DR Congo: " The child before they broke his heart Our heart, the heart that I believed was lost "

Esther Nsapu at Rafiki blogs: Another African blog and even better from Goma. You can't know how happy that makes me. This is a translation from French and cleaned up by me. All translation errors are mine. As this is Esther' blog I have not made any comments as per my practice with Charly Kasereka and Chantal Faida's blogs.

Shasha: Space "friend to children" Shaping the future of underprivileged children

                           

Child soldiers, victims of war and orphan's studying free courtesy of the  friend child Shasha network. In addition to the lessons learned in the classroom they are also trained in dressmaking and design; we have to prepare a better future.

They are about 500 children from the territories of Walikale, Masisi, Rutchuru aged from 4-16 years. They live, study and are supported by free to friend child space (SAEP) at Shasha, a locality thirty kilometers to the west of Goma, North Kivu, DRC.

Most of these children have lost their parents in the recurrent wars of the region. Some are the result of rape and others are former soldiers conscripted into armed groups. " I feel better here. Here after a few months I can read and write " reports Bonane Bazimaziki, 14, former militiaman.

At the age of 13, K. Baeni like most children accommodated in "Space " , could not count or hold a pen. "His integration was not easy but we are proud of him as of all the others  , " said Clarisse Kasaza the manager of SAEP.

Included in this number, nearly 200 girls are taught the skills of cutting and sewing, while boys learn drawing and painting. " I am proud to be able to sew clothes but also to weave carpets , " says FT, a girl born as a result of rape, never having known her parents and abandoned at birth. 

Even the locals are included 

Although this SAEP project is designed to supervise the children victims of war, the work of this organisation also benefits the local people. Included in the school, there is  ten local children. George Bazibuhe, chief of the town of Shasha observes, this organization is also very beneficial as giving the poor village children the opportunity to study for free.

He is proud and encourages developers and managers of this structure for children. " I can hardly pay my rent and my income does not allow me to educate my three children. Fortunately this center exists if not, I would seem irresponsible "explains Nsimire, who sells mangoes in the village.

According to Clarisse Kasaza since the center was established there two years ago, the progress has been significant: " children who were violent became docile. Tomorrow they will become honest and responsible citizens thanks to the education they have acquired.  " But the fact remains that the stresses on parents are large and numerous a fault authorities of the country are powerless to fix so the center must respond.

OK sort of breaking my comments rule but as I was working on this a friend
Kalume Jon mentioned what he was currently doing.

"...in Northern Uganda where Lord Resistance Army operated by Joseph Kony,... now am in evaluation of children's situation, orphans and child soldiers and vulnerable women affected by war. "

From a global perspective these issues should and are to some degree addressed by the UN. Rehabilitation should become a UN Security Council responsibility, the way out of messes like this is to break the cycle of violence. From a New Zealand perspective we need to win a seat on the council in September and getting Helen Clark into the job as UN Secretary General should be a national priority. We may only be four million people at the bottom of the world but that is not a weakness it is our strength. The NZ Government is by virtue of our size close to constituents. 

In 1994 while New Zealand held the presidency of the UN Security Council the Rwanda genocide happened. We attempted to stop it but we were over ruled by permanent council members.  Most New Zealander's didn't  and don't know the Rwanda genocide happened. Had they known, had they mobilised who knows what the international community would have been forced to do, remember the Springbok tour of '81 and we were divide then. New Zealand is almost unique in the world, when we collectively want our government to do something they had better do it or start looking for new jobs. That is our size advantage, that is our ability to change the world.

Nigeria: " Wearing bracelets of smoke, naked of understanding "

The Guardian reports

Boko Haram claims responsibility for kidnapping Nigeria schoolgirls

Islamist militants' leader threatens to sell the more than 270 girls abducted in north-east Nigeria on 14 April

Screengrab from video obtained by AFP of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claiming responsibility for abducting the schoolgirls. Photograph: Ho/AFP/Getty Images

The leader of Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has said that more than 270 schoolgirls snatched from their dormitories were "slaves" whom he planned to sell in the market.

"I abducted your girls," a man claiming to be Abubakar Shekau, the group's leader, said in a video seen by the Guardian. "I will sell them in the market, by Allah. I will sell them off and marry them off. There is a market for selling humans.

