Reuters AlertNet reports that the Netherlands will withhold a quarter of its budget support to the Ugandan government over concerns about governance and macro-economic management. The Embassy said that the money would be diverted to humanitarian assistance through United Nations organisations in northern Uganda, where a civil war has raged for 19 years. Read more here.

In response to calls from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) for peace talks, the government has welcomed the development. Ugandan Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda told the BBC News Service, "The government will seize any opportunity to bring the suffering of people in northern Uganda to an end." Rugunda further remarked, "The government is waiting and the government will be ready to meet a delegation of the Lords Resistance Army anytime. So the government is ready." Read more here.

Uganda-CAN welcomes this development as a step towards ending Africa's longest running war, a war that has caused suffering for millions of people in northern Uganda. Now Uganda-CAN calls on the international community to seize this moment to ensure this peace process has needed support to increase chances for success.

On the eve of the British taking over the presidency of the United Nations, eight leading humanitarian agencies accused the UK government of neglecting Africa's longest-running war in northern Uganda.

"The war in northern Uganda has uprooted as many people as the Bosnian wars and killed more people than the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone put together, yet in two decades the UN Security Council has never formally addressed it. As the UK takes over the Security Council presidency, this brutal war must be at the top of Blair's priorities," said Neill Garvie, Christian Aid's emergency manager for Uganda. Read more at ChristianAid's website.

The Vatican also recently issued a statement on the crisis, saying that the nature of the war brings ever closer "the threat of a real genocide of the Teso, Kuman, Acholi and Lango ethnic groups," calling for urgent international action.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has published an editorial today criticizing the United States government for "shrugging" at genocide in Sudan's Darfur region and northern Uganda. They write, "At least the United States and others on the United Nations Security Council can lay claim to being world-class dawdlers in the face of two interconnected human catastrophes. They certainly can't take credit for aggressively trying to end worsening crises in northern Uganda and Sudan's Darfur region."

The editorial continues, "The Bush administration's inadequate response will further tarnish U.S. moral credibility; the Security Council will provide more ammunition to its critics if it cannot agree on strong action." Read more here.

The BBC News Service reports that Vincent Otti, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) deputy commander has called for peace talks with the Ugandan government. Further, Otti has said he would be willing to go to the international court to face justice. He added that in his view, the government should also face justice for crimes committed in northern Uganda.

Otti called the BBC on a satellite phone and said that the LRA was ready to talk. "I am Lieutenant-General Vincent Otti and want this talk with the government of Uganda to end the rebellion, because now we fought for 20 years, we are ready for this talk from today," he said. He called on the government to respond to the request for peace talks, and said he was speaking with the backing of rebel commander Joseph Kony. Read more here.

Uganda-CAN calls on the Government of Uganda, with the support of the international community, to exploit this potential opportunity to end this conflict - Africa's longest running war - and the suffering it is causing millions of people in northern Uganda.

Betty Bigombe, Chief Peace Mediator for northern Uganda, has rebutted speculation that she has quit attempts to broker a peace agreement between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda, reports the Monitor. Bigombe had previously asserted that her efforts would be undermined by arrest warrants released by the International Criminal Court, but since the indictments were made public, she has continued her work. More is needed to offer the leadership to entice them from their fighting, she said; with no viable resettlement options or security guarantees, rebels do not feel comfortable giving up their campaign.

In other news, a Sudanese government representative has noted that the Government of Sudan gave the LRA a three-month ultimatum in October to give up fighting or face military engagement, AllAfrica reports. More than one month has now passed with no response, even to offers of Sudanese-brokered negotiations.

Reuters AlertNet reports that the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said he expects suspects to be handed over by mid-2006 so the new tribunal investigating three conflicts in Africa can start its first trials. The ICC, set up in 2002 as the world's first permanent global war crimes court, issued its first arrest warrants earlier this year, for leaders of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army accused of stoking 19 years of conflict in the north of the country.

"We are confident that during the first half of 2006 individuals will be surrendered to the court allowing the commencement of hearings and trials," prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the annual meeting of the state signatories to the court's treaty. Read more here.

In light of the ICC indictments, Uganda-CAN encourages the United Nations Security Council to bring attention and resources to expedite the disarmament and demobilization of LRA rebels. The mandates of UN missions in Congo and Sudan should be expanded to work with the ICC for the arrest of top commanders. Finally, the UN Security Council must take substantive steps to bolster civilian protection and national reconciliation in Uganda.

In his weekly column for Uganda's Weekly Observer, Father Carlos Rodriguez writes that security in northern Uganda does not necessarily mean peace. He writes, "So long as people are not free to live in their original homes, don’t feel reconciled with themselves and with one another, and cannot walk anywhere without fearing anything, except snakes, we may talk of relative security in the North, but not yet peace. You can achieve some degree of security by taking measures such as deploying more troops where they are needed, increasing road patrols, denying rebels access to weapons and logistical bases, and improving intelligence information and military capacity of the security forces."

He continues, "While all these are needed when people live under the threat of terrorist attacks, peace takes much more than that. It entails changing human relationships and addressing a whole range of issues such as anger, grievances, perceptions, identity, trust and many others, which may take years and even generations."

LRA forces have abducted three Congolese gold prospecters in northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo, reported the regional head of the Congolese military in the SudanTribune.

Park rangers in the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reported the presence of between 20 and 50 LRA fighters who have chosen not to leave the country. The Ugandan military has requested to enter DRC and engage the fighters themselves, though that request has been firmly resisted by Congolese and international leaders.

Reuters AlertNet reports that a United Nations official has declared that international pressure is urgently needed to end the war in northern Uganda. "We need massive international pressure, concentrated and sustained. It has been 20 years and it has got to be stopped," said Dennis McNamara, special U.N. adviser on displacement.

