Dembia is a village located near the border of Mbomou and Haut-Mbomou Prefecture.
98-459: On 28 March 2010, LRA attacked Dembia. UPDF soldiers chased the LRA fighters and managed to kill fifteen. On 18 March 2016, LRA bands attacked Dembia. They looted the villagers' properties and abducted seven people, six men and a woman. They were released three days later. The residents, however, had fled to the bush before the attack happened after they heard the presence of the LRA near Dembia. After
196-485: A cult of personality of its leader, Joseph Kony . Although the LRA has been regarded primarily as a Christian militia, the LRA reportedly evokes Acholi nationalism on occasion; many observers doubt the sincerity of this behaviour and the loyalty of Kony to any ideology. The original aims of the group were more closely aligned with those of its predecessor, the Holy Spirit Movement . Protection of
294-682: A botched United Nations special forces raid targeting the LRA deputy leader Vincent Otti in DR Congo . According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the LRA attacks and the government's counterinsurgency measures resulted in the displacement of nearly 95 percent of the Acholi population in three districts of northern Uganda. By 2006, 1.7 million people lived in more than 200 IDP camps in northern Uganda. These camps had some of
392-541: A cheap and accessible resource for military organisations. In a 2004 study of children in military organisations around the world, Rachel Brett and Irma Specht pointed to a complex of factors that incentivise children to join military organisations, particularly: The following testimony from a child recruited by the Cambodian armed forces in the 1990s is typical of many children's motivations for joining up: I joined because my parents lacked food and I had no school ... I
490-638: A criminal gang than an army, smuggling ivory and arms across the DR Congo border. In 2024, LRA officer Thomas Kwoyelo was tried in Uganda on charges including rape, murder, kidnapping, and enslavement of civilians. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Part of the structural causes of the LRA conflict has been explained as rooted in the "diversity of ethnic groups which were at different levels of socio-economic development and political organization", leading to ethnic strife. Enemy images have instilled insensitivity to
588-798: A cultural erosion. Amid complex geopolitical dynamics and international scrutiny, they wish to move toward a future marked by stability and autonomy within a multi-party democracy in a new Ugandan state bound by the Ten Commandments . The LRA was listed as a terrorist group by the United States , but it has since been removed from the list of designated active terrorist groups . It has been accused of widespread human rights violations, including murder , abduction , mutilation , child sex slavery , and recruitment of child soldiers . Uganda's north and south are politically divided. The south and east are largely inhabited by Bantu -speakers, such as
686-570: A direct part in hostilities and to cease recruitment below the age of 16. As most states have now opted into OPAC, the global trend has been towards reserving military recruitment to adulthood, known as the Straight-18 standard. Nonetheless, as of 2018 , children aged under 18 were still being recruited and trained for military purposes in 46 countries. Most of these states recruit from age 17, fewer than 20 recruit from age 16, and an unknown, smaller number, recruit younger children. As of 2022 ,
784-536: A framework of restorative justice and social rehabilitation, consistent with international law which offers children special protection through numerous agreements and principles. This principle was reflected in the Court's statute, which did not rule out prosecution but emphasised the need to rehabilitate and reintegrate former child soldiers. David Crane , the first Chief Prosecutor of the Sierra Leone tribunal, interpreted
882-579: A groundswell of mistrust by the population against virtually any overtures from the government to the rebels. This cynical strategy, some argue, was deeply rooted and employed in Luwero triangle by the National Resistance Movement (NRM)/NRA rebels during their five-year bush war in order to garner popular support, with an underlying drive of "unique greed for absolute political power" in total abhorrence of democratic means. The strong imbalance in
980-467: A high risk of poverty and lasting unemployment in adulthood. Further harm is caused when armed forces and groups detain child recruits. Children are often detained without sufficient food, medical care, or under other inhumane conditions, and some experience physical and sexual torture. Some are captured with their families, or detained due to one of their family members' activity. Lawyers and relatives are frequently banned from any court hearing. While
1078-459: A high-stress environment, particularly those from a background of childhood adversity. It finds in particular that the prolonged stressors of military training are likely to aggravate pre-existing mental health problems and hamper healthy neurological development. Military settings are characterized by elevated rates of bullying , particularly by instructors. In the UK between 2014 and 2020, for example,
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#17328477910551176-488: A job to do because I don't have any skills. I don't know what I'll do ... Some leaders of armed groups have claimed that children, despite their underdevelopment, bring their own qualities as combatants to a fighting unit, often being remarkably fearless, agile and hardy. The global proliferation of light automatic weapons, which children can easily handle, has also made the use of children as direct combatants more viable. Child soldiers who survive armed conflict face
