Weekly Roundup for June 6-12: More members of Congress cosponsor legislation as LRA abductions continue
This week one US Senator and three Representatives stepped up to cosponsor the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act,
joining 13 other members of Congress who've already backed this
landmark legislation. However, news of increased LRA attacks on
civilians in recent weeks and the inability of regional militaries to
protect them demonstrates more than ever the need to permanently stop
rebel atrocities. We're counting down now to the June 22nd -23rd How It Ends lobby days,
when thousands of people across the country will converge on DC to ask
Congress and President Obama to work together to make finding a lasting
solution to this crisis a priority. There's still time to join us, so sign up today!
The Good: Four members of Congress cosponsored the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act this week, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 17.
The Bad: LRA rebels have attacked over 30 Congolese villages and abducted dozens of children in recent weeks.
The Ugly: Military chiefs from the region called ongoing operations against the LRA "remarkably successful," despite the failure of regional forces to stem heightened LRA violence.
Regional Security
The Good: Four members of Congress cosponsored the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act this week, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 17.
The Bad: LRA rebels have attacked over 30 Congolese villages and abducted dozens of children in recent weeks.
The Ugly: Military chiefs from the region called ongoing operations against the LRA "remarkably successful," despite the failure of regional forces to stem heightened LRA violence.
Regional Security
- One week after kidnapping between 135 and 200 Congolese civilians from one town, LRA rebel attacks continued, emptying several villages. The UN estimates that the rebels kidnapped 47 people, including 34 children, and killed 44 others during attacks in the DR Congo last month.
- Military chiefs
from Uganda, DR Congo and Central African Republic met this week to
discuss ongoing military action against the LRA, and said that the rebel group had "disbanded." Writing for The Independent, US professor Ron Atkinson examines similar claims by the Ugandan military that operations against the LRA have been successful.
- Students in northeastern DR Congo attacked an UN peacekeeper outpost last week,
reportedly to express frustration that the peacekeepers, Congolese
authorities and international community have failed to protect
civilians from LRA attacks.
- LRA attacks in South Sudan displaced over 1,000 people in late May, prompting the South Sudanese military to order more troops deployed in the affected areas. Recent reports indicate that local communities are suspicious that the Sudanese government in Khartoum is renewing support for the LRA.
Situation in Northern Uganda
- Eleven people were arrested by government authorities in northern Uganda last week on allegations of conspiring to form a rebel group. Several former members of the LRA were among those arrested. Other former members of the LRA have been allegedly of trying to return to the LRA in recent weeks, in part because they feel persecuted by the Ugandan government.
International Response
- Invisible Children released a podcast about the upcoming How It Ends lobby days, and their three filmmakers appeared on CNN's Larry King Live last week.
- A senior official in the French foreign ministry highlighted the need to apprehend LRA leader Joseph Kony. Last month the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the apprehension of Kony.