28/09/2022
The struggle between the Ugandan military and the Lord's Resistance Army has raged for more than twenty years across northern Uganda. To put the length of the crisis into context, consider this: the current conflict took root in the same month - January 1986 - that the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing its entire crew. President Ronald Reagan was less than halfway through his second term in office.
The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 1.6 million people.
But how and why did it begin?
Jan 1986 After four years of political chaos, Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army overthrows the Acholi-led government that came to power after the fall of infamous dictator Idi Amin. Museveni's support is strongest in southwestern Uganda, which bore the brunt of the previous regime's alleged brutality that killed an estimated 300,000 civilians.
Aug 1986 An insurgency against now-President Museveni's army begins in traditional Acholi areas of northern Uganda. The people of northern Uganda are particularly concerned that Museveni's forces, comprised mostly of southern Ugandans, will seek retribution for the brutality of the Obote years.
Jan 1987 Joseph Kony, a 26-year-old northern Ugandan who claims to communicate with spirits, forms the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to fight the Ugandan army. Kony's stated goals are to first overthrow Museveni's government and then rule Uganda with a theocracy based on Kony's own interpretation of the Ten Commandments.
1987 - 1991The LRA, under Kony's command, raids villages throughout northern Uganda to show the Ugandan army is unable to protect the populace; the LRA begins abducting civilians into military service.
Mar 1991 The Ugandan government launches "Operation North," arming local villages to combat the LRA; in retaliation, Kony massacres and mutilates suspected government supporters among the Acholi population.
1991 - 1994 The LRA insurgency grows and becomes more violent; families begin to flee their villages.
Feb 1994 After peace talks between the Ugandan government and LRA fail, Kony's LRA establishes bases in South Sudan.
1994 - 1996 LRA attacks escalate; abductions, especially of children and young people, increase.
Apr 1995 The Ugandan government breaks off diplomatic relations with Sudan, accusing the Sudanese government of supporting the LRA
Oct 1996 More than 200 LRA rebels attack and raid St. Mary's College in the northern Ugandan town of Aboke, abducting 139 girls between the ages of 13 and 16. Many of these girls were given to LRA commanders as "wives" and many died in captivity. This incident was one of the first to bring LRA abductions to the attention of the international community.
Late 1996 The Ugandan government begins moving Acholi villagers into "protected villages" to shield them from LRA attacks; however, these displacement camps are overcrowded, unsanitary places susceptible to rebel incursions.
1996 - 2002 Thousands more families stream into displacement camps as the war continues unabated.
Mar 2002 The government's "Operation Iron Fist" against LRA forces in northern Uganda and South Sudan sparks a bloody counteroffensive by the LRA. Areas previously untouched by the conflict are now engulfed in the fighting, causing even more widespread displacement in northern Uganda
Nov 2003 The UN's top humanitarian official travels to northern Uganda and declares, "I cannot find any other part of the world that is having an emergency on the scale of Uganda, that is getting such little international attention."
Dec 2003 President Museveni recommends that the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate Kony and other LRA leaders for war crimes.
Aug 2005 Amid reports of escalating violence and a worsening humanitarian catastrophe, Mercy Corps dispatches an emergency response team to northern Uganda. Over the next few months, this team of veteran aid workers conducts assessments in poorly supplied camps and begins lifesaving relief programs for displaced families.
Oct 2005 The ICC issues arrest warrants - the first since its 2002 founding - for Joseph Kony and his top lieutenants. The warrants cite war crimes and and crimes against humanity including murder, r**e, sexual slavery and enlistment of children as combatants.
Feb 2006 Cecilia Lamunu moves from the massive Puranga displacement camp to the smaller Ogonyo return camp, where she finally has access to farming land again.
Jul 2006 Mercy Corps receives permission from Ugandan government to begin humanitarian operations in Pader District, where approximately 95 percent of the population has been forced from their homes. The first program focuses on agricultural recovery,education and healthcare services.
The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, condemned a series of attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda that have left more than 125 people dead in attacks.
“These vicious attacks against some of the most vulnerable civilians are appalling. In many cases, the victims have fled attack after attack, desperate for safety. We condemn these atrocities in the strongest terms and call on the Lord’s Resistance Army to stop all abuses against civilians immediately. We also call on the government to redouble their efforts to protect internally displaced persons, and to find a peaceful solution for this crisis”, said Mr. Egeland.
1987
Joseph Kony forms the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from the remnants of the Holy Spirit Movement that was led by Alice Lakwena.
1988
Dominic Ongwen is abducted by the LRA while on his way to school.
March 17, 1999
Uganda signs the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
September 2003
According to ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), Ongwen becomes a part of the “Control Altar” – the central command of the LRA and is appointed second-in-command of the Sinia brigade.
December 16, 2003
The government of Uganda refers the situation concerning the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda to the ICC.
In the latest incident on 8 June 2004 , a group of 100 LRA rebels attacked a camp for IDPs at Abok in Ngai subcounty, it was in apac district,some 70 kilometres from Lira, killing 25 people, including 5 children. The rebels also abducted 26 people and burned more than 600 huts, destroying the victims’ food stocks in the process. This is the fourth such attack by LRA rebels in the past month, which have killed a total of more than 125 people.. Ongwen is alleged to have planned and organized the attack and selected and provided LRA fighters
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) led an inter-agency thorough assessment of humanitarian needs in the camp, and agencies supplied immediate assistance. The previous three attacks followed a similar pattern, with roughly 100 rebels attacking camps at around 6 p.m. On 3 June, LRA rebels attacked an IDP camp at Kalabong in Namokora subcounty near Kitgum, killing 23 people and injuring 12; 155 huts were burned; 20 people were reported missing and are assumed to have been abducted.
On 20 May 2004,41 people were killed and another 7,000 displaced in an attack by the LRA on the Lukodi IDP camp some 12 kilometres from Gulu, Uganda. It is estimated that more than 200 huts were burned in the attack. The number of persons injured or abducted in the attacks is still not clear. Ongwen led this attack as the commander of LRA forces.
Another 39 people were killed on 16 May 2004, when members of the Lord’s Resistance Army attacked the Pagak camp for IDPs in northern Uganda. The majority of victims were women and children, many of whom were clubbed to death. More than 3,000 people fled the IDP camp after that attack. These atrocities follow similar attacks against civilians in the villages of Odek on 2004 April and in Barlonyo on 21 2004 February, in which at least 190 people were murdered and many more.