I can't wait for the day that Abubakar Shekau is given a chance to discuss this act of barbarity on a one to one level with Allah. Hopefully it will involve a particularly cruel and unusual form of punishment in the hours if not days leading up to that discussion.

"Women are slaves. I want to reassure my Muslim brothers that Allah says slaves are permitted in Islam," he added, in an apparent reference to an ancient tradition of enslaving women captured during jihad, or holy war.

This coward and that is a charitable description of him, conducts his holy war on school children I guess his band of madmen are unable to attract life partners in a conventional manner so in this instance he has targeted girls.

Speaking in northern Nigeria's Hausa language during a rambling hour-long speech, he threatened further attacks on schools and warned the international community not to get involved in Nigeria. Shekau has previously called western education "a plot against Islam" and urged his fighters to kill students and teachers.

The international community are already involved.

" The United States Department of State offered a $7 million reward and the Nigerian government offered a N50 million reward for his capture, making him the most wanted man in Nigeria and Islamist in Africa."  

I hope that the international community get more involved. This prick needs to be taken down fast, we have seen the damage that Joseph Kony has caused in the Great Lakes Region, this is the Nigerian equivalent. 

"I will marry off a woman at the age of 12. I will marry off a girl at the age of nine," he said at another point in the video.

Sub Saharan Africa has become the new battle ground between radical Islam and sanity. It is a fight that West must get involved insofar as it is our fight as well. One need only look at the Central African Republic and the religious insanity occurring there to realise there is a radical Islamic agenda at play.

The chilling message came as police questioned 'Gbenga Sesan – the activist behind the popular Twitter campaign #BringBackOurGirls – and two women who helped organise protests calling for the government to do more to rescue the girls.

And to make matters even worse the Nigerian Government has taken to the path of blaming the victims. It would seem that President Goodluck Jonathan's  government has opted to fight insanity through even more fucking insanity.

Protesters call for the release of the missing schoolgirls at the state government house, in Lagos, Nigeria. Photograph: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

Saratu Angus Ndirpaya and Naomi Mutah Nyadar were detained after attending a meeting with the president's wife, Patience, who, in a bizarre twist, suggested the mass abductions had never happened and were instead a conspiracy to derail her husband's presidential campaign for elections next year.

Yes no surprises there. Her husband being re-elected is far more important to the stupid bitch than the lives of 270 school girls. She is if nothing else a worthy member of the Crocodile Club.

At least 300 teenage girls were snatched in a dawn raid in Chibok, in Boko Haram's north-eastern heartland of Borno state, on 15 April. President Goodluck Jonathan did not publicly comment on the abductions for two weeks and the government's clumsy handling of the case has triggered protests across almost every major city.

Not just Nigeria. The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls is recording huge hits including some fairly serious players such as Hillary Clinton.

" Access to education is a basic right & an unconscionable reason to target innocent girls. We must stand up to terrorism.#BringBackOurGirls "

Jonathan pledged on Sunday evening that the government would return the girls to their families. "This is a trying time for this country. It is painful," he said.

Made even more painful for the victims by his wife, Nigeria's First Lady. If there was any justice in this world she would be sharing the fate of those school girls for her total lack of empathy and compassion.

Diplomats say the government is in talks with the UK and the US for assistance in bolstering the country's security.

This is bigger than the UK and the US, it is a crime against humanity and humanity needs to make it clear to those incompetent fools who are permanent members of the security council including the aforementioned states that we expect a resolution to this atrocity and the wider Boko Haram problem. If that solution involves killing every one of the pricks that is fine by me.

Mallam Mpur, whose two nieces are among the missing, said parents were reeling from reports the girls had been sold as "brides" to the extremists. He could not yet face telling the parents and relatives who gathered at his home for daily updates and support about the latest threats, he added. "In a few hours it will be exactly three weeks since our girls were taken away – we are counting every hour," he said.

"All I can say is, as parents we are desperate and begging. If the Nigerian government cannot help us, there is no shame in appealing to other African countries or the international community for help."

There is a huge amount of shame in the families having to appeal to the African and international community for help and that shame is our shame not the families. Boko Haram should have been destroyed long before now. We know their modus operandi, when they attacked the girls dormitories they should have hit heavily armed UN troops with an offensive mandate, it is clear that the Nigerian security forces are not up to the job. 

