that had become both an embarrassment and political liability. [21] After several months of uncertainty, LRA forces began crossing back into Uganda and carrying out attacks on a scale and of a brutality not seen since 1995 to 1996, resulting in widespread displacement and suffering in regions, such as Soroti , that had never previously been touched by the insurgency.

[22] A series of local initiatives spearheaded by traditional and religious leaders as well as diplomatic initiatives during these years failed, especially since Kony's negotiating position remained uncertain, but the conflict gained unprecedented international coverage. During a November 2003 field visit to Uganda, United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland stated, "I cannot find any other part of the world that is having an emergency on the scale of Uganda, that is getting such little international attention." [23] In December 2003, Ugandan President Museveni referred the LRA to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to determine if the LRA is guilty of international war crimes. From the middle of 2004 on, rebel activity dropped markedly under intense military pressure. The government was also the target of increasingly pointed criticism from the international community for its failure to end the conflict. International aid agencies questioned the Ugandan government's reliance on military force and its commitment to a peaceful resolution. The army also admitted that it had recruited child soldiers who escaped the LRA into the military.

[24] In mid-September 2005, a band of LRA fighters, led by Vincent Otti , crossed into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for the first time. President Museveni declared that, if Congolese authorities did not disarm the LRA combatants, the UPDF would be sent across the border in pursuit. [25] This sparked a diplomatic row between the governments of the DRC and Uganda, with both militaries making a show of force along their border, while the Congolese ambassador to the United Nations sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General demanding that an economic embargo be placed on Uganda in retaliation. Peace talks and truce (2006 to 2008) Main article: 2006–2008 Juba talks A series of meetings were held in Juba starting in July 2006 between the government of Uganda and the LRA. The talks were mediated by Riek Machar , the Vice President of Southern Sudan, [26] and by the Community of Sant'Egidio .

[27] The talks, which resulted in a ceasefire by September 2006, were described as the best chance for a negotiated settlement since the peace initiative of Betty Bigombe in 1994. These talks were agreed to after Joseph Kony released a video in May in which he denied committing atrocities and seemed to call for an end to hostilities, in response to an announcement by Museveni that he would guarantee the safety of Kony if peace was agreed to by July. [28] In late June 2006, the Government of Southern Sudan formally invited Uganda to attend peace talks, [29] and on 14 July 2006 talks began in Juba. [30] On 4 August 2006, Vincent Otti declared a unilateral ceasefire and asked the Ugandan government to reciprocate. [31] ICC indictee Raska Lukwiya was killed in battle on 12 August 2006. [32] The government and the LRA signed a truce on 26 August 2006.

Under the terms of the agreement, LRA forces will leave Uganda and gather in two assembly areas protected by the government of Sudan. The Ugandan government agreed not to attack those areas. LRA rebels had begun gathering in the assembly areas by mid-September. [33] Talks continued to be hindered by demands and counter-demands. Meanwhile, the government began a process of creating "satellite camps" to decongest the main IDP camps. [34] In broader context, the government of Southern Sudan viewed the talks as a means of ridding itself of a foreign army that was complicating its delicate relationship with the Khartoum government. The request by the Ugandan Government for ICC to suspend war crimes indictments against leaders of the LRA was condemned by international human rights groups but largely supported by leaders and civilians within northern Uganda. [35] By mid-2007, thousands of IDPs had moved into the decongestion camps. However, the populace remained cautious about the prospect of a peace deal, with many refusing to return to their ancestral homes before a definitive end to the insurgency.

[36] Following a suspension in the peace talks, the Juba Initiative Project enabled the resumption of the talks in May 2007, thanks to the efforts of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for LRA-affected areas, Joaquim Chissano . The talks were again mediated by the Government of Southern Sudan, but with the support of the United Nations and logistic facilitation from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). [37] On 20 August 2007, Uganda declared that it was seeking legal advice on setting a war crimes court. [38] In November 2007, an LRA delegation led by Martin Ojul journeyed to Kampala to restate its commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Ojul later led the delegation on a tour of northern Uganda to meet victims of the insurgency and ask their forgiveness. However, reports surfaced that LRA deputy commander Otti had been executed on or around 8 October 2007 over an internal power struggle with Kony.