1274-660: A markedly elevated risk of debilitating psychiatric illness, poor literacy and numeracy, and behavioural problems. Research in Palestine and Uganda, for example, has found that more than half of former child soldiers showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and nearly nine in ten in Uganda screened positive for depressed mood . Researchers in Palestine also found that children exposed to high levels of violence in armed conflict were substantially more likely than other children to exhibit aggression and anti-social behaviour . The combined impact of these effects typically includes
1372-579: A new four-nation African Union military force (a brigade of 5,000, including contingents from DR Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan) to hunt down Kony and the remnants of the LRA but asked for more international assistance for the task force. In 2012 the LRA was reported to be in Djema, Central African Republic, but forces pursuing the LRA withdrew in April 2013 after the government of
1470-612: A peaceful solution to the crisis. In December 2009, the LRA forces under Dominic Ongwen killed at least 321 civilians and abducted 250 others during a four-day attack in the village and region of Makombo in DR Congo. In February 2010, about 100 people were killed by the LRA in Kpanga , near DR Congo's border with the Central African Republic and Sudan. Small-scale attacks continued daily, displacing large numbers of people and worsening an ongoing humanitarian crisis , which
1568-416: A recruit in the air and literally throws him into the wall. A corporal smacks me full-force around the head—I've got my helmet on but he hits me so hard that I'm knocked right over, I mean this man's about 40 and I'm maybe 17 by then. A bit later, we're crawling through mud and a corporal grabs me and drags me along the ground, half-way across a field. When he lets go I'm in that much pain that I'm whimpering on
1666-517: A rehabilitation program. In her letter she said that Khadr represented the "classic child soldier narrative: recruited by unscrupulous groups to undertake actions at the bidding of adults to fight battles they barely understand". Children's rights advocates were left frustrated after the final text of the convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) did not prohibit the military recruitment of all children under
1764-514: A reputation as having been possessed by spirits and became a spiritual figure or a medium. He and a small group of followers first moved beyond his home village of Odek on 1 April 1987. A few days later, he met a group of former Uganda National Liberation Front soldiers from the Black Battalion whom he managed to recruit. They then launched a raid on the city of Gulu . By August 1987, Auma's Holy Spirit Mobile Force scored several victories on
1862-494: A similar superstition, encouraging soldiers to use oil to draw a cross on their chest as protection from bullets. During a later interview, however, Auma distanced herself from Kony, claiming that the Holy Spirit did not want soldiers to kill civilians or prisoners of war. Kony sought to align himself with Auma and, in turn, garner support from her constituents, even going so far as to claim they were cousins. Meanwhile, Kony gained
1960-401: A threat: "The most important thing is that no matter how little the LRA may be, it still constitutes a danger [as] they continue to attack and create havoc." Since the LRA first started fighting in the 1990s, they may have forced well over 10,000 boys and girls into combat, often killing family, neighbors, and school teachers in the process. Many of these children were put on the frontlines so
2058-671: Is approved by the United Nations General Assembly. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities. The Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions (1977, Art. 77.2), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002) all forbid state armed forces and non-state armed groups from using children under
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#17328477910552156-542: Is believed to be a consequence of an ethnic-oriented war that was initiated by the NRM/NRA in Luwero Triangle against the residents of northern Uganda. This was fueled by the belief on the part of the leadership of the NRM/NRA that Ugandan politics had, since political independence ,been dominated by the northerners in the country and that this had happened because of their heavy composition in the armed forces. The determination
2254-583: Is just the name of the movement because we are fighting in the name of God. God is the one helping us in the bush. That's why we created this name, Lord's Resistance Army. And people always ask us, are we fighting for the Ten Commandments of God. That is true—because the Ten Commandments of God is the constitution that God has given to the people of the world. All people. If you go to the constitution, nobody will accept people who steal, nobody could accept to go and take somebody's wife, nobody could accept to kill
2352-437: Is not motivated by any identifiable political agenda, and its military strategy and tactics reflect this". IRIN comments that "the LRA remains one of the least understood rebel movements in the world, and its ideology, as far as it has one, is difficult to understand". During an interview with IRIN, the LRA commander Vincent Otti was asked about the LRA's vision of an ideal government. He responded: Lord's Resistance Army