Some parents say their attempts to pass on information to the authorities have been fruitless. Farmer Dauda said his daughter called him from a forest training camp for militants last week. "One of the Boko Haram people came on the phone and told us not to worry; that our daughter is in safe hands," he told the Guardian. "The man told us, we have warned you not to send your children to school and this is the consequence. Then he told us that if we are patient and follow their orders, we will see our daughter again. But the government are not interested in hearing when we try to speak to them."

 It is also clear that the President Jonathan has failed in his most important role. He needs to go.

About 50 girls escaped in the confusion, some by jumping off trucks and fleeing for miles on foot through the dense Sambisa forest. Two girls have since died from snake bites, according to intermediaries in contact with the militants.

A demonstrator in London protests against the failure of the Nigerian government, to rescue the schoolgirls abducted by Boka Haram extremists. Photograph: Ruth Whitworth/Demotix/Corbis

Another Chibok elder, whose house was burned down during the five-hour raid by Boko Haram, said life was continuing in a state of terror. "Any little noise we hear at night, we all run out into the bush fearing for our lives," said the villager, adding that some households had resorted to organising their own night watch rotas.

The choice is simple deal with these Boko Haram scum now or later, it will cost a lot less to deal with them now.

The Christian Association of Nigeria published a list on Sunday of 180 Christian girls – about two-thirds of the total 276 – among the missing.

"Daughters of Zion taken captive, to be treated as slaves and sold into marriage to unclean people," the list was subtitled.

Understandable but not particularly helpful.

Its release has been widely criticised by Nigerians in a sign of how anger at the abductions has bridged the sectarian tensions that sometimes flare up between an evenly divided Muslim and Christian population.

Islam has a long tradition of scholarship something that I doubt the Boko Haram animals are aware of, it is no surprise that the muslim community is as horrified by this as the christian community, describing muslims as unclean is stupid.  

In a televised broadcast on Sunday, the first lady, who holds no official office, was seen alternately weeping and berating community members during a meeting to discuss the kidnappings. She warned against further protest marches: "You are playing games. Don't use schoolchildren and women for demonstration again. Keep it to Borno, let it end there," the official News Agency of Nigeria reported.

An official from the school who was at the meeting said: "She told us we were not patriotic; that we were members of Boko Haram ourselves and we wanted to disgrace the country."

Yes.. I have little to add to my comments above other than the first lady should just fuck off. The eyes of the world are watching Nigeria and it is clear who has disgraced the country.

The president's approval ratings have taken a battering as security has deteriorated in the runup to elections next year. In a weekly media chat late on Sunday, Jonathan denied that security had worsened, despite two bomb blasts on the outskirts of Abuja, the capital, which left 105 dead last month. "I believe we are succeeding" he said.

Really ?

" Nigeria was yesterday ranked the 16th most failed nation in the world, out of a total of 177 countries that were surveyed."

The government has launched a massive security operation in the capital this week as it prepares to host the World Economic Forum, at which dignitaries and heads of state will discuss Africa's positive growth story.

The glitz of the meeting will elude most ordinary Nigerians. Sitting forlornly on a plastic chair outside an Abuja police station, one woman who had travelled from Chibok to protest said: "We don't know why the government is treating us like we are less than animals. It is just really painful."

It is interesting to note that Nigeria is one of the MINT nations. It would seem that that was a wildly optimistic bit of wishful thinking.

Hat tip No Right Turn

CAR:The UN needs to act now. " Decriminalise genocide, provided door to door Belsens "

The Financial Times reports

Central African Republic on the verge of genocide, France warns UN

                                                                       Former rebels of the Seleka coalition 

The Central African Republic is “on the verge of genocide”, according to its former colonial master, France, which is urging the UN to authorise a stronger African peacekeeping force supported by French troops.

That is probably overstating it. Certainly religious tensions are on the rise between Christians and Muslims.

The comments on Thursday by Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, mark an escalation in French rhetoric on the crisis in Bangui.

The Central African Republic descended into a state of near-anarchy after the Seleka group, a mainly Muslim alliance of five rebel movements, seized the capital in March and ousted François Bozizé, a Christian, as president. He had led the country for 10 years after seizing power in a coup.