McNamara, just back from a week-long visit, said on Friday that while the LRA was guilty of continued atrocities, the government of President Yoweri Museveni had also "failed in its obligation" to assist and protect refugees who fled the fighting.

According to U.N. estimates, the mortality rate in some 200 camps housing some 1.7 million refugees was twice that of Sudan's Darfur, with more than 1,000 people dying each week -- many of them women and children -- from disease and violence. "This is one of the longest, largest, and least addressed humanitarian crises in the world," said McNamara. "It has uprooted as many people as the Bosnian war did 10 years ago, but gets only a fraction of the international attention."

ReliefWeb reports that the Sudanese government is determined to defeat the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Sudan's special presidential envoy Deng Alor Kuol said on Friday that his country was determined to finish off Ugandan rebel (LRA) leader Joseph Kony, according to Ugandan government radio.

Kuol, who is also minister of cabinet affairs in the Sudanese government, made the remarks when delivering here a special message from President Omar Hassan El Bashir to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Read more here.

The SudanTribune reports that LRA activities are preventing the safe delivery of emergency assistance to Sudan's recovering southern region. LRA Tactics have shifted in Sudan to attacks on roads, aid workers, and the more densely populated western half of the southern region.

Stans Yatta, a southern Sudanese government representative, estimated LRA numbers in southern Sudan to be approximately 4,000. "The LRA are a sickness to us in southern Sudan ... Their numbers are increasing day-by-day because they are abducting children," he said.

The United States Senate last Friday passed the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (S.1462), while the House version of the bill remains in committee awaiting action. Though the focus of the bill is on the genocide taking place int he Darfur region of western Sudan, it also emphasizes the interrelated nature of the LRA crisis.

The bill includes language urging President Bush to appoint a Presidential Envoy to Sudan that can work not only on gaining peace in Darfur and southern Sudan, but also with the government of Uganda to deal effectively with the LRA. It further calls on the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army in southern Sudan to engage the LRA immediately.

The bill, if passed in its present form, would also concretely extend current sanctions against the Sudanese government until it is demonstrated that they have fully ended their support for the LRA, which is currently taking place in the form of providing safe haven and resources, and are collaborating in expelling the LRA from Sudan.

Join Uganda-CAN's December 13 call-in day to urge your Representative in the House to include similar provisions for northern Uganda in the House version of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, H.R. 3127!

President Museveni this past weekend accepted the nomination from his political party, the National Resistance Movement, to stand for another five years as President. In his speech,Museveni layed out an ambitious plan for his potential next five years in office. In it, however, he made not one mention of northern Uganda, reports the New Vision.

The population in northern Uganda has been victimized by two decades of armed conflict. The AIDS rate is three times the national average, more than a quarter of children are not attending primary school, and little productive economy exists. With so many needs to be addressed, Museveni's neglect of the North in his speech--mirrored in his wider trends while in office--is criminal.

From William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN correspondent in Gulu, Uganda -

A senior Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander, who is the suspected masterminded behind the ambush of a bus in which twelve died on Monday, has been killed by Ugandan military forces in Gulu district of northern Uganda.

This was revealed to Uganda-CAN by the forth division army spokesman, Lieutenant Chris Magezi, today from his base in Gulu town. He said efforts were still being made to identify the seven dead rebel fighters. Many other rebels fled, and are being chased by Ugandan soldiers.

Road security has been stepped up in the area following a series of deadly attacks over the weekend, marking an increasing willingness of LRA commanders to attack in daylight and in risky situations. While military operations have been intensifying, efforts to negotiate a political resolution to the conflict have stalled following the release of indictments for top LRA leaders by the International Criminal Court.

A recent report published by the Refugee Law Project, a partner of Uganda-CAN, reveals that Congolese and Sudanese nationals living in international refugee camps in northern Uganda have begun to flee the destitute camps. The report also reveals that these international camps suffer from the same lack of adequate medical facilities and livelihood opportunities that northern Ugandan IDP camps suffer from. Read more at The Daily Monitor.

The plight of international refugees in northern Uganda highlights the regional scope of instability in the Great Lakes region and the need for peace-building efforts to address conflicts at a regional scale and in a comprehensive that addresses their many interconnections. Read more about Uganda-CAN’s effort to be address the regional scope of conflicts in the Great Lakes region here.

AllAfrica reports that the UN has promised to increase its humanitarian aid to displaced northern Ugandan civilians in the upcoming year. The Special Advisor on Displacement to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Dennis McNamara, said that “this is one of the longest, largest, and least addressed humanitarian crises in the world today."

The UN also called on the Ugandan government to fulfill its responsibility for the safety and well-being of the displaced peoples, saying “they need to do much more.” Uganda-CAN welcomes the UN’s decision to increase aid to northern Uganda, and adds its voice to the 50 humanitarian groups who recently called on the UN Security Council to end its shameful 19-year silence on the northern Ugandan crisis.

The BBC News Service reports that at least 12 people have been killed in northern Uganda during an ambush by suspected rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The attackers shot at a minibus full of people in broad daylight as it approached the town of Pader. The minibus was set ablaze and as the passengers tried to escape from the burning vehicle, they were attacked.

While the Government of Uganda (GOU) has proclaimed the rebels defeated, recent ambushes by the LRA are proving that they can still cause misery in northern Uganda. Today's ambush follows a similar attack on Friday, when a truck carrying traditional dancers was ambushed and at least five people died.

Uganda-CAN condemns these attacks, while calling on the GOU to take seriously its responsibility to protect its citizens in the north. If the government lacks the capacity to fulfill this responsibility, it should invite the United Nations and international community to provide support for civilian protection and humanitarian relief.

Today's New Vision reports that Sudanese Armed Forces, the Ugandan military, and the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army are to undertake joint operations against the LRA.