[39] A renewed conflict (since 2008) See also: 2008 Garamba offensive and Christmas massacres (Democratic Republic of the Congo) In June 2008, diplomats reported that the Lord's Resistance army had bought new weapons and was recruiting new soldiers, adding 1,000 recruits to the 600 soldiers it already had. At about the same time, Uganda, South Sudan, and Congo-Kinshasa agreed to a plan to crush the movement together; [40] the South Sudanese claimed that the rebels killed 14 of their soldiers on 7 June 2008. [41] The LRA was alleged to have killed at least 400 people in attacks on a number of villages in the DR Congo on and after Christmas Day, 2008. [42] Throughout 2009, the LRA was blamed for several attacks in Southern Sudan, DR Congo and Central African Republic. [43] In March 2010 news emerged about a December 2009 massacre in DR Congo perpetrated by the LRA. In May 2010, U.S.

President Barack Obama signed the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act into law. In October 2011, Obama announced the deployment of 100 U.S. troops to aid other anti-LRA forces in subduing LRA leader Joseph Kony, citing the aforementioned act in a letter to the heads of both houses of Congress. [4] On 23 March 2012, the African Union announced its intentions to send an international brigade of 5,000 military troops "from Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Congo, countries where Kony’s reign of terror has been felt over the years ... to join the hunt for rebel leader Joseph Kony" and to "neutralize" him. According to the statement, the mission would commence on 24 March 2012 and the search would last until Kony was caught", [44] after which the task force would be disbanded. The effort is Ugandan-led and backed by the U.S. with the 100 advisers already there, who are offering advice, intelligence and training, along with equipment.

[45] The brigade established its headquarters in Yambio in South Sudan, close to the border with the DRC, and is commanded by a Ugandan officer; a Congolese officer has oversight of intelligence operations. [46] On 12 May 2012, Ugandan soldiers with the African Union brigade captured a senior LRA leader in the Central African Republic, Caesar Achellam, a veteran rebel commander with the rank of Major General. Because he was a leading military strategist for the LRA, Achellam's arrest signified a considerable setback for Joseph Kony's fight to evade capture. [47] [48] On 6 June, the UN secretary general , Ban Ki-moon, released an initial report covering the activities of the LRA from 2009 to 2012. The report itself stated that "at least 45 children have been killed and maimed" during this time period and at least "591 children, including 268 girls have been abducted".

Though it was noted by Radhika Coomaraswamy , the UN special representative on children and conflict, that the "actual numbers of abductions is much higher, these are just the ones we are aware of". It was also stated in the report that the LRA is currently made up of between 300–500 fighters, with around half of them being children. [49] [50] Effects Forced to kill a family member or friend 8% The insurgency was historically confined to the region known as Acholiland , consisting of the districts of Kitgum , Gulu , and Pader , though since 2002 violence has overflowed into other Ugandan districts. The LRA also operated across the porous border region with Southern Sudan and most recently into the northeastern Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The plight of the affected people has received little media coverage in the developed world. Not until April 2004 did the UN Security Council issue a formal condemnation.

A 2005 poll of humanitarian professionals, media personalities, academics and activists identified the conflict in the north of Uganda as the second worst "forgotten" humanitarian emergency in the world, after the conflicts of the neighbouring DRC . [52] The U.S. government estimates that up to 12,000 people have been killed in the violence, with many more dying from disease and malnutrition as a direct result of the conflict. Nearly two million civilians have been forced to flee their homes, living in internally displaced person (IDP) camps and within the safety of larger settlements, sleeping on street corners and in other public spaces. The problems of the camps have been expatiated by the government ordering villagers into the camps on pain of being classified as rebels and on occasion shelling those villages who refused to relocate. [53] While many abductees are taken to carry items looted from raided villages, some are also used as soldiers and sex slaves . The group performs abductions primarily from the Acholi people , who have borne the brunt of the 18-year LRA campaign.