I doubt that current regime can survive. From what I have read the population is anywhere between 50% - 80% Christian with the muslim population making up about 15%. The regime is a Muslim regime and despite the transitional president Michel Djotodia dismissing formally the Seleka coalition from power it has done little to bring about any acceptance or legitimacy to his administration.   

The rebels propelled into power President Michel Djotodia, who has subsequently lost control over the Seleka fighters. Since then the landlocked nation of 4.6m people has been largely lawless and the Seleka’s widespread acts of banditry have provoked raids and reprisals between Christians and Muslims.

The Guardian reports on some of the violence being inflicted on the community by the Seleka militias. 

" One Man describes how his four-year-old son's throat was slit, and how he saw a snake swallowing a baby. A woman explains that she is caring for a young girl because her mother went searching for medicine and was bludgeoned to death with Kalashnikov rifles. A young man tells how he was bound and thrown to the crocodiles, but managed to swim to safety."

Zita Nganamodei with 18-month-old Arethas Demba, whose mother was bludgeoned to death after unknowingly crossing an arbitrary boundary while taking her daughter for medical treatment. Photograph: David Smith for the Guardian

Mr Djotodia is the first Muslim president in the majority Christian country. Most Seleka fighters are Muslim.

Djotodia is recognised only as an interim president, it would seem unlikely he will be able to restore order and I would expect his term in office to be short. He clearly hasn't got the support of the Christian community and by dismissing the Muslim Seleka from his administration it would seem he has no support base internally. I can't see the UN or the French propping him up and I doubt he will get any support from African leaders. Uganda I am betting is very pissed off with him and I wouldn't blame them.  

A US state department official this week said the country was not in a genocidal situation but in a “pre-genocidal situation”.

I doubt this will go the way of the Rwandan genocide. That said I think that the UN needs to get a serious deterrent presence in on the ground and it might want to think about giving them a mandate that actually gives them an ability to engage hostile elements rather than reacting after the fact. 

French diplomats fear that the Central African Republic is becoming a failed state and, similarly to Somalia in the Horn of Africa, might be used as a haven by extremist groups in a volatile region.

I would have thought that French diplomats might have been aware of the LRA and Joseph Kony who are by all accounts already in the CAR. It has also been reported again by the Guardian that Muslim fighter from neighbouring countries are already in the CAR.

" What started as a political movement against the corrupt and autocratic Bozizé is now taking on an ominously religious character. Nearly all the Seleka are Muslim, including mercenaries from neighbouring Chad and the notorious Janjaweed from Sudan's Darfur region. An "us and them" mentality of mutual distrust and paranoia is taking root, with some Christians taking up arms in vigilante militias known as "anti-balaka" — meaning anti-sword or anti-machete — and committing atrocities of their own, giving the Seleka a pretext for yet more aggression. The spiral of violence has become a recruiting sergeant for thousands of child soldiers."

“It is total disorder,” Mr Fabius told France 2 television. “We must act quickly.” Lawlessness in the country has also enabled weapons to move freely in the region, western diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said.

A 2,500-strong regional peacekeeping force has been unable to halt the violence, even in the capital. Amid mounting international concern, the UN Security Council is due to vote in early December on a resolution that would allow neighbouring countries, the African Union and France, to send more soldiers.

This needs to happen and fast. I hope that the Intervention Brigade example is followed when it comes to mandating these troops. If civilians are at risk then preventative lethal force would not only seem reasonable but desirable.  
France already has 400 troops on the ground guarding the international airport in the capital but wants UN backing to beef up its force to potentially beyond 1,000 soldiers, according to French diplomats.

Thibaud Lesueur, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, a think-tank, said that French troops would provide “operational support” to the African peacekeeping mission rather than lead it.

France is in a difficult situation but at the very least France should be paying for this, 400 troops is a joke. France needs to make a decision rather than temporising as it did when the regime of Francois Bozize fell.

" French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stressed again on Friday that French troops were there only to protect French and European nationals, not fight the rebels."

The regional force is supposed to come under African Union control in December and expand to 3,600 troops but Mr Lesueur said that at least 6,000 peacekeepers would be necessary to help secure the capital and countryside.

Despite the urgency, Mr Fabius stressed that Paris’s involvement would be nothing like the large-scale intervention in Mali earlier this year, where France mounted a ground and air assault on Islamist militants. “It will not be as massive and as durable,” he said.