Leaders from the three forces met in Uganda and signed a joint agreement, which also includes an extension of Uganda's ability to conduct military operations anywhere in Sudan to hunt for the LRA, as well as an agreement allowing Uganda use of the Juba and Yei airports in southern Sudan for the first time. Uganda's freedom of movement in Sudan now extends to January 19, 2006.

While military pressure is needed to catalyze an end to the war, the political roots of the conflict and ethical concerns of fighting child soldiers make a negotiated settlement preferable. As yet, no efforts have been made to strengthen the capacity of negotiations, led by former government minister Betty Bigombe.

President Yoweri Museveni confirmed on Saturday that he would run for re-election next year, seeking to extend two decades in power that many critics say have become increasingly autocratic. With his top opponent Kizza Besigye waiting for a bail hearing on Thursday, Museveni finally broke his silence on Saturday about whether he wanted to run for office again. Read more at Reuters.

Today, Sunday the 20th of November, is Universal Children's Day.

As kids in America and most places around the world sleep soundly in beds under their parents' roofs, thousands of youngsters in northern Uganda are walking miles every night to sleep on streets and sidewalks, fleeing from the terror of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army. Amnesty International released a report to mark the occasion.

When will the world wake up to their suffering, and respond?

Uganda's acting army spokesman said Friday that LRA second-in-command Vincent Otti and a band of approximately 400 fighters remain in eastern Congo. "As far as the UPDF is concerned, Otti is still in Garamba [National Park], inside Congo," the official reported.

U.N. officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, however, remain unconvinced. "For the moment, there is no tangible evidence to confirm an LRA presence," the spokesman for the U.N. mission to Congo (MONUC) said.

Ugandan President Museveni has actively requested that Ugandan troops be allowed to cross the border to engage the LRA fighters, though the international community, with fresh memories of Ugandan troops looting during Congo's bloody civil war, remain resolutely against that option and have committed to dealing with the rebel group effectively. Read more at AllAfrica.

Unconfirmed reports from the region have also arisen that Congo's national army hosted the LRA back out of the country several weeks ago.

The Daily Monitor reports that LRA rebels killed nine people yesterday in a roadside ambush in Pader district. They were part of a cultural dance group travelling through Pader by lorry. Several more sustained serious injuries, and the death toll will likely increase.

The US has called on the Ugandan government to ensure that Col. Kizza Besigye is given a fair trial that ends well before the presidential elections slated for next February. Besigye, leader of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and likely Museveni's primary challenger in the elections, was arrested on Monday on charges of treason and rape. Opposition members claim that arrest has purely political motivations, noting that Besigye is mounting the biggest ever challenge to Museveni's 19-year rule. Read more at MSNBC.com.

Also, the Daily Vision reports that two parlementarians, both leading members of the FDC, will be tried beginning on November 21st for murder. Reagan Okumu (Aswa) and Michael Nyeko Ocula (Kilak) were arrested in April on murder charges and were released on bail. Many members of opposition parties claim that these charges are also political in nature.

Uganda-CAN director Peter Quaranto (that's me) spoke on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview program yesterday about the arrest of Rtd. Col. Kizza Besigye, riots in Kampala and the political climate in Uganda. Click here to listen to the audio.

Over the six months of our existence, Uganda-CAN has been able to gain large amounts of media coverage, allowing us to describe the situation in northern Uganda and advocate for action. Be sure to check out our Uganda-CAN In-the-News Web page, which is updated weekly.

Four months ago on August 1st, Carolyn Davis, an editorial writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote an open letter to First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, calling on them to visit northern Uganda witness the torture, kidnapping and rape that are all common in the 19-year-old war.

Concluding, she wrote, “Everyone who has seen this situation firsthand, especially the sight of thousands of children trudging at twilight to sleep in safer surroundings, comes away converted to the cause of helping these kids. You will, too, Madam Secretary and Mrs. Bush. You would, too, President Bush. I even will provide a target date: Most of these children are Christian. Give them the best imaginable Christmas gift: Push to end this war by Dec. 25.”

This holiday season, Uganda-CAN is taking Miss Davis’ call for action seriously. We are launching our Holiday Campaign today to tell policymakers and officials that it's time to give the children of northern Uganda the greatest gift possible: return to their families, a chance to go to school and long-awaited peace.

With the Uganda-CAN Holiday Campaign, there are three ways to get involved:

1.) Write a letter to the following, telling U.S. officials to catalyze and support the UN Security Council in addressing civilian protection in northern Uganda:
(Jendayi Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Department of State, 2201 C St., NW, Room 6234A, Washington, DC 20520) and (Ambassador John Bolton, United States Mission to the United Nations, 799 United Nations Plaza, 11th Fl., New York, NY 10017)

2.) On December 13, call in to targeted members of the U.S. Congress and tell them that northern Uganda is a forgotten crisis that demands their attention and action.

3.) Make a holiday contribution to the work of Uganda-CAN as we move into the next year and seek to continue our advocacy to end the war in northern Uganda. You can donate online or send checks to the above address.

Olara Otunnu, former UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, spoke at his reception of the 2005 Sydney Peace Prize in Australia. Otunnu described the humanitarian crisis unfolding in his homeland of northern Uganda as a “methodical and comprehensive genocide”.

“An entire society - the Acholi - is being systematically destroyed –physically, culturally, socially and economically – in full view of the international community. This has been going on non-stop for almost 20 years but Western governments have turned a blind eye to a pliant regime and dictatorship under President Museveni that practices genocide,” Mr Otunnu said.

He further described the situation in northern Uganda as much worse than Darfur “in its magnitude and the scope of its diabolical comprehensiveness.”

UN Security Council action is urgently needed to expedite an end to the mass violence in Uganda. Look for Uganda-CAN's coming opportunities to call and write letters to see that policymakers prioritize this issue.

