Congo Craziness

In the month since my last post, quite a lot has happened on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The armies of the DRC, Uganda, and Southern Sudan have destroyed most of the Lord’s Resistance Army’s (LRA) bases, eliminated many of their food stores, and captured multiple weapons caches. Several rebels have turned themselves in (mostly children and abductees), but most of the LRA is still scattered and moving through the Congo. Along the way, they have reportedly raided many villages, murdered many civilians (the UN places the number at over 900 currently—the worst attacks in 4 years), and abducted many more into their ranks. On a few occasions, the LRA has locked villagers into churches. In one instance, they murdered hundreds with machetes and clubs, and in another, they burned the church to the ground. As a side effect of these atrocious acts, over 130,000 civilians in the DRC have become displaced, fleeing their villages out of fear. Several LRA soldiers have also reportedly moved into Southern Sudan where they have killed a Sudanese Chief, Gordon Jalal Ngirimo.

The LRA, of course, is denying the attacks while continually calling for the resumption of peace talks. They are claiming that president Yoweri Musevini has orchestrated the attacks with UPDF soldiers, placing blame on the LRA in order to bring hatred on the LRA both locally and internationally. The ICC is investigating these allegations, but the UN is convinced that the attacks are attributable to the LRA.

On January 14, the Ugandan and DRC governments agreed to extend their military efforts against the LRA (the recent agreement ended Jan 14, 30 days after the initial December 14th attacks) for another 21 days. They are still confident that the LRA is running and Joseph Kony’s days are limited. Just this week, another rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, was captured in Rwanda putting the UPDF and Congo forces in high spirits. Nkunda was responsible for capturing Bukavu, the capital of Sud-Kivu province in the DRC, last year causing the displacement of thousands. Hopefully this is a sign of positive change and progress on the ground.

In Uganda, people are certainly nervously optimistic. Musevini has assured his country that the LRA will not set foot on Ugandan soil, and has taken measures to ramp up security along the borders of the north. Unfortunately, for many in the north, the fear of future attacks is enough to keep many people in the Internally Displaced Camps. Up until recently, many residents of the IDP camps had begun moving home to the more remote villages. Now, most people still in the camps are staying, and several are moving back from their villages.

As for the Teacher Exchange program, I am moving forward as planned. The situation in Uganda is secure, and if there were ever a time to help try to restore a sense of normalcy and help rebuild infrastructure, now is it. Please keep your eyes open for forthcoming posts about how you can help me get to Uganda. If you want to make a donation, you can do so by clicking on the ChipIn donation link on the top left of my blog. I will be posting information soon about how to make donations directly through Invisible Children to support my trip as well. If you would like to wait to use this option, you will receive a tax receipt to use as a deduction on your 2009 taxes (sorry, it’s too late for 2008!) I will also be running several fundraisers in the coming months to raise money for my trip.

Best,
Matt

Quick Update

The peace process is looking better in Uganda. There has been a tremendous amount of back and forth between President Musevini and Joseph Kony's negotiating team since the deadline was again extended (this time until March 28). Kony has verbally agreed to sign the final peace agreement in person. Hopefully we will see that come to fruition. Musevini has been in the UK talking with delegates from the International Criminal Court (ICC) pleading with them to drop the International charges against Kony and his top advisers. Kony has said that he will only sign the agreement if the international charges are dropped. He has, however, agreed to being tried in a special court in Uganda that follows traditional means of allowing victims to seek justice. Also, it has been decided that the attacks that occurred in the Sudan several weeks ago that had been attributed to the LRA were actually committed by another group. Though the LRA has been accused of several attacks since (including recently abducting 80 people in the Central African Republic), this sheds doubt on many of those claims. With all of the progress in Uganda, I am trying to stay optimistic. Here are a few articles detailing the advancements in the peace process:

Museveni remarks excite LRA rebels (New Vision)
Uganda offers "blood settlement" to LRA rebels (Reuters)
Museveni rejects Hague LRA trial (BBC News)
Uganda's LRA Rebels Welcome President Museveni's ICC Comments (Voice of America News)
Uganda’s LRA rebels abduct 100 children in CAR-report (SomaliNet)
Uganda: Sudan Reluctant to Hunt for LRA Rebels (AllAfrica.com)

Best,
Matt