2450-610: The Baganda people, who were historically agriculturists. Uganda's north is largely inhabited by the Nilotic -speaking Acholi , who had engaged in hunting, farming, and livestock herding in the past. The ethnic and cultural tensions within Uganda grew during the years following the creation of the Protectorate of Uganda in 1894. While the agricultural Baganda people worked closely with the British,
2548-455: The Bible 's ten commandments" were false. In the same speech, Obita also claimed that the LRA's objectives are: The LRA is known for having used several flags and logos over the course of its insurgency. In the course of peace talks in 2006, LRA commander Vincent Otti sketched the official LRA coat of arms, providing it to academic Mareike Schomerus: The emblem consisted of Uganda's national animal,
2646-497: The Carter Center and Pope John Paul II had been spurned by Kony. In February 2004, the LRA unit led by Okot Odhiambo attacked Barlonyo internally displaced person (IDP) camp, killing over 300 people and abducting many others. In 2006, UNICEF estimated that the LRA had abducted at least 25,000 children since the conflict began. In January 2006, eight Guatemalan Kaibiles commandos and at least 15 rebels were killed in
2744-606: The United Kingdom has found that the enlistment and training of adolescent children, even when they are not sent to war, is often accompanied by a higher risk of suicide , stress-related mental disorders , alcohol abuse , and violent behavior. Since the 1960s, a number of treaties have successfully reduced the recruitment and use of children worldwide. Nonetheless, around a quarter of armed forces worldwide, particularly those of third-world nations , still train adolescent children for military service, while elsewhere,
2842-580: The kidnapping of 139 school girls in Aboke in 1996 that were forced to become soldiers and also sex slaves to the soldiers. The government created the so-called "protected camps" beginning in 1996. The LRA declared a short-lived ceasefire for the duration of 1996 Ugandan presidential election , possibly in the hope that Yoweri Museveni would be defeated. Based on 1999 UNICEF data, over 6,000 children were held by LRA rebels in Northern Uganda. In March 2002,
2940-510: The 28,283 deaths, occurring mostly outside camps. In 2006–2008, a series of meetings were held in Juba , Sudan, between the government of Uganda and the LRA, mediated by the south Sudanese separatist leader Riek Machar . The Ugandan government and the LRA signed a truce on 26 August 2006. Under the terms of the agreement, LRA forces would leave Uganda and gather in two assembly areas in the remote Garamba National Park area of northern DR Congo that
3038-436: The Acholi and other northern ethnic groups supplied much of the national manual labor and came to comprise a majority of the military. The southern region became the center for commercial trade development. The livestock-raising Acholi from the north of Uganda were resented for dominating the army and policing. Following the country's independence in 1962 , Uganda's ethnic groups continued to compete with each other within
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3136-428: The Acholi population was of particular concern because of the genuine reality of ethnic purges in the history of Uganda. This created a great deal of concern in the Acholi community, as well as a strong desire for formidable leadership and protection. As the conflict has progressed, fewer and fewer Acholi offered sufficient support to the rebels in the eyes of the LRA. This led to an increased amount of violence toward
3234-466: The Central African Republic was overthrown by the Séléka Coalition rebels . The UPDF rescued more than 15,000 people that were abducted since 1986. It is estimated that over 50,000 children were captured during the 20 years in Northern Uganda by LRA. As of 2022, it was reported that the LRA consisted of splinter groups of 1,000 members altogether and was militarily very weak. It acted more like
3332-625: The Charter. None of the above treaties either explicitly forbids the indirect participation of children in "hostilities", or from contributing to a military operation in a stand-off position (i.e. away from hostilities). OPAC requires governments to demobilise children within their jurisdiction who have been recruited or used in hostilities and to provide assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration. Under war, civil unrest, armed conflict and other emergency situations, children and youths are also offered protection under
3430-536: The Federal Democratic Movement (FEDEMO), were known for their lack of discipline and brutal actions meant that the civilian population was accused of supporting the rebel LRA; likewise, the rebels accused the population of supporting the government army. In March 1991, the Ugandan governments NRA started Operation North, which combined efforts to destroy the LRA, while cutting away its roots of support among
3528-854: The First and Second World Wars. Children continued to be used throughout the 20th and early 21st century on every continent, with concentrations in parts of Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Only since the turn of the millennium have international efforts begun to limit and reduce the military use of children. The adoption in 2000 of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) committed states who ratified it to "take all feasible measures" to ensure that no child takes
