Prosecuting International Crimes in Africa - PULP - University of ...

202 Chapter 9
The LRA used these killings as retaliation for the support the Acholi
people had given the government in the war, especially during the
government’s ‘Operation North’ in which many Acholi fought alongside
government forces as a ‘Bow and Arrow’ force. To Kony, this was a grave
betrayal by his own kin. 23 The Atiak massacre was followed by the 1997
massacre of over 400 people in the Kitgum district. 24
From this time on LRA abductions became routine. Estimates indicate
that between 1986 and 2006, the LRA abducted a total of 75 000 people of
whom approximately 38 000 were children. 25 Adduction was used by the
LRA for several reasons, one of which being a means of replenishing its
army. By 2004, it was estimated that over 80 per cent of LRA’s ranks
consisted of abducted children. 26 In addition, these abductions were used
as a means of stopping the local population from supporting the
government. This is because the local community would in effect be
supporting the army to kill its own children. 27
All efforts at using a military solution to end the war failed, some with
a boomerang effect. An example of this is ‘Operation Iron Fist’, launched
in May 2002, whereby government forces entered Southern Sudan and
attacked the LRA camps in what the military had pre-determined to lead
to a decisive victory against the LRA. The Operation did not achieve this
result. The LRA rebels trekked back to Uganda, launching a number of
attacks on civilians. 28 Fearing for their lives, tens of thousands of people
abandoned their homes and moved into Internally Displaced Persons’
camps (IDPs). By 2006, it was estimated that between 1.8 and 2 million
people were living in IDP camps. 29
A sizeable number of the population did not go into the camps but
remained night commuters. They would remain in the villages during the
day, of course at the risk of being abducted, and then trek to neighbouring
towns like Gulu and Kitgum to spend the night. This practice was a
spontaneous response to the LRA attacks that usually occurred in the dead
of the night. 30 It is reported that at some point, over 40 000 people would
escape to Gulu every night, especially in the period after Operation Iron
Fist. 31 Female night commuters were exposed to the risk of sexual
violence. 32
23 Lunde (n 5 above) 33.
24 As above.
25 See Pham et al Abducted: The Lord Resistance Army and forced conscription in Northern
Uganda (2007) Human Rights Center, University of California Barkley http://
escholarship.org/uc/item/7963c61v (accessed 23 February 2010).
26 World Vision Pawns of politics: Children, conflict and peace in Northern Uganda (2004)18.
27 Lunde (n 5 above) 34.
28 CSOPNU (n 20 above) 10.
29 As above, 11.
30 Lunde (n 5 above) 34.
31 As above, 38.
32 World Vision (n 26 above) 19.