Vol. III - Penn State Abington

UGANDA: CONFRONTING A HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS
By Meagan Boonie ∗
The Pennsylvania State University
Abington College
“What began as a vaguely ideological war against perceived ethnic discrimination by the
government degenerated into something close to madness” (McCrummen, 2008). Such is the
case of the 23-year crisis surrounding the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda. It is rooted in the
country’s political turmoil, present since its independence in 1962, and it has become a human
rights tragedy plaguing Central Africa. Over the years, unspeakable crimes against civilians have
been committed by the LRA, including the abduction of tens of thousands of children, killing
and mutilating thousands more. The Ugandan national army, known today as the Ugandan
People’s Defense Force (UPDF), is also guilty of committing atrocities, including killing
civilians and raping women—carelessly transmitting HIV/AIDS throughout the country.
Uganda has been plagued by this war for almost two dozen years. It is clear that a series
of steps must be taken to help remedy the immediate situation by stopping the violence that is
terrorizing Ugandans, providing a return to a normal climate, allowing the Internally Displaced
Persons to safely return home, and holding accountable all who are guilty of these human rights
abuses. It is also important to provide the foundation for a stable and healthy Uganda in the long
term, by pushing for a transparent and accountable government and rehabilitating the
traumatized.
Uganda’s regionalization can be traced back to the times of British Colonization; it sets
the stage for years of conflict between the northern and southern regions of Uganda. The
southern region’s climate and resources were deemed more economically viable than those of
Northern Uganda. A “divide and rule” strategy was implemented and found to be especially
helpful to the British since the people of Uganda were pinned against each other, reducing the
possibility of a rebellion. This North-South divide marks an extremely notable theme in Uganda,
past and present.
When Uganda gained its independence from the British Empire in 1962, Milton Obote
was chosen as the first Prime Minister. He was thrown out of office nine years later in 1971 by
Colonel Idi Amin, an event that commenced a power struggle between the two figures. Between
1971 and 1979, more than 300,000 civilians were executed, suspected of threatening Amin’s
power. When Obote reinstated himself as dictator of Uganda in 1980, current president Yoweri
Museveni created the National Resistance Army with the hopes of ousting Obote, which he did
successfully in 1986. It was this overthrow that set the stage for the Lord’s Resistance Army to
assume power and create what Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas later described as the
“world’s most neglected humanitarian crisis” (US Dep’t of Congress, 2009).
In an effort to extinguish Museveni and his National Resistance Army throughout the
country, Obote called upon the national military, at the time named the Ugandan National
Liberation Army. This was the same army Amin had used less than a decade earlier to secure his
own position in Ugandan politics against Obote. Between the two administrations, the UNLA is
∗ Meagan Boonie is a sophomore at the Pennsylvania State University, Abington
College, with a major in international politics. She is also a member of the College’s
Honors Program.
THE DIALECTICS ▲ 2009
www.abington.psu.edu/dialectics
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