3626-619: The LRA attacks in DR Congo resulted in displacing as many as 320,000 Congolese, exposing them to famine and disease, according to UNICEF director Ann Veneman . Also in August 2009, the LRA attacked a Catholic church in Ezo, South Sudan , on the Feast of the Assumption , with reports of victims being crucified , causing Ugandan Archbishop John Baptist Odama to call upon the international community for help in finding
3724-535: The LRA broke off negotiations, accusing the government of trying to entrap them. Starting in the mid-1990s, the LRA was strengthened by military support from the government of Sudan , which was retaliating against Ugandan government support for rebels in what would become South Sudan . The LRA fought with the NRA army which led to mass atrocities such as the killing or abduction of several hundred villagers in Atiak in 1995 and
3822-648: The LRA in 1987. The group is active in northern Uganda , South Sudan , Sudan , the Central African Republic , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Its stated goal is against internal oppression under successive regimes, notably President Museveni's. Movements like the LRA have articulated demands that include President Museveni's immediate resignation, the dissolution of the National Resistance Army (NRA) and Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), and
3920-503: The LRA's commandment given as "Thou shalt not smoke." In a speech, James Obita , a former secretary for external affairs and mobilisation of the LRA, adamantly denied that the LRA was "just an Acholi thing" and stated that claims made by the media and Museveni administration asserting that the LRA is a "group of Christian fundamentalists with bizarre beliefs whose aim is to topple the Museveni regime and replace it with governance based on
4018-645: The LRA, in response to Uganda lending military support to the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). According to Matthew Green , author of The Wizard of the Nile: The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted , the LRA was highly organised and equipped with crew-operated weapons, VHF radios , and satellite phones . In 2001, it was also reported that LRA targets Sudanese refugees. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on 8 July and 27 September 2005 against Joseph Kony , his deputy Vincent Otti , and
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4116-666: The NRA, now the UPDF , launched a massive military offensive code-named Operation Iron Fist against the LRA bases in southern Sudan, with agreement from the National Islamic Front . In retaliation, the LRA attacked the refugee camps in northern Uganda and the Eastern Equatoria in southern Sudan (now South Sudan), brutally killing hundreds of civilians. By 2004, according to the UPDF spokesperson Shaban Bantariza , mediation efforts by
4214-449: The NRM's more than 20 year rule. Although poverty at times may be treated as an escalating factor which creates resentment in society, its role in the conflict in northern Uganda is part of the underlying class structural factors. The Poverty Status Report, 2003, indicates that "one-third of the chronically poor (30.1%) and a disproportionate moving into poverty are from northern Uganda". The LRA
4312-506: The Paris Principles state that children who participate in armed conflict should be regarded first as victims, even if they may also be perpetrators: ... [those] who are accused of crimes under international law allegedly committed while they were associated with armed forces or armed groups should be considered primarily as victims of offenses against international law; not only as perpetrators. They must be treated by international law in
4410-430: The Rights of the Child defines a child as any person under the age of 18. The Paris Principles define a child associated with an armed force or group as: ...any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. The document
4508-489: The UN described as one of the worst in the world. By May 2010, the LRA killed over 1,600 Congolese civilians and abducted more than 2,500. Between September 2008 and July 2011, the group, despite being down to only a few hundred fighters, had killed more than 2,300 people, abducted more than 3,000, and displaced over 400,000 across DR Congo, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. In March 2012, Uganda announced it would head
4606-746: The UN identified 12 countries where children were widely used by such groups: Colombia in South America; Central African Republic , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Mali , Somalia , South Sudan , and Sudan in Africa; Lebanon and Palestine in the Middle East; Syria and Yemen in Western Asia; Afghanistan in Central Asia; and Myanmar in South East Asia. Not all armed groups use children and approximately 60 have entered agreements to reduce or end
4704-507: The US and the UK, higher risk of alcohol misuse and higher risk of violent behaviour, relative to recruits' pre-military experience. Military academics in the US have characterized military training as "intense indoctrination" in conditions of sustained stress, the primary purpose of which is to establish the unconditional and immediate obedience of recruits. The research literature has found that adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to
4802-604: The Ugandan government agreed not to attack. Between December 2008–March 2009, the armed forces of Uganda, DR Congo, and South Sudan launched aerial attacks and raids on the LRA camps in Garamba, destroying them. The efforts to inflict a military defeat on the LRA were not fully successful. The US supported Operation Lightning Thunder against the LRA. There were brutal revenge attacks by scattered LRA remnants, with over 1,000 people killed and hundreds abducted in DR Congo and South Sudan. Hundreds of thousands were displaced while fleeing
