UGANDA-SUDAN: Focus on missing child abductees

NAIROBI, 5 April (IRIN) - UGANDA-SUDAN: Focus on missing child abductees

The United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday reiterated its
"grave concern" over the fate of thousands of children abducted by the
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in southern Sudan, especially in light of the
reported abandonment of many of them by the rebel group after a major
military offensive by the Ugandan army.

"Where are the missing Ugandan children?" the agency asked. "Thousands of
children said to be abandoned by LRA rebels must be found and protected,"
it added.

A recent agreement signed by the Ugandan and Sudanese governments has
given the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) authorisation to sweep
through broad swathes of Sudanese territory in pursuit of the LRA.
Previously supported by Sudan, in retaliation for Ugandan support for the
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) battling Khartoum, the LRA has
fought Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's secular government since 1988,
from bases in southern Sudan.

LRA leader Joseph Kony had abandoned his "wives" (many of them abductees
forced into sexual slavery) and thousands of abducted Ugandan children he
had been forcing to fight for him at the Sudanese government-controlled
position of Aru [6.32 N 29.52 E], as he fled northwards from a UPDF attack
on Lubangatek, according to UPDF spokesman Shaban Bantariza.

"We attacked the rebels on Thursday [28 March] and Kony abandoned his
captives. They were in their thousands. We are fighting these rebels
alone. The operations are still going on," the German press agency (dpa)
quoted Bantariza, Director for Information and Public Relations with the
UPDF, as saying.

According to Bantariza, the LRA had handed over "wives" and younger
children - most of whom, he said, had been born in captivity - a week
before the Ugandan military offensive began because, being unable to
fight, they would have proved a burden for the group in the "difficult
days ahead".

The children and "wives" now in the hands of the Sudanese government would
soon be handed back to the Ugandan government, he added.

UNICEF said on Thursday it had asked Uganda for clarification regarding
its assertion that the LRA had abandoned children, that they were in the
hands of the Sudanese government and would eventually be handed over to
humanitarian agencies.

So far the UNICEF offices in Uganda and Sudan had received no other
indication that children were, in fact, released by the LRA, the agency
added.

"We need to find out where these children are and then do everything
possible to ensure their protection and, ultimately, reunification with
their families," UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said in
Thursday's statement.

Bantariza told IRIN on Wednesday that the Ugandan army's military
offensive against the LRA and its bases in southern Sudan - was
"proceeding smoothly".

"Either way we are happy," he said. "In case LRA runs to other areas, we
will go there and get them. The protocol permits that. They [the Sudanese
government] gave us no objections to going into areas they control. In any
case, we will get assistance from the Sudanese military. They will either
arrest them for us, or allow us in."

The two countries signed a protocol on 10 March under the terms of which
Sudan and Uganda agreed to cooperate and coordinate their efforts "to
contain the problems caused by the Lord's Resistance Army across the
Sudanese-Ugandan borders".

During the operation, which began on 28 March, the UPDF overran five LRA
base camps in (Eastern Equatoria) southern Sudan, and by 29 March had
captured a cache of arms worth just over US $2 million, according to
Bantariza. He said there had been no casualties reported since the
operation began.

"There are no casualties yet," he told IRIN. "We found abandoned military
materials. We know they only fled with light weapons and are moving
towards SPLA territory," he said. The SPLA, which has been fighting the
Sudanese government since 1983 in the latest phase of the country's civil
war, controls large swathes of southern Sudan.

While UNICEF has expressed grave concerns over the fate of children caught
up in the fighting and urged all parties to regard those caught in the
conflict "as children", Bantariza said it would be difficult for the UPDF
to guarantee their safety, because most of them had become highly
militarised and were combatants.

"UNICEF has a problem. They don't know what children they are talking
about," he told IRIN. "The definition of children here is not explained.
Our situation is such that we cannot talk about children."

"Children need not simply be referred to as children. The younger ones who
were not combatants and not useful to Kony were sent to the Sudanese
government. But he has retained the older ones who are useful to him," he
added.

Bellamy on Thursday emphasised that Uganda had made clear its military
campaign in southern Sudan was designed to destroy the LRA, while also
securing the release of thousands of abducted children. However, "we have
yet to see any evidence that the children are being rescued", she added.

LRA operations have included the killing and abduction of civilians, the
looting of people's property and destruction of their homes, to the extent
that humanitarian officials have described its operations as a war against
the civilian population and not the Kampala government.

Uganda and Sudan signed a reconciliation accord in Kenya in December 1999,
agreeing to foster and maintain security across their common border, and
have since reopened diplomatic missions and exchanged envoys. A
breakthrough in the improvement of relations between the two countries
became apparent in March, with exchange visits by high-level delegations,
followed by the agreement permitting the UPDF to operate on Sudanese
territory.

According to Justice Africa, a private international organisation
promoting peace and human rights in Africa, the process leading to
improved relations evolved at the regional level under the auspices of the
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) but was also boosted by
the US-led war on terror launched after the 11 September events - in which
it has secured Khartoum's assistance against terrorism and listed the LRA
as a terrorist organisation.

"Such progress could not have happened without the additional pressure
provided by the US-led 'war on terror' after September 11," Justice Africa
said in a report released in March on prospects for peace in the region.

However, the London-based organisation also suggested that the Sudanese
military could have warned the LRA of the impending Ugandan offensive,
enabling it to evacuate its bases before the arrival of the UPDF.

According to Justice Africa, the LRA's main military bases were within the
security perimeter of the Sudanese army's southern command in Juba - its
major garrison in southern Sudan, from where it could easily have dealt
with the LRA itself.

"The LRA slipped away from its bases in southern Sudan before the Ugandan
forces could take any action against them, raising the suspicion that they
had been tipped off in advance," it said.

The organisation also accused Khartoum of "trying to use the agreement as
a pretext" for organising its forces to mount ground operations to
"relieve its outlying garrisons" in Eastern Equatoria, where the SPLA
maintains a stronghold.

According to Bantariza, the SPLA has agreed to permit Ugandan troops safe
passage through the territories under its control in southern Sudan but
would not involve itself in any fighting between the UPDF and LRA.

For its part, Uganda has warned the SPLA - with which it has a close
relationship - against taking advantage of its offensive against the LRA
by launching attacks on the Sudanese army, the Nairobi-based EastAfrican
weekly newspaper reported on Monday.

"We have contacts with the SPLA. They have been told not to take advantage
of this situation to attack Sudanese government positions," the paper
quoted Ugandan Foreign Minister James Wapakhabulo as saying.

Meanwhile, UNICEF on Thursday reiterated its stand that the LRA "must
unconditionally release the children it has abducted over the years to
serve as soldiers, porters and sex slaves." According to figures quoted by
the agency, some 5,555 children (from over 10,000 abducted over the last
decade) are still missing.

"Release by the LRA is essential but that is just the first step," Bellamy
said on Thursday. "The children must be found, cared for and given
education and a chance to recover. That process can only begin if we have
access to them."
[ENDS]

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