The United Nations estimated in the mid-2000s that around 25,000 children have been kidnapped by the LRA since 1987. However, several pieces of research have concluded that the figure was significantly higher. In June 2007, UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center researchers worked with reception centers in northern Uganda to compile a database of 25,000 former abductees that went through reception centers. [54] By triangulating data from different sources on the number of former abductees, the research conservatively estimate that the LRA has abducted 24,000 to 38,000 children and 28,000 to 37,000 adults as of April 2006. The research further found that while women represented about a third of all the abductees, they tended to stay longer with the LRA compared to men. Women are forced to serve as sexual and domestic servants. According to a survey of 750 youth in Kitgum and Pader, at least 66,000 youth between the ages of 13 and 30 have been abducted.

One-third of all boys and one-sixth of all girls had been taken for at least one day. [51] [55] Of these, 66% of males were taken for longer than two weeks, while the equivalent number for females was 46%. If a female was gone for more than two weeks, there was a one in four chance that she had not returned. Males were again found to be taken for longer periods of time on average, with two in five males that were abducted for more than two weeks not having returned. The number of abductions was greatest in 2002 and 2003, perhaps in retaliation for Operation Iron Fist. However, the average age of abductees has risen from about 13 in 1994 to nearly 18 in 2004, coinciding with the rise in number, and fall in length, of abductions. [51] [55] While the LRA now appears to consist of less than two thousand combatants that are under intense pressure from the Ugandan military, the government has been unable to end the insurgency to date.

Ongoing peace negotiations are complicated by an investigation and trial preparation by the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile military operation is going on. The conflict continues to slow down Uganda's development efforts, costing the poor country's economy a cumulative total of at least $1.33 billion, which is equivalent to 3% of GDP, or $100 million annually. [56] "Night commuters" Edit A room of child "night commuters" At the height of the conflict, each night, children between the ages of 8 and 14, referred to as "night commuters" or "night dwellers" would walk up to 20 kilometres (12 mi) from IDP camps to larger towns, especially Gulu , in search of safety. To avoid abduction by the LRA, every night as many as 40,000 children were fleeing their homes in the countryside to sleep in the relative safety of towns. Known as "night commuters", they seek refuge overnight at churches, hospitals, bus stations and temporary shelters before returning home again each morning. Because of this phenomenon, united under the banner of peace, religious leaders from different denominations staged a one week solidarity demonstration by sleeping in the streets with the children.

This singular act created massive awareness of the conflict to the world. Awareness Edit Initiatives to raise international awareness for these children included the " GuluWalk " and the work of the Resolve Uganda. Night commuters are also the subject of documentaries such as Stolen Children, War/Dance , and Invisible Children . The Invisible Children documentary sponsored the Global Night Commute , an event similar to GuluWalk. On 29 April 2006, over 80,000 youths from around the world converged on urban centers in 130 major cities around the world in solidarity with displaced Ugandan children. The Invisible Children organization also raised awareness for those in the Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs) through its "Displace Me" event held in 15 cities across the US on 28 April 2007. Over 68,000 people participated in the event which required participants to sleep outside in "homes" made out of cardboard, similar to those in the IDPs. Another program, The Name Campaign, asks people to wear nameplate necklaces imprinted with the first name of one of the thousands of abducted children as a means of raising public awareness.

Danny Glover and Don Cheadle have both been vocal advocates on behalf of the children of Northern Uganda. On 5 March 2012, the Invisible Children organization posted the Kony 2012 video on YouTube which had an immediate massive impact. [57] [58] [59] As of 17 June 2012 (2012-06-17) [update] , the film had over 91 million views on video-sharing website YouTube. [60] See also Edit Allen, Tim."Trial Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Lord's Resistance Army", African Arguments Series, Zed Books, London, 2006. ISBN 1-84277-737-8 Behrend, H. (M. Cohen, trans.) Alice Lakwena and the Holy Spirits: War in Northern Uganda, 1985–97, James Currey , 2000. ISBN 0-8214-1311-2 . (Originally published as Behrend, H. 1993. Alice und die Geister: Krieg in Norden Uganda.