Today's Sudan Tribune carries a press release from the "Lord's Resistance Army/Movement Information Bureau" stating that the LRA welcomes a recent offer by SPLM leaders to mediate peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government. The press release recognized the humanitarian suffering in northern Uganda and southern Sudan that the conflict has caused, and expressed hope that SPLM mediated peace talks could bring an end to the conflict.

The press release is the first sign of hope for a peaceful end to the conflict in several months. The Government of Uganda's mediator to the LRA, Betty Bigombe, established contact with LRA leader Joseph Kony earlier in the year, but was unsuccessful in organizing peace talks. In October, many observers, including Bigombe, reacted to the International Criminal Court's issue of arrest warrants for Kony and four other LRA commanders by saying that they had ruined chances for a peaceful resolution to the conflict by destroying any incentive for the LRA to lay down its arms.

Although the LRA's press release is a hopeful sign, it has often used peace talks or the hope of them in the past as a strategic tool to ensure its continued survival. Read the full text of the press release here.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

A top Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander, identified as Major Opio Joseph, surrendered to the army yesterday at Panyango in Pakwach District. Major Opio is charged with organizing the attack and death of British tourist and former official, Steve Willis, in Murchison Falls last week. Major Opio surrendered with his wife, two escorts, two guns and two magazines. The northern army spokesman Lieutenant Chris Magezi called on those still in the bush to come out and benefit from the still-valid amnesty law.

Rioting in Kampala continues today in the wake of Rtd. Col. Kizza Besigye's arrest yesterday. Reports from Uganda-CAN's staff and volunteers in Kampala suggest gunshots and destruction continue on the streets. To read more about the arrest of Besigye, click here. To see photos of the rioting in Kampala from the BBC News Service, click here.

Uganda-CAN condemns any violence used by protestors or the state; nonetheless, we believe this unrest shows the deep need for transparency and political reconciliation throughout Uganda.

The Daily Monitor reports that the Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Ms Christine Amongin Aporu, on Tuesday said 50% of the people living in the internally displaced people’s camps are children below 15 years. She was presenting a report on the situation in the IDP camps to the Parliamentary Committee on Presidential and Foreign Affairs.

The Minister said a significant number of young men between 20-29 years are missing from the camps because they have either been abducted or killed by the rebels. She said the government must come up with development programmes to help children and widows in the region. Aporu said psychosocial counselling services are needed in the area to stop the psychological torture children are going through.

Today's Daily Monitor reports that LRA rebels are suspected in the death of two Local Defence Unit (LDU) soldiers in Pader district yesterday. LDUs are civilian groups armed by the Ugandan government to help maintain security in northern Uganda and have been a frequent target of LRA attacks for over a decade.

Two editorials carried by Allafrica.com accuse Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni of mishandling the war in northern Uganda. The first editorial deplores the suffering prevalent in the IDP camps and reflects on the possibility of further armed uprisings against the Ugandan government if the suffering continues.

The second editorial comments on corruption within the Ugandan government and military, fears for land security in northern Uganda, and the Northern Uganda Recovery and Development Programme - which has so far proven to be ineffective.

Note: The views of the authors do not necessarily represent those of Uganda-CAN.

The Daily Monitor reports that in the wake of Rtd. Col. Kizza Besigye arrest, riots have erupted in Central Kampala. Clouds of thick smoke were visible in the area stretching from the Central Police Station to the Old Taxi Park as riot police fired tear gas canisters to ward off supporters of Dr. Kizza Besigye who are protesting his arrest.

Uganda-CAN condemns any violence, but believes that today's riots highlight the dire need for political reconcilation and transparency throughout Uganda.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

Retired Colonel Dr. Kizza Besigye was arrested today in a Kampala suburb. For more on the nature of his arrest and riots in Kampala, click here for BBC News reports.

It has been barely one month since the leader of the Forum for Democratic Change, retired Colonel Dr. Kizza Besigye returned to the country. Besigye was in Gulu recently were he pulled a big crowd with thousands gracing the heavy rains to listen to him and his vision for the people in the internally displaced peoples' camps in northern Uganda.

Uganda-CAN spoke with many people in Gulu, finding the mood rather tense and only a few people ready to comment about the FDC president's arrest.

ReliefWeb reports today that Oxfam has said that the UN Security Council left the impression this week that it is dangerously out-of-touch with the human cost of the 19-year-old war in northern Uganda.

A UN Security Council mission to the region wrapped up today. The Council met Ugandan President Museveni yesterday to discuss ways of ending the civil war and humanitarian situation in northern Uganda and reported to the press that "strong progress has been made". This is despite increasing insecurity, mortality levels well above emergency thresholds and the recent murders of aid workers and a tourist.

"Oxfam expected the Security Council to face up to the reality of the humanitarian emergency in northern Uganda, and we are dismayed and alarmed that this doesn't appear to have happened. Yesterday, the French ambassador to the UN, who led the Security Council mission to Uganda, said he understands "strong progress" has been made. This is deeply disappointing coming from the Council at a time when suffering is increasing for nearly two million people and aid workers are being killed," said Emma Naylor, Oxfam's Country Program Manager in Uganda.

The Sudan Tribune reports today that Riek Machar, Vice President of the government of southern Sudan, has said that the Lord’s Resistance Army remains a major obstacle to southern Sudan peace. "We do not want to go back to war. We have seen enough and we want LRA to either leave southern Sudan, talk peace or we push them," Machar said at a memorial service for the late southern Sudanese leader, Dr John Garang, in Juba on Wednesday 9 November.

Today's New Vision reports that the SPLM has offered to help mediate a peace deal between the LRA and the Ugandan government. An SPLM official said that the SPLM had given the LRA three options to choose from in the next two months: to surrender to the SPLM and negotiate with the Ugandan government through them, return to Uganda and continue fighting, or be forcibly disarmed within southern Sudan. SPLM head Salva Kiir said that the SPLM would resort to the last option if the LRA did not respond within two months.