I think France needs to shit or get of the pot as the saying goes.

Paris and Washington are trying to reach an agreement on who will provide financial support to the African-led military mission. The US this week pledged $40m in support of the military intervention.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said on Wednesday that the transitional government did not have “the capacity or political will to end the violence, especially the abuses committed by elements of the Seleka rebel alliance that are affiliated with the government”.

It would seem the transitional government can't even exert its authority over the capital. Transitional is starting to look rather optimistic it should perhaps be known as the temporary government. That at least would be in the tradition of CAR regimes.

In recent months Seleka rebels have clashed with local self-defence groups, known as “anti-balaka”, or anti-machetes, and Christian militias. Western diplomats said the fighting between the two religious communities has increased in recent weeks, with groups attacking civilians.

Fighting has been especially fierce in the western region of Bossangoa, the home area of the former president, Mr Bozizé. Mr Lesueur, the analyst, said that Bossangoa was now divided into Muslim and Christian sectors. “You always have to be very careful when using words like genocide,” he said. “But it’s clear that we are seeing religious violence and tensions, and that’s a dangerous situation.”

It may be a little early to be describing it as genocide but religious persecution is certainly happening and a Christian backlash is certainly on the cards.

The Great Lakes Region: " A region that rusts from the tears of it's broken men "

New Vision reports

Kony wants to surrender

UNITED NATIONS - Notorious warlord Joseph Kony tried to negotiate food and a safe haven with the president of Central African Republic even as an African force hunted him, a UN envoy told AFP on Wednesday.

Amid indications that the Lord's Resistance Army leader is seriously ill, UN special envoy Abou Moussa and an African Union counterpart called for heightened pressure on Kony.

Kony is beyond any redemption. He should be denied any safe haven or support.  

Moussa said in an interview that Central African Republic president Michel Djotodia had told him this month he sent food to Kony.

"When we met President Djotodia he told us that he is in contact with him (Kony)," said Moussa, UN envoy for the Central African region where Kony's rebels are accused of killing 100,000 people in a two-decade reign of terror.

I have held great doubts about the ( former) Séléka coalition government that now rules the Central African Republic. I hold no great faith that it will survive more than a few years and acts of insanity such as giving succor to the likes of Kony suggest it is not fit to govern the country.

"He told us that he had provided him with 20 bags of food, with manioc, cassava.

"He added that Kony had called him, that Kony has asked for these items." Kony was also reported to have asked for the creation of a safe zone for him and his fighters in Central African Republic.

Why would you even consider it. The LRA have done no favours to any of the nations they have operated from, why on earth didn't the interim president Michel Djotodia just hand the intelligence over on the food drop to the Ugandan authorities and let them clean the mess that is the LRA up.

Moussa said Kony's whereabouts was not known but Djotodia believed the LRA chief was in Central African Republic, which is confronted by its own murderous chaos after a rebel takeover in March.

Moussa said he had warned the transitional president against providing food unless it was part of a deal involving a surrender.

"If he wants to surrender, he wants food, they should come out of the bush," the envoy said.

Moussa quoted Djotodia as saying that once Kony has given up, he would be handed over to the United Nations.

Actually I think it would be better to hand his mutilated corpse over, Djotodia is just an idiot if he believes that Kony is going to surrender for a few bags of cassava. Why on earth does he want the creation of a safe zone ?     

Kony, who launched a rebellion in his native Uganda two decades ago, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, enslavement, sexual slavery and recruiting child soldiers.

A 3,000-strong Ugandan-led African force is hunting Kony in Central African Republic, Uganda, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.

They are backed by about 100 military advisors from the United States, which has offered a $5 million reward for Kony's capture.

The United Nations estimates that 400,000 people are displaced in countries in the region because of Kony's marauding.

Winning friends and influence are clearly not priorities for Djotodia who I assume is not a total idiot, one has to wonder what his agenda is ?

Sick

Recent LRA attacks have been reported in South Sudan and Central African Republic. Moussa said defections have increased while the number of attacks is down, but that Kony is still widely "feared".

Moussa and African Union envoy on the LRA, Francisco Madeira, said there were indications that Kony is ailing.