Trickster, Munich.) "War in Northern Uganda: The Holy Spirit Movements of Alice Lakwena, Severino Lukoya and Joseph Kony (1986–1997)", in Clapham, C. ed. African Guerrillas. James Currey , Oxford, 1998. De Temmerman, E. Aboke Girls: Children Abducted in Northern Uganda, Fountain, 2001. ISBN 9970-02-256-3 . (Originally published as De Temmerman, E. De meisjes van Aboke: Kindsoldaten in Noord-Oeganda. De Kern, 2000. ISBN 90-5312-146-3 .) Doom, R. and K. Vlassenroot. "Kony's message: a new koine? The Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda," African Affairs 98 (390) 1999: 5 to 36 Eichstaedt, Peter. First Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army. Lawrence Hill Books. 2008.

ISBN 978-1-55652-799-9 Gingyera-Pincywa, A.G. "Is there a Northern Question?" in K. Rupesinghe, ed. Conflict Resolution in Uganda, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, 1989. Jackson, P. "The March of the Lord's Resistance Army: Greed or Grievance in Northern Uganda?" Small Wars and Insurgencies 13, no. 3 (Autumn 2002): 29 to 52. Ofcansky, T. "Warfare and Instability Along the Sudan-Uganda Border: A Look at the Twentieth Century" in Spaulding, J. and S. Beswick, eds. White Nile, Black Blood: War, Leadership, and Ethnicity from Khartoum to Kampala. Red Sea Press, Lawrenceville, NJ: 195–210, 2000. Pham PN, Vinck P, Stover E.

"The Lord’s Resistance Army and Forced Conscription in Northern Uganda.", Human Rights Quarterly 30:404–411, 2008 Vinck P, Pham PN, Weinstein HM, Stover E. Exposure to War Crimes and its Implications for Peace Building in Northern Uganda. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 298 (5): 543–554, 2007 Ward, K. "'The Armies of the Lord': Christianity, Rebels and the State in Northern Uganda, 1986–1999", Journal of Religion in Africa 31 (2), 2001.

References Kony 2012 Video: Invisible Children Charity Criticized For Misuse Of Funds, Exaggeration And More Kony 2012 Video: Invisible Children Charity Criticized For Misuse Of Funds, Exaggeration And More 03/08/12 AT 11:46 AM Close The Stop Kony mission and the Kony 2012 video both achieved viral status this week after the likes of Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Nicole Richie, Jessie J and Stephen Fry -- who together have over 35 million followers -- set out on a social media campaign to shed light on the plight of the invisible children of Uganda. Celebrities retweeted the hashtags #StopKony and #Kony2012 to spread the word. Stop Kony 2012 was named after Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, or the LRA. The Lord's Resistance Army is a feared and brutal insurgency attempting to overthrow the Ugandan government. Kony and his army continue to threaten regional stability and civilian safety. The Stop Kony mission was established by the Invisible Children organization.

A new 30-minute documentary entitled Kony 2012, made by Invisible Children, highlights the problems in Uganda. Its aim is to call for an international effort to arrest Joseph Kony, disarm the LRA and save the invisible children. We seek to rebuild schools, educate future leaders and provide jobs in Northern Uganda. We are the motivated misfits and masses redefining what it means to be an activist, reads a statement on the Invisible Children Web site. [[nid:107606]] However, Invisible Children has received some criticism as of late pertaining to its misuse of charitable funding, exaggerated claims and militaristic goals. Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army Kony formed the LRA in the 1980s as a sectarian military and religious group operating in Uganda with brute force. He claimed to be a prophet sent from God to purify the people of Uganda and to create a bastion of peace, according to globalsecurity.com. By putting emphasis on his religious powers, Kony has been able to convince many individuals who may be skeptical and his authority is hard to question, according to CNN.

