The arrest of Joseph Kony, a prominent leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), must be carried out in accordance with human rights standards, Amnesty International said today following the massive public response to the Kony 2012 campaign.Kony and three other LRA leaders have evaded capture since 2005 when they were charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with crimes against humanity and a raft of war crimes, including murder, forcible enlistment of children under the age of 15, sexual slavery and rape.For many years, Amnesty International has been calling for the LRA leaders to be arrested.Joseph Kony and other LRA leaders have evaded arrest for far too long and this campaign is a salient reminder of the continuing crimes by LRA members and the need to arrest and surrender their leaders to the ICC so they can face trial, said Erwin van der Borght, Africa director at Amnesty International.For more than two decades, Amnesty International has documented crimes committed by the Lords Resistance Army and their horrific impact on the lives of thousands of civilians in Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda.Amnesty International has also documented human rights violations committed by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces against the civilian communities where the LRA were present, and against captured LRA members.It is important to remember that many of LRA members were themselves victims of human rights violations including forcible recruitment, said Erwin van der Borght Forces pursuing the LRA must seek to arrest the suspects in accordance with international law.Every effort must also be taken to protect the civilian communities where the LRA are present, recognizing that they are at grave danger of attack and being forcibly recruited into the LRA.Amnesty International believes that efforts to arrest Joseph Kony should be led by the governments of the countries in the region where the LRA operates, not by the US armed forces. The UN and the African Union, both of which are involved in the effort to arrest the LRA suspects, also have an essential role to play in supporting efforts to arrest the LRA leaders, in protecting affected communities and monitoring and reporting on the status of human rights protection.Anyone joining the Kony 2012 campaign should insist that efforts to arrest Joseph Kony must respect human rights. It is also vital to make sure that any action ensures the protection of civilians in the surrounding areas.The death of any of the accused men would deny justice to the victims of LRA abuses.

Measures also need to be taken to provide reparation to the victims of human rights violations by the LRA to address their suffering, including providing medical and psychological care to victims of sexual violence and reintegrating child soldiers back into their communities and to make education and vocational training available to them.

Joseph Kony(pronouncedIPA:[ko];[7]born 1961)[1]is the leader of theLord's Resistance Army(LRA), aguerrilla groupwhich used to operate inUganda. While initially purporting to fight against government suppression, the LRA allegedly turned against Kony's own supporters, supposedly to "purify" theAcholi peopleand turn Uganda into atheocracy.[2]Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson ofGodand aspirit medium, and has been considered by some as acult of personality, and claims he is visited by a multinational host of 13 spirits, including a Chinese phantom.[2]Ideologically, the group is asyncreticmix ofmysticism,Acholi nationalism,Islam, andChristian fundamentalism, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on theTen Commandmentsand localAcholitradition.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Kony has been accused by government entities of ordering the abduction of children to becomesex slavesandchild soldiers.[20]66,000 children became soldiers. 2 million people were displaced internally from 1986 to 2009.[21]

Kony was indicted forwar crimesandcrimes against humanityby theInternational Criminal CourtinThe Hague, Netherlands, in 2005 but has evaded capture.[22]Kony has been subject to anInterpolRed Noticeat the request of the ICC since 2006.[4]Since theJuba peace talksin 2006, the LRA no longer operate in Uganda. Sources claim that they are in theDemocratic Republic of Congo, orCentral African RepublicorSouth Sudan.[23]In 2013 Kony was reported to be in poor health andMichel Djotodia, president of the Central African Republic, claimed he was negotiating with Kony to surrender.[24]

Contents

[hide]

1Biography

1.1Early life

1.2Rebel leader

1.3Lord's Resistance Army

1.4Indictment

2Religious beliefs

3Action against Kony

3.1Uganda

3.2United States

3.3African Union

3.4Kony 2012

3.5The "Arrow Boys" Militia

4See also

5References

6Bibliography

7External links

Biography

Early life

Kony was born in August 1961[1]in Odek, a village east ofGuluin northern Uganda,[2][25]to farmers Luizi and Nora Obol.[26]He is a member of theAcholi people.[2][27]Kony enjoyed a good relationship with his siblings, but was quick to retaliate in a dispute and when confronted he would often resort to physical violence.[28]His father was alay catechistof the Catholic Church and his mother was anAnglican. His older sister, Gabriela Lakot, still lives in Odek.[29]

Kony was analtar boyfor church until 1976.[28]and also dropped out of school.[2]

Rebel leader

In 1995, Kony came to prominence inAcholilandafter theHoly Spirit MovementofAlice Auma(also known as Lakwena and to whom Kony is thought to be related).[2]The overthrow of Acholi PresidentTito OkellobyYoweri Museveniand hisNational Resistance Army(NRA) during theUgandan Bush War(19811986), had culmunated into mass looting of livestock, rapes, burning of homes,genocide, andmurderby Museveni's army.[30]