It is unclear what role Ugandan government negotiator Betty Bigombe would have in the proposed talks, or what effect the recent issue of International Criminal Court arrest warrants for top LRA leaders would have on them. Nonetheless, Uganda-CAN welcomes the SPLM's commitment to peace and transnational cooperation.

Additionally, the Sudan Tribune reports that the SPLM, which made peace with the central Sudanese government in January, may participate in upcoming peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels based in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

Reuters AlertNet reports that the MONUC, the UN mission in the DR Congo, has found no evidence that LRA rebels continue to seek refuge in the DR Congo. A group of 400 LRA rebels fled to the DR Congo in September, but reportedly left in early October. Last Saturday the Ugandan military claimed that LRA rebels had re-entered the northeastern DR Congo, and said that LRA leader Joseph Kony might have been with them. However, a sweep of the area by MONUC and Congolese troops has yet to find any evidence of an LRA presence.

Deadly attacks on foreign aid workers by LRA rebels in northern Uganda and southern Sudan could prevent the delivery of vital assistance to hundreds of thousands of people, says Reuters AlertNet. Aid agencies have scaled back many operations following the attacks.

Reuters reports on the GuluWalk: Kampala event, where an estimated 1000 people gathered to hear testimonies from formerly abducted children and to walk in solidarity with war-affected people in northern Uganda.

One child, Patrick, had been abducted and narrated his story to the crowd. Immediately following his abduction he was ordered back to his home village by rebel leaders, where he was forced to kill his own parents. Halfway through the narration, Patrick burst into hysteric crying, and quickly finished his story by saying, "Please pray for the children of northern Uganda, pray for peace to return to my homeland." The crowd cried with him.

AllAfrica reports that a recent joint USAID and Wildlife Conservation Fund study has exposed the harmful effect on northern Uganda's environment that the 19-year old conflict between the LRA and Ugandan government has had. Aerial plane surveys revealed significant forest loss, especially in areas surrounding IDP camps and town centers, where people have been forced to give up traditional agricultural practices and rely on inadequate resources in areas immediately surrounding the camps.

The study not only sought to highlight the conflict's impact on the natural environment, but also the consequences of these impacts on water supplies and livelihood opportunities in areas the IDPs will resettle in after the conflict ends. Read more of the findings here.

Following the rash of recent attacks against foreigners working in Uganda and Sudan, Sean McCormack, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, issued the following statement:

"The United States condemns the recent targeted attacks on international humanitarian workers by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in southern Sudan and northern Uganda. These attacks have resulted in the brutal murder of humanitarian aid workers.

The murder of a British citizen in northern Uganda on November 8 follows a string of unprovoked and deliberate attacks on humanitarian workers in southern Sudan and northern Uganda. We offer our condolences to the families of the victims and call on the LRA to end their assaults on those assisting the displaced populations in the region."

A coalition of over 50 humanitarian organizations working in Uganda released a statement today noting the attacks and calling for a Security Council hearing on northern Uganda. A delegation from the Security Council left Uganda today after meeting with President Museveni.

Since 2002, the Governments of Uganda and Sudan have agreed to allow Ugandan forces up to 100km into southern Sudan to pursue Lord's Resistance Army forces. The limit is near the town of Juba in southern Sudan. Following the release of International Criminal Court indictments for top LRA leaders, however, Sudan agreed last month to allow Ugandan forces to pursue the LRA deeper into Sudanese territory. That agreement has now expired, and Uganda's President Museveni is pushing to extend it, reports Reuters.

Sudan's peace deal in January that ended hostilities between the Government of Sudan and the southern-based Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army has altered dynamics in the South, and the LRA has become the single most significant direct threat to peace in the region. Joint operations between Ugandan and Sudanese forces against the rebel group are currently being negotiated.

The president of the International Criminal Court urged all member countries of the United Nations General Assembly to contribute what they are able in the efforts to arrest Joseph Kony and four other leaders of the LRA.

“I must be very clear on this point: co-operation in arrest and surrender of persons is necessary if there are to be trials,” he told the 191-member General Assembly Tuesday.

The ICC's involvement in northern Uganda further opens up opportunities to pay reparations to victims of LRA crimes, through the Court's Victims Trust Fund. Currently, many residents in northern Uganda harbor bitterness toward former LRA abductees, many of whom are guilty of acts of violence and yet are receiving resettlement packages from the government's Amnesty Commission. Reparations to victims would ease these tensions and restore relations in northern Uganda.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Reuters AlertNet reports that a coalition of over 50 humanitarian organizations working in northern Uganda have jointly called on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution demanding the protection of civilians affected by the conflict. They urged the UN Security Council to break its 19-year silence on the topic, especially because a recent upsurge of attacks has forced many humanitarian groups to restrict essential aid-distributing operations to the 1.5 million civilians displaced by the conflict. The coalition, called the Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda (a partner of Uganda-CAN), described the situation in northern Uganda as the "world's worst case of mass child abuse."

The call comes on the heels of a visit by a delegation from the UN Security Council to Uganda, a statement issued by the European Union calling for the Ugandan government to protect civilians in northern Uganda, and a recent spate of LRA attacks on international humanitarian agencies in the region. Uganda-CAN supports the coalition's statement, and adds its voice to the call for the UN Security Council to address the issue.

Reuters AlertNet reports that a British tourist was killed in a northern Ugandan national park today by LRA rebels. The Briton died after rebels attacked a group of primarily foreign tourists in Murchison Falls National Park. Two other tourists were kidnapped and later rescued, while three others were forced to flee into the surrounding countryside.

