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LRA. 570 Further, on 28 June 2011, for the first time
in two years, the UN Security Council (UNSC) met to
discuss the LRA as a stand-alone issue. The resolution
adopted following this meeting renewed the mandate
of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO)
until 30 June 2012. 571 In the resolution, the UNSC also
demanded ‘that all armed groups, in particular the
[FDLR] and the [LRA], immediately cease all forms of
violence and human rights abuses against the civilian
population in the [DRC], in particular against women
and children, including rape and other forms of sexual
abuse, and demobilise’. 572 In addition, the resolution
took note
of the respective initiatives taken by the
United Nations and the African Union to
facilitate regional action against the LRA and
to protect civilians, reiterate[d] the need to
enhance cooperation of all relevant parties
to help address the threat to civilians posed
by the LRA, welcome[d] the steps taken by
MONUSCO to enhance information sharing
and coordination with those conducting
military operations against the LRA and
encourage[d] MONUSCO to continue to
keep close contacts with LRA-affected
communities and keep under review the
deployment of its available resources to
ensure maximum effect. 573
In a press release issued after the meeting, the UNSC
welcomed the initiatives for concerted efforts by the
countries affected by the LRA, reiterated its call for
an immediate end to all attacks on civilians by the
LRA, and urged all LRA elements to surrender and
disarm. In particular, the UNSC called on all States to
cooperate with the Ugandan authorities and the ICC
to implement the outstanding Arrest Warrants for
LRA commanders and to bring those responsible to
570 ‘Press Release on the 2nd Regional Ministerial Meeting
on the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)’, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, 6-8 June 2011, available at ,
last visited on 25 October 2011.
571 UNSC Resolution 1991 (2011), adopted at its 6568th
meeting on 28 June 2011, available at , last
visited on 25 October 2011.
572 UNSC Resolution 1991 (2011), para 13.
573 UNSC Resolution 1991 (2011), para 14.
justice. 574 In August 2011, the UNSC again reiterated
its concern about the continuing LRA attacks in Central
Africa and encouraged the UN Office for Central Africa
(UNOCA) to coordinate its activities with regional and
AU initiatives in the region. 575
In May 2009, a number of US senators proposed the
Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern
Uganda Recovery Act. 576 The Act enjoyed broad
bipartisan support, and was signed into law by
President Barack Obama on 24 May 2010. The Act
creates a legal basis for a US-led military operation
against the LRA, as well as a limited humanitarian and
reconstruction mandate for LRA-affected countries.
On 24 November 2010, the Obama administration
adopted its strategy pursuant to the Act, which
includes the following four objectives: (i) increase
the protection of civilians in LRA-affected areas; (ii)
apprehend or remove Kony and other top commanders
from the battlefield; (iii) promote the defection,
disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration
of former LRA combatants; and (iv) ensuring
humanitarian access and increase support for affected
communities. 577 On 31 July 2011, the US Government
pledged to join the hunt for Kony and other senior LRA
combatants by providing logistical and surveillance
support to the Ugandan, Congolese and Central African
Republic military. 578 Subsequently, on 14 October
2011, in a letter sent to Congress, President Obama
authorised the deployment of approximately 100
troops to Uganda, to be deployed during the month of
October, which ‘will act as advisors to partner forces
that have the goal of removing from the battlefield
574 UNSC Press Release, SC/10335, available at , last
visited on 25 October 2011.
575 ‘Security Council calls for concerted efforts to enhance
stability in Central Africa’, UN News Service, 18 August
2011, available at , last visited on 25 October 2011.
576 Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern
Uganda Recovery Act (2009), H.R.2478.IH.
577 ‘Strategy to Support the Disarmament of the Lord’s
Resistance Army’, The White House, Washington, 24
November 2010, available at ,
last visited on 25 October 2011.
578 ‘US military to take part in hunt for Kony’, Daily Monitor,
31 July 2011, available at , last visited on 25 October 2011.
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