4900-705: The United Nations Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict . To accommodate the proper disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former members of armed groups, the United Nations started the Integrated DDR Standards in 2006. Opinion is currently divided over whether children should be prosecuted for war crimes. International law does not prohibit
4998-425: The United Nations (UN) verified that nine state armed forces were using children in hostilities: Central African Republic , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Mali , Somalia , and South Sudan in Africa; Palestine, Syria and Yemen in Western Asia; Afghanistan in Central Asia; and Myanmar in South East Asia. The United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child and others have called for an end to
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#17328477910555096-599: The age of 15 directly in armed conflict (technically "hostilities"). This is now recognised as a war crime. Most states with armed forces are also bound by the higher standards of the widely ratified Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) (2000) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999), which forbid the compulsory recruitment of those under the age of 18. OPAC also requires governments that still recruit children (from age 16) to "take all feasible measures to ensure that persons below
5194-507: The age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities". In addition, OPAC forbids non-state armed groups from recruiting children under any circumstances, although the legal force of this is uncertain. The highest standard in the world is set by the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child , which forbids state armed forces from recruiting children under the age of 18 under any circumstances. Most African states have ratified
5292-686: The age of 18) have been recruited for participation in military operations and campaigns throughout history and in many cultures. Children are targeted for their susceptibility to influence, which renders them easier to recruit and control. While some are recruited by force, others choose to join up, often to escape poverty or because they expect military life to offer a rite of passage to maturity. Child soldiers who survive armed conflict frequently develop psychiatric illness, poor literacy and numeracy , and behavioral problems such as heightened aggression , which together lead to an increased risk of unemployment and poverty in adulthood. Research in
5390-498: The age of 18, and they began to call for a new treaty to achieve this goal. As a consequence the newly formed Committee on the Rights of the Child made two recommendations: first, to request a major UN study into the impact of armed conflict on children; and second, to establish a working group of the UN Commission on Human Rights to negotiate a supplementary protocol to the convention. Both proposals were accepted. Responding to
5488-457: The area—trust neither the LRA nor government forces". He believes that "a Ugandan political solution" ("political process"), rather than "military mobilisation" and international "escalation", was what was needed to resolve this conflict. The LRA's ideology is disputed among academics. In practice, "the LRA is not motivated by any identifiable political agenda, and its military strategy and tactics reflect this". It appears to largely function as
5586-495: The army recorded 62 formal complaints of violence committed by staff against recruits at the military training centre for 16- and 17-year-old trainee soldiers, the Army Foundation College . Joe Turton, who joined up aged 17 in 2014, recalls bullying by staff throughout his training. For example: The corporals come into the hangar where we sleep and they're wild-eyed, screaming, shoving people out. A massive sergeant lifts
5684-508: The attack, they gradually returned to Dembia. Nevertheless, hearing rumors of an LRA attack, they fled to the bush again. They only went back to Dembia at the end of April. UPC rebels from Zemio attacked Dembia on 20 November 2017. They looted and burned 75% of the houses in Dembia. Moreover, they massacred 46 people, 44 men, and 2 women. As a result, the villagers fled to Rafai , Bangassou , and Congo DR . Those who fled to Congo DR returned to
5782-557: The battlefield and began a march toward the capital, Kampala . In 1988, after the Holy Spirit Movement was decisively defeated in the Jinja District and Auma fled to Kenya , Kony seized this opportunity to recruit the Holy Spirit remnants. The LRA occasionally carried out local attacks to underline the inability of the government to protect the population. The fact that most NRA government forces, in particular, former members of
5880-518: The bounds of Uganda's new political system. In 1986, the armed rebellion led by Yoweri Museveni 's NRA won the Ugandan Bush War and took control of the country. The victors sought vengeance against ethnic groups in the North of Uganda. Their activities included Operation Simsim, which engaged in burning, looting, and killings of locals. Such acts of violence led to the formation of rebel groups from
5978-482: The casualty rate for these children has been high. The LRA have often used children to fight because they are easy to replace by raiding schools or villages. According to Livingstone Sewanyana, executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, the government was the first to use child soldiers in this conflict. Although unproven, there have been rumors that Sudan may have provided military assistance to