A bullet would cure that.

"Many reports that we have received indicate that he is suffering from some serious illness, uncharacterized illness," Madeira told reporters after a UN Security Council meeting on the LRA.

Moussa told AFP that on a recent trip to Kampala, a well informed official had told him that Kony was believed to be sick.

"Of course you cannot be living in the jungle like that for years and years and continue to be in good health," Moussa said.

That depends on the manner of your living and the particular jungle, Sudan certainly appears to have looked after him rather well.

Madeira told the Security Council that Kony could have been "duping" the Central African Republic government into talks so he could move his fighters.

He said the special force will "not relent on the military pressure against the LRA until Kony and his top commanders surrender or are removed from the battlefield."

Exactly.

The LRA is now estimated to number less than 500 fighters, split into small groups in different countries. Moussa said Kony has suffered defections but forces villagers to reinforce his armed bands.

Moussa said the Central African Republic authorities had expected a mass surrender by LRA fighters on November 3, but it did not happen.

What a surprise. Not. What is a surprise is that we are meant to believe in the naivety of the CAR government.

"But it shows the pressure. They want to surrender but they feel it is not yet the time. That is why the pressure must continue on Kony," Moussa said.

At the UN Security Council meeting on the LRA, US deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said it was essential for the international community to "remain united in our determination to crush the LRA, which has proven its willingness to wait the international community out and to exploit to its advantage every opportunity to regroup."

Never forgive never forget.

Uganda: Lango Paramount Chief, Yosam Odur is batshit crazy.

New Vision ( Uganda ) reports

Uganda: Lango Chief 'Ready to Offer' Kony Land to Resettle

Lango Paramount Chief, Yosam Odur has pledged to offer Kony land to resettle if the rebel leader ends his war. PHOTO/Bonney Odongo newvision

Tears of repentance flowed endlessly and hearts remained filled with forgiving thoughts as hundreds of Langi and other fellow countrymen Friday concluded three days of prayers for repentance, forgiveness and thanksgiving.

Held at the Mayor's Gardens in Lira starting Wednesday through to Friday, the prayers dubbed Lango Convocation ended with the extension of forgiveness to the LRA leader, Joseph Kony by the Lango Paramount Chief, Yosam Odur.

There can be no forgiveness for Kony ever. The Ugandan Army should hunt the prick and kill him and I would have no objection to a public execution of the bastard. Some people are beyond the pale and Kony fits the category.

Odur said he has forgiven the rebel leader for his campaign of rape, abductions, conscripting young children into rebel ranks and killing of the people of Lango. He also pledged to give Kony part of his land where he can come and settle if he could embrace peace by ending his war and crimes against humanity.

I think that the time might be ripe for the Lango people to replace their paramount chief with someone who has some sort of grasp on reality. Odur is clearly beyond batshit crazy.

Kony was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2005 but has evaded capture. He was forced out of Uganda in 2006 after 20 years of war in northern Uganda during which hundreds of people were killed, orphaned and displaced.

Hundreds ? I think that is a lot on the low side.

His group, once reported to be crumbling in strength, is believed to be now operating in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), or Central African Republic (CAR) or South Sudan.

It would seem likely that it is all three. There have been strong indications that many of his " followers " want to get out of his clutches and to be fair they probably are victims of Kony. Had the senile old fool Odur offered forgiveness to them he might have been worthy of us taking him seriously as it stands I would be tempted to arrest the fool for treason.   

"The people of Lango and Acholi are well known for our forgiving nature and struggle for peace in the country but [we] were disorganized by the LRA war that targeted innocent people," said Chief Odur.

    

"Now am calling upon Joseph Kony to stop fighting and am even ready to offer him land for settlement." The prayers that saw Odur forgive Kony were organized by Lango religious leaders to give people of Lango and other tribes in Uganda time to repent to God for the wrongs committed by the country's forefathers since independence.

What ? and at the same time forgive Kony. Wow this is taking batshit crazy to a whole new level. I agree Kony should be given some land it should be a couple of feet wide about 6 foot in length and 6 foot deep. It should not be marked in any way.

Hundreds of Christians, cultural leaders and politician from around the country attended the three days of prayer. The gathering also provided an opportunity for intertribal forgiveness for past mistakes under previous regimes.