This attack is the latest in a string of LRA ambushes of foreigners and staff of international humanitarian aid organizations in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Recent reports indicate that the rebels have begun to target symbols of the international community's presence in the region in response to the International Criminal Court's issue of arrest warrants for LRA leader Joseph Kony and four other LRA commanders last month.

The SudanTribune reports that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Okol are to chair U.S.-Sudan talks beginning tomorrow in Khartoum.

"...the talks of the two sides will touch on all the files and issues of concern to the two countries, including implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement, Darfur, the bilateral relations as well as the lifting of the American sanctions against Sudan," reads the article.

Uganda-CAN expresses grave concern that the roots of a two-decade old war and an insurgency roaming between three countries and causing the displacement of more than 1.5 million people are not issues to be addressed by the meetings. Evidence demonstrates that the Sudanese government continues to provide support for the Lord's Resistance Army and is stalling efforts at direct engagement with the rebel group. Moreover, for peace to take hold in Sudan, the LRA must be dealt with, as they are currently aggravating efforts to repatriate refugees and reconstruct the region.

In a powerful Op/Ed in yesterday's New Vision, Odongo Otto, MP from Arua, declares that northern Uganda is a disaster area, and that the United Nations must step in to take responsibility for civilian protection. Read more here.

Uganda-CAN has updated its website to include a Web page concerning the contentious issues of land ownership and rights currently troubling northern Uganda. Many IDPs fear that their land - which carries immense economic, cultural, and religious importance - is in danger of being stolen during their confinement to IDP camps or during post-conflict rebuilding. A variety of threats, stemming from suspicious government actions and the conflict's long-term damage to traditional land tenure, bolster and legitimize these fears. These fears in turn foster mistrust between northern Ugandans and the Ugandan government, hindering the cooperation and reconciliation essential to hopes for a sustainable peace in the region.

Click here to learn more about land insecurity in northern Uganda - including thoughts from northern Ugandans, Uganda-CAN's policy recommendations to the US government, links to land insecurity studies and news, and information about Ugandan land rights advocacy organizations. Or navigate there by clicking on the subsection entitled "The Conflict" on the left sidebar of this Web page.

Carolyn Davis, a long-time advocate for peace in northern Uganda, writes about the October 22nd Philadelphia GuluWalk in yesterday's edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Read more here about Davis' stirring account of the Philadelphia GuluWalk and her opinion of recent developments in regional peace efforts.

An editorial in yesterday's Financial Times examines some of the controversy surrounding the International Criminal Court's issue of arrest warrants for LRA leader Joseph Kony and four other LRA commanders in October. Some human rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch, support the warrants and emphasize the importance of pursuing justice for human rights violations.

Other actors - including Betty Bigombe (chief mediator to the LRA), Acholi religious organizations, some humanitarian relief organizations, and many civilians in northern Uganda - are more skeptical of the warrants' potential consequences. They fear that the warrants will prove to be a strong disincentive for the rebels to lay down their arms and will thus prolong the conflict and the suffering it is causing.

The Council of the European Union has issued a seven-point resolution regarding the conflict in northern Uganda, particularly noting the recent upsurge in violence targeting international aid workers.

Click below to read the full statement, which supports regional rehabilitation and reconciliation initiatives, as well as combatant reintegration. The Council further expressed their endorsement of any efforts to end the war peacefully, and urged the Government of Uganda to respect the territorial sovereignty of neighboring countries, apparently speaking to the recent calls by the Government of Uganda to allow Ugandan troops into eastern DR Congo.

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Northern Uganda's insidious rebel group led by Joseph Kony, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), will be engaged by southern Sudanese forces in due time, affirmed Salva Kiir, newly-appointed Vice President of Sudan.

Kiir, the leader of the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M), wrapped up his diplomatic tour of Washington, DC last night with an open meeting for members of the Sudanese diaspora living in the United States. He cast dealing with the LRA as one of the top three priorities for rebuilding southern Sudan, along with engaging the ruling National Congress Party on issues of governance and assisting former refugees with reconstruction of southern Sudan.

"We are very clear in our position that we want the problem of the LRA and the Government of Uganda to be resolved peacefully." If that were not to happen, Kiir remarked, and the LRA were not to depart southern Sudan, SPLA forces would be forced to engage the LRA directly.

Pushed by a Uganda-CAN correspondent on the specifics, Kiir said that, "It was agreed that the Ugandan military, Sudanese military, and SPLA would conduct joint operations against the LRA in southern Sudan. This has not yet started because preparations are still underway... There is no timetable for that matter."

It is unclear how Kiir expects to confront suspicions that the Government of Sudan maintains its support for the LRA, providing resources and protection, as they were known to be doing for years. Kiir also did not address how recent indictments from the International Court and skepticism from Ugandan President Youweri Museveni about the prospects for peaceful resolution would affect the crisis.

AllAfrica reports that Collin Lee, an employee of International Aid Services, was ambushed and killed in Sudan near the Ugandan border by LRA rebels. Lee is the fifth employee of an international non-governmental organization to be killed in three weeks, the third who is a citizen of a Western nation.

Lee's vehicle was ambushed, and he and his wife and driver were pulled from the car and forced to march with a group of twelve LRA. When Ugandan and Sudanese military personnel pursued the group, the three abductees were shot. Lee was killed immediately, though his wife and driver remain in critical condition in a hospital in northwestern Uganda.

The UN has restarted full operations after it suspended many following previous attacks. It is unclear if it will again suspend its operations. LRA are believed to be targeting employees of Western organizations in retaliation for the arrest warrants recently released by the International Criminal Court.

A powerful article in Weekly Magazine writes about the war in northern Uganda and the work of Uganda-CAN to organize the Washington D.C. GuluWalk on October 22. The lead organizers of that walk, Reid Rector and Uganda-CAN co-founder Michael Poffenberger, worked tirelessly to organize a walk that turned out hundreds of people even amidst the rain and cold. Read the article here.