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#17328477910556076-446: The child soldier population. Of the verified cases presented in the 2023 UN Secretary General report, girls make 12.3% of all child soldiers recruited or used by armed groups. Despite children's physical and psychological underdevelopment relative to adults, there are many reasons why state and non-state military organisations seek them out, and why children themselves are often drawn to join of their own volition. Relative to adults,
6174-486: The committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN General Assembly acknowledged "the grievous deterioration in the situation of children in many parts of the world as a result of armed conflicts" and commissioned the human rights expert Graça Machel to conduct a major fact-finding study. Her report, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (1996), was particularly concerned with the military use of younger children, which
6272-405: The crane, standing atop two palm fronds forming a circle; within the circle there is a star, a crescent moon, and a heart containing the Ten Commandments ; over and below the palm fronds the group's name can be found on two small banners. At the time, Otti stated that crane signified pride in Uganda, the palm fronds stood for peace, the Ten Commandments for the group's commitment to Christianity, and
6370-408: The crescent for the oneness of God regardless of religion. Otti claimed that the symbol adorned every LRA uniform, and that he had designed it. It is unclear whether the group continued to use the symbol after Otti's alleged execution by Kony. By 2010, the LRA no longer used standardized uniforms, instead plundering clothing from enemy armies. Furthermore, its troops often adorned their uniforms with
6468-641: The establishment of an independent government reflecting ethnic diversity and democratic principles. This struggle has exacted a heavy humanitarian toll, with widespread displacement, loss of life, and atrocities against civilians devastating northern Uganda, particularly Acholiland . Despite allegations of brutality, groups like the LRA seek international recognition, framing their actions as self-defense and resistance against government injustices. The conflict has also profoundly impacted Acholi society, disrupting education, fracturing traditional family structures, and precipitating forced migration, contributing to
6566-541: The extent that people perceived as enemies can be deemed inconsequential. A former Cabinet minister who was a key figure in the Presidential Peace Team while addressing elders in Lango on the atrocities committed by the NRA in the northern districts of Gulu , Kitgum , Lira , Apac , and Teso , warned them that "they did not matter as long as the south was stable". This sense of betrayal on the northerners festered into
6664-449: The first warrants issued by the ICC since it was established in 2002. Details of the warrants were sent to the three countries where the LRA is active: Uganda, Sudan (the LRA was active in what is now South Sudan ), and DR Congo. The LRA leadership has long stated that they would never surrender unless they were granted immunity from prosecution; so the ICC order to arrest them raised concerns that
6762-467: The flags of enemy states to confuse their opponents, for instance using the regular flag of Uganda and the flag of Luxembourg . The Sudan Tribune also attributed a red-black-blue flag to the LRA. In 2007, the government of Uganda claimed that the LRA had only 500 or 1,000 soldiers in total, but other sources estimated that there could have been as many as 3,000 soldiers, along with about 1,500 women and children. By 2011, unofficial estimates were in
6860-440: The ground. When the other corporal, the one who hit me, sees me crying on the ground, he just points at me and laughs. Elevated rates of sexual harassment are characteristic of military settings, including the training environment. Between 2015 and 2020, for example, girls aged 16 or 17 in the British armed forces were twice as likely as their same-age civilian peers to report rape or other sexual assault. The Convention on
6958-404: The highest mortality rates in the world. The Ugandan Ministry of Health and partners estimated that, through the first seven months of 2005, about 1,000 people were dying weekly, chiefly from malaria and AIDS . During the same time period of January–July 2005, the LRA abducted 1,286 Ugandans (46.4 percent of whom were children under the age of 15 years), and violence accounted for 9.4 percent of
7056-452: The innocent, or whatever. The Ten Commandments carries all this. The Norwegian scholar Knut Holter has argued that what the LRA means by the "Ten Commandments" is somewhat loosely associated with the Ten Commandments as found in the Biblical text. Holter notes that the LRA have created new commandments that help propagate their ideology under the term the "Ten Commandments". One such example is
7154-443: The insurgency would not have a negotiated end. The indictments received warm praise within the international community. However, the Acholi people showed mixed reactions. Many felt that amnesty for the LRA soldiers and a negotiated settlement was the best hope for the end of the war. In the end, the court's intent to prosecute the leaders of the LRA reduced the army's willingness to cooperate in peace negotiations. Children in