The LRA teamed up with the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) and other rebel groups to begin a trail of violence and terror. The LRA committed numerous abuses and atrocities, including the abduction, rape, maiming, and killing of civilians, including children, reports globalsecurity.org. Since September 2008, the LRA has killed approximately 2,400 civilians and has abducted 3,400, according to the Human Rights Watch group and the U.N. The kidnapping of children is one of the most troubling aspects of Kony's army. The Lord's Resistance Army is known for its abuse against children and use of forced child soldiers. The insurgency has abducted numerous youngsters and forced them into slavery, working as guards, concubines and soldiers, reports globalsecurity.org. Young girls were captured as sex and labor slaves, sold off, or given as gifts to arms dealers in Sudan. Critics Speaks Out Against Invisible Children Since the Stop Kony movement began to go viral, Invisible Children has faced scrutiny for its practices. Messages on social networking and news sites like Tumblr and Reddit have critiqued the Invisible Children Kony 2012 campaign.

The Council on Foreign Relations has critiqued Invisible Children and other organizations like it. In their campaigns, such organizations have manipulated facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA's use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony -- a brutal man, to be sure -- as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil. They rarely refer to the Ugandan atrocities or those of Sudan's People's Liberation Army, such as attacks against civilians or looting of civilian homes and businesses, or the complicated regional politics fueling the conflict. Chris Blattman made a pointed assessment of Invisible Children's filming, saying: The new IC film clip feels much the same, laced with more macho bravado. The movie feels like it's about the filmmakers, and not the cause. There might be something to the argument that American teenagers are more likely to relate to an issue through the eyes of a peer. That's the argument that was made after the first film. It's not entirely convincing, especially given the distinctly non-teenage political influence IC now has. There's also something inherently misleading, naive, maybe even dangerous, about the idea of rescuing children or saving of Africa.

It's often not an accidental choice of words, even if it's unwitting. It hints uncomfortably of the White Man's Burden. Worse, sometimes it does more than hint. The savior attitude is pervasive in advocacy, and it inevitably shapes programming. Usually misconceived programming. The saving attitude pervades too many aid failures, not to mention military interventions. The list is long. Grant Oyston, a sociology and political science student at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada, posted a detailed explanation of his disapproval of the Kony 2012 campaign, citing practices by Invisible Children such as misuse of charitable funds and it emphasis on military intervention. Oyston noted that last year Invisible Children spent over $8.5 million, with only 32 percent going to direct services. Much of the money reportedly went to staff salaries, travel, transport and film production. Charity Navigator rates Invisible Children's accountability and transparency as two out of four stars because it lacks an external audit committee. Oyston also said that the organization's main goal seems to be filmmaking and viral promotion, rather than the cause at hand.

Another issue Oyston noted with the Kony 2012 campaign was the group's emphasis on military intervention. The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government's army and various other military forces. Here's a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People's Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting , but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is 'better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries,' although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn't been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending. Related Stories Invisible Children Responds In response to the influx of criticism, Invisible Children responded on its website. We've done our utmost to be as inclusive, transparent, and factual as possible, the statement said. We built this organization with 'seeing is believing' in mind, and that's what why we are a media-based organization.

We WANT you to see everything we are doing, because we are proud of it. Though we would no longer consider ourselves naive, we have always sought counsel from those who know much more. We have never claimed a desire to 'save Africa,' but, instead, an intent to inspire Western youth to 'do more than just watch.' And in Central Africa, focus on locally-led long-term development programs that enable children to take responsibility for their own futures and the futures of their countries. Our programs are carefully researched and developed initiatives by incredible members of the local community that address the need for quality education, mentorship, the redevelopment of schools, resettlement from the camps, and rehabilitation from war - and if you know anyone who has been there to see it first hand, there is no doubt they will concur. Invisible Children The wildly successful viral video campaign to raise global awareness of a brutal East African rebel leader is attracting criticism from Ugandans, some who said yesterday that the 30-minute video misrepresents the complicated history of Africa's longest-running conflict. The campaign by the advocacy group Invisible Children to make militia leader Joseph Kony a household name has received enormous attention on YouTube and other Internet sites this week.