Today's Sunday Monitor reports that Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has issued orders for all IDP camps in the Teso and Lango sub-regions (see map) to be disbanded and their occupants resettled by this coming December. He said that the LRA is now unable to carry out significant attacks in the two regions because of the gains of a recent UPDF offensive, and directed parlimentarians from Teso and Lango to draft resettlement plans.

Uganda-CAN welcomes the disbandment of IDP camps and return of IDPs to their homes in northern Uganda. However, we urge the Ugandan government and international community to work together to ensure that the return is adequately planned and funded to prevent land ownership conflicts from developing and to ensure that returnees are able to secure a livelihood.

Uganda-CAN also urges the Ugandan government and international community to give IDPs substantial input into the plans, which will decrease distrust towards the government and increase the likelihood of a smoother transition from IDP camps to rural homesteads.

Editorials in today's San Francisco Chronicle and Monsters and Critics tell of the predicament of child soldiers in northern Uganda. They detail the horrors of forced soldiering and sexual slavery after abduction, the dangers of escape, the difficulty of rehabilitation and psychological healing after escape, and the bleak prospects for reintegration and self-sufficiency in society whose cultural and economic foundation have been torn apart. Also, read more at Monsters and Critics about Lost Children, an upcoming documentary focusing on child soldiers in northern Uganda.

Today's Daily Vision reports that the UPDF has received unconfirmed reports that LRA leader Joseph Kony has fled to the DR Congo. A UPDF spokesman, Lt. Chris Magezi, speculated that Kony is trying to join his deputy, Vincent Otti, who is widely believed to be in the DR Congo. Kony's decision to leave his base in southern Sudan may be because of the recent decision of the Sudanese government to allow the UPDF to pursue him further north into Sudan than the previously established "Red Line", which allowed Kony relative immunity from UPDF operations.

The report comes on the heels of news that 150 UN soldiers based in the DR Congo were sent to the northeastern DR Congo to disarm Otti's band of LRA rebels on Thursday.

In his column for The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof writes about a conference in which liberals and conservative Christians met to discuss the Top 5 worst places to wake up in the morning: Darfur, North Korea, Burma, Congo and northern Uganda. He writes about how bi-partisan initiatives may present new opportunities to resolve these crises. Read his column here.

Uganda-CAN agrees with Mr. Kristof that this is a hopeful sign. Bipartisan commitment to address obvious gross assaults on humanity throughout the world holds great potential. We hope that such hopeful efforts will inspire the Bush Administration to bring much needed attention and engagement to these neglected crises.

The Daily Vision reports today that the UN has resumed delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians outside of towns in northern Uganda. The UN, which suspended aid delivery four days ago following the death of two aid workers at the hands of suspected LRA rebels, will restart essential food deliveries under armed military escort.

Uganda-CAN welcomes the UN's decision to resume humanitarian aid in northern Uganda, and hopes other humanitarian organizations who suspended their operations because of the attacks will also restart their operations with the greatest possible caution.

In the wake of several killings of aid workers in northern Uganda, thought to be in retaliation for the recent indictments released by the International Criminal Court, the Presidency of the European Union has issued a statement regarding northern Uganda.

"I thoroughly condemn these appalling and vicious attacks. The humanitarian agencies are doing crucial work, assisting and bringing much-needed relief to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. These attacks only serve to increase and continue the suffering of civilians. The Ugandan Government, working with other states in the region, must do all that it can to protect civilians and to ensure the safety of aid workers," the statement reads.

Uganda-CAN applauds the attention given the crisis by the EU, though we lament that it took the killing of a handful of aid workers--while hundreds of thousands of Ugandans have already died due to the crisis--to make the news. Where is the disconnect?

In today's Daily Monitor, Julius Mucunguzi of World Vision Uganda writes a moving Op/Ed about the international GuluWalk Day, titled "Changing world opinion for northern Uganda children." He calls upon people in all districts and sub-counties of Uganda to walk for these children in a powerful symbol of solidarity.

He writes, "Something very important happened on the streets in Kampala and Gulu last Saturday. A multitude of Ugandans from all shades of opinion, tribes, ethnic and academic backgrounds walked through the city to show solidarity with the children of northern Uganda."

Mucunguzi further praises the courage and vision of Adrian Bradbury, GuluWalk's founder and lead organizer. "Adrian's resolve is a big challenge for all of us. We must for sure feel ashamed that it had to take some one thousands of kilometers away in Toronto Canada, for us Ugandans to be woken up to walk alongside our brothers and sisters in northern Uganda. It is a shame that we had never expressed such a sign of solidarity with the people of northern Uganda." Read this powerful Op/Ed here.

The Daily Vision reports that the chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Margaret Ssekagya, said yesterday that serving national leaders should not be immune from prosecution. Speaking at the Human Rights Defenders conference in Entebbe, Ssekagya underscored the relationship between accountability and democracy, and said that impunity encourages leaders to think "they are untouchable."

The Daily Vision reports LRA rebels killed twelve game rangers in Garamba National Park in the northeaster DR Congo last Monday. The attack, which was the first time the rebels have killed members of the local population, took place after the game rangers pursued the rebels for having killed an elephant in the park.

The deaths of the rangers and the rebels continued poaching of park animals, which has further destabilized this already volatile country, highlight the need for a removal of the rebels from the DR Congo and a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

The Daily Vision reports that members of the UN Security Council will visit Uganda and four other countries in the Great Lakes region to highlight the potential for peace in the five countries. Led by the Permanent Representitive of Frace, ambassador Jean-Marc de laborer Sabliere, the fifteen-member delegation will spotlight recent advances in peace-building and discuss current conflicts in the area. The delegation will also discuss possible ways of ensuring that LRA members not guilty of the most serious human rights violations are granted amnesty.