It would be interesting to know which politicians went along. Their inability to influence the outcome would suggests that they might want to think about alternative careers.

Uganda: Dismantling the LRA bit by bit.

New Vision ( Uganda ) reports

UPDF will not attack surrendering LRA rebels

                                                                                LRA commander, Joseph Kony

The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) will grant safe passage and will not attack defecting fighters of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who are surrendering to the United Nations (UN).

This comes after the UN on Monday confirmed a decision by over 1,200 LRA fighters operating in the east of Central African Republic (CAR) to abandon rebellion.

If true this is great news. 

The UN in a statement on Monday said it was sending a delegation to Bria, in CAR to investigate the reports of a possible large defection and disarmament of a group within the LRA.

A UN mission comprising of the UN Integrated Bureau for Peace Consolidation in CAR (BINUCA) led by Gen. Babacar Gueye is to travel to Nzako, where LRA fighters have started handing over their weapons to the authorities.

But Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Katumba Wamala said although it is not the first time LRA has offered to abandon rebellion, Uganda will wait to see their resolve when they come out.

“It’s not the first time. We will not attack them if they come out to surrender to UN. We will be saving lives. If this is happening, we shall not oppose them,” said Gen. Katumba.

Unfortunately it doesn't mean the end of the " rebellion " although I think rebellion is the wrong term it is more a personality cult.

Presently, the UPDF is in areas of CAR under the four-member AU Regional Taskforce against LRA comprising of LRA-affected countries of South Sudan, CAR and DR Congo.

However, this anti-LRA operation is in a lull following an impasse over the legality of the Seleka junta which deposed President Francoise Bozize. The African Union consequently suspended Central African Republic’s members in the continental body.

I would take that with a grain of salt. I am sure that the Ugandan army will stop looking for Kony on the day they kill him and that day can't come soon enough.

The defections come in wake of reports that Kony issued orders to execute disobedient commanders, marginalize older commanders as well as the harvest elephant ivory.

Kony operates on terror to maintain loyalty and that is not real loyalty. A lot of the people surrendering will have been forced recruits. I hope the marginalisation of the older commanders is true because they represent the the most loyal of his followers. We are not dealing with an evil genius in Kony just an evil person. That he may be bringing about the weakening and hopefully the destruction of the LRA is not all that much of a surprise.   
Also, many Ugandan fighters who make up the core of the LRA are disillusioned by the difficulty of life in the forests, with pressure mounted by UPDF and the US military advisers.

Gen. Katumba said the LRA surrender en masse, could be a result of tough living conditions in CAR jungles, and the realization that those who have surrendered in the past have received good treatment.

That and the realisation that Kony offers only death for his followers.

Also, the defections could be attributed to the “Come Home” messages broadcast from helicopters, FM radios and dropping of leaflets to LRA fighters in the jungles.

A very good idea. 

Kony and his top commanders are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to answer charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. A report published by The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative in July this year said that Kony was operating in the Kafia Kingi enclave, which is a disputed area under the control of the Sudan Armed Forces.

                            ( Kafia Kingi is the shade bit above the Central African Republic )

He isn't thought to be there now but his whereabouts is as far as I can see more speculation than any real hard intelligence. I guess that is why he is still alive.

" The LRA's recent departure from its established camps in Kafia Kingi provides international diplomats with an opportunity to convince the Sudanese government to definitively end its decades-long collaboration with the LRA." 

Yesterday, the international children NGO Invisible Children in a statement said the imminent large defection is an incredible step forward in dismantling the LRA, and a victory for victims.

Let us hope so.

LRA Central Africa: Get Kony

Voice of America reports

LRA Rebels Linked to Elephant Poaching in Central Africa

A new report says there is growing evidence that the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is involved in elephant poaching in central Africa.

The report, released Monday, says the LRA is using the illegal trade in elephant tusks as a way of sustaining itself.

The findings come from two U.S.-based groups, the Enough Project and the Satellite Sentinel Project, based on research at Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Satellite Sentinel Project and Enough Project sound like  fairly cool organisations. The full report is on the Enough Project website. 

 

Enough Project spokesman Jonathan Hutson, who recently visited the park, said in an interview with VOA that a former LRA detainee was among those who described atrocities in the region.