The atrocities committed by the Museveni'sNational Resistance Armynow known asUganda People's Defence Forceled to the creation of LRA or Joseph Kony. The insurgencies also gave rise toconcentrationcamps in Northern Uganda where over 2 million people lived. The government burned people's properties using helicopter gunships killing many of them. There were forceful displacements in the northern region. However, international campaigns called for all camps to be dismantled, and for the people to return to their former villages. In 2006 in the course of Juba peace talks with the LRA rebels, the Museveni's government gave permission for the local people to return to their villages. This marked the beginning of rehabilitation of homes, roads and so on.[31]

Lord's Resistance Army

Further information:Lord's Resistance Army

Kony has been implicated in abduction and recruitment of child soldiers. While there is no doubt that Kony recruited children, the government of Uganda has equally been accused of abducting and recruiting children into the army. In June 2006, the UN's representative found more than 5000 children in the Ugandan army.[32]

The LRA have had battle confrontations with the government'sNational Resistance Armyor UPDF within Uganda and in South Sudan for ten years. However, in 2008 the Ugandan army invaded the Democratic Republic of the Congo in search for the LRA in Operation Lightning Thunder.,[33]in November 2013, Kony was reported to be in poor health in the East CAR town of Nzoka[34]

Indictment

Main article:International Criminal Court investigation in Uganda

In October 2005, theInternational Criminal Court(ICC) announced that arrest warrants had been issued for five members of the Lord's Resistance Army forcrimes against humanityfollowing a sealed indictment. On the next day Ugandan defense ministerAmama Mbabazirevealed that the warrants include Kony, his deputyVincent Otti, and LRA commandersRaska Lukwiya,Okot Odhiambo, andDominic Ongwen. According to spokesmen for the military, the Ugandan army killed Lukwiya on 12 August 2006.[22]The BBC received information that Otti had been killed on 2 October 2007, at Kony's home.[35]

In November 2006, Kony metJan Egeland, theUnder-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.[36]Journeyman Picturesreleased a 2006 interview with Kony in which he proclaims, "I am a freedom fighter not a terrorist."[37]He toldReuters: "We don't have any children. We only have combatants."[38]

Religious beliefs

Kony was thought among followers and detractors alike to have beenpossessed by spirits; he has been portrayed as an elusive leader. Kony believes in the literal protection provided by a cross symbol and tells his child soldiers a cross on their chest drawn in oil will protect them from bullets.[28]He also believes inpolygamy. He is thought to have had many wives--some of whom were killed during the insurgency--and there are claims that he has 42 children.[5][6]Kony insists that he and the Lord's Resistance Army are fighting for theTen Commandments. He defends his actions: "Is it bad? It is not against human rights. And that commandment was not given by Joseph. It was not given by LRA. No, those commandments were given by God."[39]

Betty Bigomberemembered that the first time she met Kony, his followers used oil to ward off bullets andevil spirits.[40]In a letter regarding future talks, Kony stated that he must consult his self-styledholy spirit. When the talks did occur, they insisted on the participation of religious leaders and opened the proceedings with prayers, led by LRA's Director of Religious Affairs Jenaro Bongomi. During the 1994 peace talks, Kony was preceded by men in robes sprinklingholy water.[25]According to Francis Ongom, a former LRA officer who defected, Kony "has foundBiblejustifications for killingwitches, for killing [those who farm or eat] pigs because of the story of theGadarene swine, and for killing [other] people because God did the same withNoah's floodandSodom and Gomorrah."[41]

Action against Kony

Uganda

The Ugandan military has attempted to kill Kony throughout the insurgency. In Uganda's attempt to track Kony down, former LRA combatants have been enlisted to search remote areas of the Central African Republic, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he was last seen.[42]

United States

After theSeptember 11 attacks, the United States declared the Lord's Resistance Army a terrorist group.[43]On 28 August 2008, theUnited States Treasury Departmentplaced Kony on its list of "Specially Designated Global Terrorists", a designation that carries financial and other penalties.[44]

In November 2008, U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bushpersonally signed the directive to theUnited States Africa Commandto provide financial and logistical assistance to the Ugandan government during the unsuccessful20082009 Garamba offensive, code-named Operation Lightning Thunder. No U.S. troops were directly involved, but 17 U.S. advisers and analysts provided intelligence, equipment, and fuel to Ugandan military counterparts. The offensive pushed Kony from his jungle camp, but he was not captured. One hundred children were rescued.[45]

In May 2010, U.S. PresidentBarack Obamasigned into law theLord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act,[46]legislation aimed at stopping Kony and the LRA. The bill passed unanimously in theUnited States Senateon 11 March. On 12 May 2010, a motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill was agreed to by voice vote (two-thirds being in the affirmative) in the House of Representatives.[47]In November 2010, President Obama delivered a strategy document toCongress, asking for more funding to disarm Kony and the LRA.[48]In October 2011, President Obama authorized the deployment of approximately 100 combat-equipped U.S. troops to central Africa.[49]Their goal is to help regional forces remove Kony and senior LRA leaders from the battlefield. "Although the U.S. forces are combat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces, and they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense," President Obama said in a letter to Congress.[50][51]

