119 Members of US Congress urge Secretary Clinton to prioritize ending brutal LRA violence
(Washington, D.C. 14 July 2009)--- 96 members of the US House of Representatives and 23 Members of the Senate have signed onto respective letters urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to increase US leadership toward ending violence being committed throughout central Africa by the Lord's Resistance Army - led by indicted warlord Joseph Kony - and protecting civilians currently under attack by his fighters.
"We believe that ending this continued violence against civilians should be an urgent priority for the United States," wrote the bipartisan group of Representatives, including the Chair and Ranking Member of both the House Foreign Relations Committee and Africa Subcommittee, in their letter that was sent this morning to Secretary Clinton. "We urge you to devote US resources and diplomatic leadership to improve protection of civilians who are vulnerable to LRA attacks and to support viable efforts to apprehend Joseph Kony."
After regional governments launched a military offensive with backing from the US government last December that failed to apprehend Kony or include adequate mechanisms to protect civilians and abductees during the operation, the rebel leader dispatched his fighters to commit a new wave of brutal atrocities in DR Congo and South Sudan. The United Nations now estimates that over 1600 Congolese civilians, including hundreds of children, have been abducted and another 260,000 Congolese and South Sudanese forced to flee their homes by the rebel group in just the last six months.
"Given that the US provided assistance and support for this previous military operation at the request of the regional governments, we believe we have a responsibility to help see this rebel war to its end," wrote the Senators in their version of the letter.
"We're finally starting to see a level of engagement from Congress that matches the scale of this brutal crisis that's affecting so many families," said Michael Poffenberger, Executive Director of the Washington-based advocacy organization Resolve Uganda. "Over a thousand innocent people have paid with their lives for the failures of regionally led military offensives that had little chance of success. Rather than continuing to back these kinds of offensives in the future, we can only hope that the Obama Administration will respond to this new pressure with bold support for real solutions, which are desperately needed to achieve lasting peace."
The Congressional letters come on the heels of a massive lobbying effort last month by nearly 2000 US citizens who came to Washington, DC as part of How It Ends, a lobby day sponsored by Resolve Uganda, Invisible Children and the Enough Project that aimed to generate more Congressional action on the crisis and increase pressure on the Obama Administration to respond.
"Over 95 Members of Congress have come together to say that Joseph Kony must be stopped. A remarkable grassroots movement has rallied for this cause. This letter is a first step in ensuring that the United States leads the way in ending the atrocities of the sadistic Lord's Resistance Army," remarked Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the letter's original authors.
“The United States must take an active role in protecting innocent lives in Uganda,” Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the Democratic lead on the letter said.
Last month, a bipartisan group of US Senators and Representatives, including Congressmen McGovern and Royce, introduced the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, legislation that would require the Obama Administration to develop a multilateral, interagency strategy to help protect civilians in central Africa from attacks by the LRA and aims to help address the needs of affected communities.
"With so many lives hanging in the balance, now is the time for this Administration to deliver on the change that they promised and bring an end to two decades of needless violence," said Poffenberger.
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Resolve Uganda is a U.S.-based coalition of humanitarian, faith-based and advocacy organizations working to get U.S. political leaders to take the steps that will permanently end the war in northern Uganda. For more information, go to www.resolveuganda.org.
To access the full text of the Congressional letters to Secretary Clinton, go to http://www.resolveuganda.org/node/875
"We believe that ending this continued violence against civilians should be an urgent priority for the United States," wrote the bipartisan group of Representatives, including the Chair and Ranking Member of both the House Foreign Relations Committee and Africa Subcommittee, in their letter that was sent this morning to Secretary Clinton. "We urge you to devote US resources and diplomatic leadership to improve protection of civilians who are vulnerable to LRA attacks and to support viable efforts to apprehend Joseph Kony."
After regional governments launched a military offensive with backing from the US government last December that failed to apprehend Kony or include adequate mechanisms to protect civilians and abductees during the operation, the rebel leader dispatched his fighters to commit a new wave of brutal atrocities in DR Congo and South Sudan. The United Nations now estimates that over 1600 Congolese civilians, including hundreds of children, have been abducted and another 260,000 Congolese and South Sudanese forced to flee their homes by the rebel group in just the last six months.
"Given that the US provided assistance and support for this previous military operation at the request of the regional governments, we believe we have a responsibility to help see this rebel war to its end," wrote the Senators in their version of the letter.
"We're finally starting to see a level of engagement from Congress that matches the scale of this brutal crisis that's affecting so many families," said Michael Poffenberger, Executive Director of the Washington-based advocacy organization Resolve Uganda. "Over a thousand innocent people have paid with their lives for the failures of regionally led military offensives that had little chance of success. Rather than continuing to back these kinds of offensives in the future, we can only hope that the Obama Administration will respond to this new pressure with bold support for real solutions, which are desperately needed to achieve lasting peace."
The Congressional letters come on the heels of a massive lobbying effort last month by nearly 2000 US citizens who came to Washington, DC as part of How It Ends, a lobby day sponsored by Resolve Uganda, Invisible Children and the Enough Project that aimed to generate more Congressional action on the crisis and increase pressure on the Obama Administration to respond.
"Over 95 Members of Congress have come together to say that Joseph Kony must be stopped. A remarkable grassroots movement has rallied for this cause. This letter is a first step in ensuring that the United States leads the way in ending the atrocities of the sadistic Lord's Resistance Army," remarked Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the letter's original authors.
“The United States must take an active role in protecting innocent lives in Uganda,” Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the Democratic lead on the letter said.
Last month, a bipartisan group of US Senators and Representatives, including Congressmen McGovern and Royce, introduced the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, legislation that would require the Obama Administration to develop a multilateral, interagency strategy to help protect civilians in central Africa from attacks by the LRA and aims to help address the needs of affected communities.
"With so many lives hanging in the balance, now is the time for this Administration to deliver on the change that they promised and bring an end to two decades of needless violence," said Poffenberger.
----
Resolve Uganda is a U.S.-based coalition of humanitarian, faith-based and advocacy organizations working to get U.S. political leaders to take the steps that will permanently end the war in northern Uganda. For more information, go to www.resolveuganda.org.
To access the full text of the Congressional letters to Secretary Clinton, go to http://www.resolveuganda.org/node/875