Rick Beitman, a student at Arizona State University, writes in an op/ed piece for the ASU Web Devil today about the Phoenix-area GuluWalk on October 22nd. Beitman recounts how ASU students and citizens of Phoenix, moved to action by the plight of northern Uganda's "night commuters" and child soldiers, participated in a 6.71 mile walk and documentary screening to "support the victims in Uganda."

Uganda-CAN commends the efforts of the Phoenix GuluWalk participants in bringing to light the invisible children of northern Uganda and urges them to continue to work for a sustainable peace in the region. Read the full text of the Web Devil article here.

Reuters AlterNet reports that the UN mission in the DR Congo, MONUC, has sent a team of observers to the northeastern region of the country to determine if there are any LRA rebels in the area. The mission comes in response to continued insistence by the Ugandan government that LRA rebels are still hiding in the northeastern DR Congo.

The MONUC military spokesman, Lt-Col Thierry Provendier, also revealed plans to send 150 MONUC peacekeepers to the area by the end of the week and said that "if there are LRA elements on Congolese territory, we will disarm them and repatriate them."

The Middle East Times reports that a member of an official committee investigating the death of SPLM leader and Sudanese VP Dr. John Garang has accused the Ugandan government of being uncooperative in the investigation. Garang died in July 2005 after the helicopter he was riding in, provided by the Ugandan government, crashed in southern Sudan. The official charged the Ugandan government with being slow in providing documents regarding the aircraft’s maintenance.

From Sister Fernanda, an Italian Comboni missionary and friend of Uganda-CAN who works with AIDS patients in Gulu -

Children in northern Uganda walk as far as ten kilometers every morning and every night, from homes in camps to town centers, to escape the violence of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army. GuluWalk: Gulu, the centerpiece of worldwide walks to raise awareness about night commuter children in northern Uganda, started on the evening of Oct. 21, at around 7:30 pm, at each of the places where the children in Gulu normally convene to sleep for the night. Members of several humanitarian organizations operating in the area, civil and religious leaders, and local authorities paid a visit to the children and listened to their stories.

In the morning, Oct. 22nd, all the children met in groups at a government site, called District Center, where a leader gave the green light for the walk demonstration. “Today the children are not alone, they have the political, social and religious leaders with them!” he said.

With banners, signs and music a huge number of both children and adults began to march through the city of Gulu covering it peacefully and colorfully. Among them there were Bishop Odama, Catholic bishop of Gulu, and several members of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, an interfaith organization working on peace building.

Then, the crowd gathered at a park just outside the city. The children, boys and girls, were the protagonists; with songs, poems, skits, and dances they narrated their woeful, painful, fearful and yet hopeful stories. One group voiced in song some challenging questions.

"Have you ever known the hunger pangs? Have you ever spent a night in the rain, on cold or wet stone without a blanket? Did you ever try to squeeze some inches in an overcrowded place, or try to sleep standing because of the mud on the ground? Have you ever spent the night shuddering with malaria bouts with no medicine available, not knowing where to go for help, thinking that maybe you would not see the next day?"

No one listening to them could hide tears of anguish and compassion.

Another group offered a poem asking, “What is peace? We hear the adults talking about it, but we don’t know what it means! We hear that if the government and the rebels will come around a table, peace may come. So we just wait because we really want to see it and enjoy the gift of peace in our young lives.”

The whole day was spent with the children. For one day, people in Gulu were a family. Emotions ran high as participants heard stories, shared pains, prayed and dreamed together that peace will come, that the situation will change, that justice will be flowing in this tortured land of the Acholi, that the land may know a future of joy where all can live and be loved as God’s children.

But there were also more than dreams. Then and there, participatns decided to ACT, to WALK, to TELL OTHERS, to LET THE WORLD KNOW about this, to ask the SOLIDARITY and ACTION of the human family so that these dreams may become true.

Toward evening everyone went home. The “night commuters” went to their safe shelters for another night under the sky. And you, reading this story, what are you going to do?

The Daily Monitor reports that Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakirima, has accosted several international humanitarian NGOs for their decision to temporarily suspend operations in northern Uganda. The decision followed the death of four humanitarian aid workerss at the hands of suspected LRA rebels last week. Aronda said that claims that the region was too dangerous for humanitarian work were a "huge lie" and accused the organizations' decision of being politically motivated. He also accused them of profitteering from the insecurity in northern Uganda.

Uganda-CAN realizes that the suspension of aid operations will increase human suffering in northern Uganda and hopes that they can be restarted as soon as possible. We also realize aid profiteering is a legitimate concern in northern Uganda. However, Uganda-CAN feels that Aronda's antagonistic statements could cause unneccassary divisions and bad faith between aid organizations and the Ugandan government.

We urge Aronda to recognize the necessity of cooperation between civil society organizations and the government in alleviating the suffering in northern Uganda and urge Aronda to retract his statements immediately.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

The army reports that it has killed five Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in three different attacks carried out in Gulu, Adjumani and Pader districts. Northern region new army spokesman Lt. Chris Magezi confirmed this to Uganda-CAN.

Magezi said five guns with several bullets were recovered from the fleeing rebels, along with a good deal of looted property. He said one UPDF soldier was injured during the
shootout against the LRA rebels at Ayago Bridge along Karuma Pakwach road.

Magezi also said these pockets of rebels were the ones that last week ambushed and killed humanitarian relief workers in Kitgum and Pader district.

The Daily Monitor reports that a recent survey of IDP living conditions in Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader districts has revealed that human suffering and hopelessness continue to plague northern Uganda. The report, carried out by a Norwegian Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies, affirms that conditions for IDPs in Acholiland have not improved in the three months since an August World Health Organization report revealed 1,000 IDPs die every week in northern Uganda from malnutrition and disease.