7252-552: The laws of war, attempted murder in violation of the laws of war, conspiracy, two counts of providing material support for terrorism , and spying. The plea was offered as part of a plea bargain , which would see Khadr deported to Canada after one year of imprisonment to serve seven further years there. Omar Khadr remained in Guantanamo Bay and the Canadian government faced international criticism for delaying his repatriation. Khadr
7350-439: The level of development and investment between Eastern and Northern Uganda on the one side, and Central and Western Uganda on the other perceived as wealthy, is a manifestation of economic marginalization of the region, in spite of the fact most top leadership in Uganda hailed from the north between 1962 and 1985. This marginalization with the consequences of wars, has resulted in varying poverty levels in northern Uganda, for most of
7448-634: The loss of fundamental rights. Research in the same three countries finds that recruiters disproportionately target children from poorer backgrounds. In the UK, for example, the army finds it easier to attract child recruits from age 16 than adults from age 18, particularly those from poorer backgrounds. Once recruited, children are easier than adults to indoctrinate and control, and are more motivated than adults to fight for non-monetary incentives such as religion, honour, prestige, revenge, and duty. In many countries growing populations of young people relative to older generations have made children
7546-763: The massacres. The military action in DR Congo did not result in the capture or killing of Kony, who remained elusive. During December 2008, the LRA massacred at least 143 people and abducted 180 at a concert celebration sponsored by the Roman Catholic church in Faradje in DR Congo. The LRA struck several other communities in the near-simultaneous attacks: 75 people were murdered in a church near Dungu , at least 80 were killed in Batande, 48 in Bangadi , and 213 in Gurba . By August 2009,
7644-476: The military Children in the military , including state armed forces , non-state armed groups , and other military organizations, may be trained for combat, assigned to support roles, such as cooks, porters/couriers, or messengers, or used for tactical advantage such as for human shields , or for political advantage in propaganda. Children (defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as people under
7742-449: The neurological underdevelopment of children, including adolescent children, renders them more susceptible to recruitment and also more likely to make consequential decisions without due regard to the risks. With these susceptibilities in mind, military marketing to adolescents has been criticised in Germany, the UK, and the US for glamorizing military life while omitting the risks and
7840-555: The non-combatant population, which in turn further alienated them from the rebels. This self-perpetuating cycle led to the creation of a strict divide between Acholis and rebels—a divide that was previously not explicitly present. Robert Gersony , in a report funded by the U.S. embassy in Kampala in 1997, concluded that "the LRA has no political program or ideology, at least none that the local population has heard or can understand". The International Crisis Group has stated that "the LRA
7938-462: The population through heavy-handed tactics. As part of Operation North, the army created the "Arrow Groups", village guards mostly armed with bows and arrows. The creation of the Arrow Groups angered Kony, who began to feel that he no longer had the support of the population. After the failure of Operation North, Betty Oyella Bigombe initiated the first face-to-face meeting between representatives of
8036-807: The practice since 1999. For example, by 2017, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines had released nearly 2,000 children from its ranks, and in 2016, the FARC-EP guerrilla movement in Colombia agreed to stop recruiting children. Other countries have seen the reverse trend, particularly Afghanistan and Syria , where Islamist militants and groups opposing them have intensified their recruitment, training, and use of children. In 2003, one estimate calculated that child soldiers participated in about three-quarters of ongoing conflicts. In
8134-663: The prosecution of children who commit war crimes, but Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child limits the punishment that a child can receive: "Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below eighteen years of age." In the wake of the Sierra Leonean Civil War , the UN mandated the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) to try former combatants aged 15 and older for breaches of humanitarian law , including war crimes. However,
8232-503: The range of 300 to 400 combatants, with more than half believed to be abductees. The soldiers are organized into independent squads of 10 or 20 soldiers. By early 2012, the LRA had been reduced to a force of between 200 and 250 fighters, according to Ugandan defence minister Crispus Kiyonga . Abou Moussa, the UN envoy in the region, said in March 2012 that the LRA was believed to have dwindled to between 200 and 700 followers but still remained
8330-443: The ranks of the previous Ugandan army, Uganda National Liberation Army . Many of those groups made peace with Museveni. The southern-dominated army, however, did not stop attacking civilians in the north of the country. Therefore, by late 1987 to early 1988, a civilian resistance movement led by Alice Auma was formed. Auma did not pick up arms against the central government; her members carried sticks and stones. She believed she