However critics in Uganda said the video glosses over a complicated history that made it possible for Kony to rise to the notoriety he has today. They also lamented that the video does not inform viewers that Kony originally was waging war against Uganda's army, whose human rights record has been condemned as brutal by independent observers. "There is no historical context. It's more like a fashion thing," said Timothy Kalyegira, a well-known social critic in Uganda who once published a newsletter called The Uganda Record. Kony's Lord's Resistance Army began its attacks in Uganda in the 1980s, when Kony sought to overthrow the government. Since being pushed out of Uganda several years ago, the LRA has terrorized villages in Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. The group takes young women into sexual slavery and forces children to commit heinous attacks.In the years when Kony's men roamed northern Uganda, the Ugandan government was often accused of failing to do enough to capture or kill Kony, with some government investigations showing that army officers profiteered from a protracted war.

Olara Otunnu, a former UN diplomat who worked on children and armed conflict, has long accused the Ugandan government of committing genocide in northern Uganda as it pursued Kony. Invisible Children said in a statement posted on its website that it does not defend any of the human rights abuses committed by the Ugandan government. But it said: "The only feasible and proper way to stop Kony and protect the civilians he targets is to coordinate efforts with regional governments." Ogenga Latigo, a politician from northern Uganda who previously led the opposition in Uganda's Parliament, said Invisible Children's perspective was too narrow to be allowed to define the popular understanding of an insurgency that displaced millions and in which thousands were killed or abducted. "Theirs is a narrow perspective," he said of Invisible Children's work. "They just want the war to end so that children can go back home. That's all." Moreno-Ocampo says he thinks the attention Invisible Children has raised is "incredible, exactly what we need." Latigo said that the Ugandan government, by failing to deploy enough soldiers to prevent the LRA from abducting children over the years, had been partly responsible for the rebel group's success as a recruiter of children. "Our position was clear.

We told the government, 'There are not enough soldiers,'" he said. Invisible Children said that in its quest to garner wide support of a complicated issue, it tried to explain the conflict in an easily understandable format.It said that many nuances of a 26-year conflict are admittedly lost or overlooked in a half-hour film. Not everyone is critical of Invisible Children's campaign. Maria Burnett, a researcher on Uganda for Human Rights Watch, said the video has helped draw attention to an issue the rights group has long been working on. "We hope it will be helpful," she said.

"What it leads to remains to be seen, but the goal to bring pressure on key leaders, to protect civilians and to apprehend LRA leadership is important, absolutely." Burnett added that while the LRA issue is important, Uganda's military also needs to be accountable and professional - "and there's still a long way to go in that regard." Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, where Kony is wanted for war crimes, told The Associated Press this week he thinks the attention Invisible Children has raised is "incredible, exactly what we need." Kony is now thought to be hiding in the Central African Republic, where he fled before an aerial assault on his forested base in Congo in 2008. Ugandan officials say the LRA - with some 200 core fighters at most is weakened and is merely trying to survive. Invisible Children's new campaign comes five months after President Barack Obama sent 100 US forces to help regional governments eliminate Kony and his lieutenants. American troops are now stationed in Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Congo, and South Sudan, countries where Kony's men operate.

Ugandan officials say that, with the help of US troops, the hunt for LRA leaders has intensified in recent months. Asked what the chances were of eliminating the LRA, Rear Adm. Brian L. Losey, the top US special operations commander for Africa, told journalists last month: "I don't see failure." For some Ugandans, the timing of Invisible Children's campaign is suspicious. Nicholas Sengoba, a political analyst, said there was something "sinister" about Invisible Children's campaign. "The issue has been around for ages," he said. "We have to ask ourselves why suddenly there is this uproar. I believe that these people have other motives that they are not putting out in the open." Share this page:

Question: What brutal leader of the Lord's Resistance Army was featured in a 2012 viral video?
Answer: Joseph Kony