On April 3, 2013, the Obama administration offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest, transfer or conviction of Kony, Ongwen and Odhiambo.[52][53][54][55]

On March 24, 2014 the United States announced they would deploy at least fourCV-22 Ospreysand refuelling planes, and 150 Air Force special forces personnel to assist in the capture of Kony.[56]

African Union

On 23 March 2012 theAfrican Unionannounced its intentions to "send 5,000 soldiers to join the hunt for rebel leader Joseph Kony" and to "neutralize" him while isolating the scattered LRA groups responsible for 2,600 civilian killings since 2008. This international task force was stated to include soldiers "from Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Congo, countries where Konys reign of terror has been felt over the years." Prior this announcement, the hunt for Kony has primarily been carried out by troops from Uganda. The soldiers will begin their search in South Sudan on 24 March 2012 and that the search "will last until Kony is caught".[57]

Kony 2012

Main article:Kony 2012

Kony received a surge of attention in early March 2012 when a 30-minute documentary titledKony 2012by film makerJason Russellfor the campaign groupInvisible Children Incwas released.[58]The intention of the production is to draw attention to Kony in an effort to increase United States involvement in the issue and have Kony arrested by the end of 2012,[59]A poll suggested that more than half of young adult Americans heard aboutKony 2012in the days following the video's release.[60][61]Kony 2012 has been widely criticized for largely ignoring the fact that Joseph Kony was already pushed out of Uganda long before the film was made, for using funds largely for themselves, and for hypocrisy by ignoring human rights abuses by the Ugandan military.[62]

The "Arrow Boys" Militia

The Arrow Boys militia was founded in Teso in Eastern Uganda. The name comes from the fact that they use primitive weapons such as bows and arrows or clubs against the superior armed LRA child soldiers. Between 2003 and 2005 they waged a counter insurgency campaign that forced the LRA out of that region.[63]Militia in Southern Sudan who have fought against the LRA since it fled their from Uganda have adopted the same name. They have had success in driving off small groups of LRA rebels.[64

The LRA attacks followed the beginning of a joint military operation on December 14, led by theUgandan armywith support from theCongolese,Southern Sudanese, andCentral African Republicarmies. The Ugandan army attacked the LRA headquarters in Congo'sGaramba National Park, near the border with Sudan.

Following this attack, the LRA dispersed into several groups, each of which targeted civilians along its path. The rebels waited until December 24 for the most devastating of their attacks, waiting until people had come together forChristmasfestivities, then surrounding and killing them by crushing their skulls with axes,machetes, and large wooden bats.[4]

Media reports indicated that more than 400 people were killed,[1]many of them hacked into pieces,[5]decapitated,[6]or burned alive in their homes.[6]Several people reportedly had their lips cut off as a "warning not to speak ill of the rebels",[7]and two three-year-old girls suffered serious neck injuries when rebels tried to twist their heads off.[4]

More than 20,000 people were reported to have beendisplacedby the attacks,[3][7][8]and at least 20 children were abducted by the LRA.[8][9]TheUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) reported that as many as 225 people, including 160 children, may have been abducted and more than 80 women raped.[3]

According toHuman Rights Watch, "the similar tactics and the near-simultaneous attacks indicate this was a planned operation meant to slaughter and terrorize as many civilians as possible".[4]The LRA has denied responsibility for the attacks; an LRA spokesman suggested that LRA defectors who had joined theUgandan armymay have been responsible.[7]

Death toll[edit]

On 29 December 2008, theUnited NationsOffice for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairsestimated that 189 people had been killed on 2627 December.[10]Caritas Internationalhas put the death toll at over 400,[11]while Human Rights Watch reported that at least 620 civilians were killed between 24 December and 13 January.[4]

At least five villages were attacked:

Faradje: Approximately 150 people were killed on 2526 December. Rebels reportedly attacked a Christmas Day concert organised by the Catholic Church, and returned the following morning to "continue their killing spree".[11]The UNHCR reported that at least 70 were killed and 37,000 people were forced to flee.[3]Human Rights Watch reported that at least 143 people were killed and 160 children and 20 adults abducted.[4]

Batande: At least 80 people were killed on 25 December when rebels attacked a Christmas lunch following the morning church service.[4]The men and boys were reportedly taken about 40 meters from the church and killed immediately, then the women and girls were taken into the forest in small groups and many of them raped before they were killed.[4]One witness reported that only six people were left alive in the village.[4]The rebels then ate the Christmas feast the villagers had prepared and slept among the dead bodies.[4]

Duru: 75 were reportedly killed and a church burned down in the village.[11][12]

Bangadi: 48 were killed.[11]

Gurba: 213 were killed.[11]