8428-457: The rebel LRA and NRA government. The rebels asked for a general amnesty for their combatants and to "return home", but the government stance was hampered by disagreement over the credibility of the LRA negotiators and political infighting. At a meeting in January 1994, Kony asked for six months to regroup his troops but by early February, the tone of the negotiations was growing increasingly bitter and
8526-466: The recruitment of children by state armed forces, arguing that military training , the military environment, and a binding contract of service are not compatible with children's rights and jeopardize healthy development. These include non-state armed paramilitary organisations such as militias , insurgents , terrorist organizations , guerrilla movements , armed liberation movements , and other types of quasi-military organisation. As of 2022 ,
8624-471: The same year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimated that most of these children were aged over 15, although some were younger. Due to the widespread military use of children in areas where armed conflict and insecurity prevent access by UN officials and other observers, it is difficult to estimate how many children are affected. It is estimated that girl soldiers make between 10% and 30%, 6 and 50%, or over 40% of
8722-617: The statute in favour of prosecuting those who had recruited children, rather than the children themselves, no matter how heinous the crimes they had committed. In the US, prosecutors charged Omar Khadr , a Canadian, for offences they alleged he committed in Afghanistan while under the age of 16 and fighting for the Taliban against US forces . These crimes carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment under US law. In 2010, while under torture and duress, Khadr pleaded guilty to murder in violation of
8820-522: The three LRA commanders Okot Odhiambo and Raska Lukwiya , deputy army commanders, and Dominic Ongwen , brigade commander of the Sania Brigade of the LRA. The five LRA leaders were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape, and sexual slavery. Ongwen was the only of the five not charged with recruiting child soldiers. The warrants were filed under seal; public redacted versions were released on 13 October 2005. These were
8918-496: The use of children in armed conflict and insurgencies has increased in recent years. History is filled with children who have been trained and used for fighting, assigned to support roles such as porters or messengers, used as sex slaves , or recruited for tactical advantage as human shields or for political advantage in propaganda. In 1813 and 1814, for example, Napoleon conscripted many young French teenagers for his armies. Thousands of children participated on all sides of
9016-428: The use of children in armed conflict has attracted most attention, other research has found that military settings present several serious risks before child recruits are deployed to war zones, particularly during training. Research from several countries finds that military enlistment, even before recruits are sent to war, is accompanied by a higher risk of attempted suicide in the US, higher risk of mental disorders in
9114-403: The village at the end of April 2019. The clash between the village's self-defense group and UPC happened in Dembia on 6 July 2023 because the rebels erected a barrier at the crossroad without the villager's approval. Casualties were reported on both sides, and the self-defense group captured one UPC officer. Afterward, he was transferred to Rafai for further investigation. There is one school in
9212-608: The village. Dembia has one public health center. There is a gendarmerie post in Dembia. This Central African Republic location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lord%27s Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army ( LRA ) is a Christian extremist organization operating in Central Africa and East Africa . Its origins were in the Ugandan insurgency (1986–1994) against President Yoweri Museveni , during which Joseph Kony founded
9310-733: Was eventually transferred to the Canadian prison system in September 2012 and was freed on bail by a judge in Alberta in May 2015. As of 2016 , Khadr was appealing his US conviction as a war criminal. Before sentencing the Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict wrote to the US military commission at Guantanamo appealing unsuccessfully for Khadr's release into
9408-464: Was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Auma portrayed herself as a prophet who received messages from the Holy Spirit and expressed the belief that the Acholi could defeat the Museveni government. She preached that her followers should cover their bodies with shea nut oil as protection from bullets, never take cover or retreat in battle, and never kill snakes or bees. Joseph Kony would later preach
9506-419: Was that this domination of politics in Uganda by the northerners was no longer acceptable and had to end. This suggested that until the objective of removing the northerners from power had been achieved and all threats from those quarters removed, the war in the north had to continue. In 2012, scholar Mahmood Mamdani argued that "[t]he reason why the LRA continues is that its victims—the civilian population of
9604-422: Was worried about mines but what can we do—it's an order [to go to the front line ]. Once somebody stepped on a mine in front of me—he was wounded and died ... I was with the radio at the time, about 60 metres away. I was sitting in my hammock and saw him die ... I see young children in every unit ... I'm sure I'll be a soldier for at least a couple of more years. If I stop being a soldier, I won't have
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