"He has seen that LRA fighters were shooting elephants and cutting out the ivory tusks and that they were calling in him and others to strip the meat from the carcasses," Hutson said. "And, other LRA defectors report that from time to time, white helicopters will land in the park and trade ivory with the LRA fighters in exchange for guns, ammunition and food."

The LRA once battled the Ugandan government but now exists as bands of roving fighters in Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

The African rights groups say LRA involvement in poaching is especially troubling because of the violence associated with the rebel group. The group is known for looting villages, mutilating civilians and abducting children who are sometimes forced to fight as soldiers. 

 

Kony and his merry murders seem to have eluded both the Ugandan Army and American Special Forces so one would have to rate the chances of the bastard ever facing justice as somewhat less than good. 

Hutson says the LRA is among a string of groups linked to the illegal trade of elephant ivory, which is in strong demand in some Asian countries.

"The LRA is not the only group benefiting from this surging black market for ivory. Park rangers suspect that members of Congolese, Sudanese, South Sudanese and Ugandan armed forces as well as state-sponsored militias from Sudan - those Janjaweed militias from Darfur, for example - are killing elephants at an accelerating pace," he said.

 

That is no surprise. However the Congolese, Sudanese, South Sudanese and Ugandan governments should be accountable for the actions of their armed forces and international military assistance should be suspended if the allegations are correct. 

Last week, United Nations special representative Abou Moussa told the U.N. Security Council that increased poaching in central Africa is fueling insecurity in the region.

 

That has been obvious for quite sometime.

 

                                               Photo Virunga National Park DR Congo

"The issue of poaching is another emerging and rapidly growing phenomenon that has the potential to impact negatively on an already challenging peace and security situation in some parts of the sub-region," he said.

At a March conference, the Economic Community of Central African States endorsed a $2.3 million initiative to combat poaching.

Hutson says as part of the effort, regional park rangers need better training and more surveillance equipment.

 

That might be the case in some parks but not Virunga Natonal Park.

Uganda: Joseph Kony... Watch this space.

New Vision Uganda reports

MPs renew calls for Kony arrest

                                                          Joseph Kony

MPs under the body umbrella Uganda National Group of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) have renewed calls for the arrest of lord’s resistance Army leader (LRA) Joseph Kony who is wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

The group chaired by Kajara county MP Stephen Tashobya  believes that the arrest and surrender of Joseph Kony and others at large , will significantly facilitate the processes of accountability and justice for the crimes committed against thousands of people in northern Uganda. 

Currently Kony's thought to be in the Central African Republic and is being sought by American Special Forces as well as the Ugandan Army. He could of course be in the Congo so I don't rate the chances of him being found anytime soon. At the end of the day this might be one of those situations where the fugitive just disappears from the face of the earth.

“The Uganda national group of PGA strongly urges the armed forces of Uganda, as well as regional forces and US military personnel, collectively engaged in the military pursuit of LRA leader – Joseph Kony and other fugitives to make every effort possible to arrest these individuals so that they may be brought to justice,” said Tashobya in a statement.

Kony’s whereabouts however still remain a puzzle to many.

The MPs noted that the arrest of Kony would be a fulfillments of Uganda’s legal obligation as a state party to the Rome statute of the ICC to cooperate with the ICC in execution of arrests, warrants , as enshrined in the Ugandan criminal Act 0f 2010. 

I doubt Uganda needs any " legal obligations " encouragement to go after this bastard. 

“In the event that Kony, Okot Odhiambo, Vincet otti, Dominic Ongwen are killed during the course of these military operations, the ICC proceedings against any of those that are deceased will automatically be terminated,” noted Tashobya.

They noted that having Kony killed will impede accountability for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as whole and leave many victims without redress for devastating harm which they have suffered in the past. 

Well capturing is not really going to provide any redress and he certainly won't face a noose under the International Criminal Court. I am far convinced that his death will being captured will be a bad thing. Osama Bin Laden springs to mind.

“We strongly welcome and support the ongoing international military assistance from both the United States (US) government and the regional forces in the pursuit of these fugitives, and recognize the very difficult circumstances in which they are fulfilling their mandate,” they said in a statement issued on Friday last week. 

The Ugandan National Group of PGA is a global parliamentary network dedicated to accountability for crimes of international concern.

I guess it is another watch this space situation.