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

Prosecuting international crimes by the LRA in Uganda 203
In 1996, the government announced that it would create ‘protected
villages’. Shortly, people were forcibly removed and taken to the villages.
Some circles considered this to be a military strategy undertaken in the
guise of protecting civilians. It is reported that artillery and mortar bombs
were fired into villages to scare people away from their homes into the
newly-established IDP camps. 33 In some cases people were given the
ultimatum to leave the villages, and anyone found in a village after the
ultimatum would be considered a rebel. 34
The forced displacements created a humanitarian crisis; in a short time
some camps received over 60 000 people. 35 The conditions in the camps
were squalid, with very high mortality rates arising from violence and the
health conditions in the camps. Between January and July 2005, it was
estimated that the daily mortality rate was 1.54 per 10 000, compared to
0.46 obtaining in the rest of Uganda. 36 When the United Nations Under-
Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator,
Jan Egeland visited Uganda, he described Northern Uganda as
‘the world’s biggest neglected humanitarian crisis’.
2.2 Attempts at a peaceful solution
There were several attempts to resolve the conflict through peaceful
means, including negotiations. However, most of these efforts did not yield
any fruits, mainly because of LRA’s intransigence and the government’s
inconsistent approach in this regard. 37 The first serious attempt at peace
negotiations was initiated by Betty Bigombe, then a government Minister
hailing from the Acholi region. 38 Bigombe’s initiative, which had started
yielding results was frustrated when in the middle of negotiations the
President announced that he was bent on using military force to end the
conflict. The President ordered the rebels to surrender. Another round of
negotiations (between 2004 and 2005) also failed when the government
resorted to military force.
In 2000, the government decided to extend amnesty to rebels who
could surrender and renounce violence. Pressure to adopt a law on
amnesty came from the Acholi region, spearheaded by religious and
cultural leaders, who thought that a military approach to the conflict was
33
34
35
36
37
Lunde (n 5 above) 35.
As above.
CSOPNU (n 20 above) 13.
CSOPNU 14.
T Dagne Uganda: Current conditions and the crisis in Northern Uganda Congressional
38
Research Service Report to Congress (2010) 6.
Bigombe has recently been awarded the Dutch Geuzen Medal for 2010 for her efforts to
end the war in Northern Uganda.