Gulu District chairman Norbert Mao has called on the U.S. government to get directly involved in supporting the Juba peace talks. Mao is currently in Washington D.C. with Gulu RDC Walter Ochora, meeting policymakers and humanitarian groups. He also spoke on Saturday at Invisible Children's 'Displace Me' event, which happened in 15 cities across the country. Read more at The Monitor.

Bobby Bailey, co-founder of Invisible Children, has written an Op/Ed in ABC News about the horrors of displacement in northern Uganda. He writes as over 60,000 Americans sleep outside in tonight's 'Displace Me' event. Bailey writes, "If the peace talks succeed, the people of northern Uganda will be able to sleep without fear for the first time in two decades. If the peace talks fail, the war will persist and every Friday night the displaced will continue to gather and mourn more needless deaths." Read more at ABC News.

Tomorrow, over 60,000 Americans will "displace" themselves in a show of solidarity with the 1.4 million northern Ugandans living in displacement camps. The event, titled "Displace Me," is being organized by Invisible Children in 15 different major cities. Participants will spend one night in public places away from their homes, sending a message to the U.S. government that it must act to end this unnecessary suffering. The event will call on the Bush Administration to issue a statement of support for the Juba talks and send a senior-level diplomat to convey that support.

The International Crisis Group has released its latest report on northern Uganda, titled Northern Uganda: Seizing the Opportunity for Peace. This report examines examines the ten-month-old Juba peace process, arguing that "a more comprehensive strategy is needed both to address the conditions that have created a cycle of conflict in northern Uganda and guard against destabilisation in neighbouring Congo and Sudan." The report argues that a solution to the war requires two tracks - (1) the Juba talks to end the LRA security threat and (2) a follow-up national reconciliation forum with much wider participation. ICG urges the U.S. and UK to assist UN special envoy Joaquim Chissano to overcome the mutual mistrust of the parties. "The LRA’s commitment to peace cannot be taken for granted," said Francois Grignon, Crisis Group Africa Director. "There is evidence the LRA is still getting arms from Khartoum, by a new route through insurgent areas in the Central African Republic, and is recruiting former fighters in northern Uganda to rebuild its depleted ranks. The moment to act is now." Read more at Crisis Group.

With the Juba peace talks set to resume tomorrow, Human Rights Watch has issued statement saying that "negotiations must seek an outcome that also ensures fair and credible prosecutions for the most serious crimes in northern Uganda...Such prosecutions, along with broader accountability measures for lesser abuses, are crucial to achieving a sustainable peace in northern Uganda." While the Security Council could defer the ICC’s investigation or prosecution in northern Uganda for 12 months under article 16 of the ICC statute, this would be inappropriate, Human Rights Watch has said. Read more at Human Rights Watch.

Today, at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Senator John Edwards became the first U.S. candidate for president to call for immediate U.S. leadership for peace in northern Uganda. "We need to end the suffering in Darfur and Uganda," said Edwards. "Too many families have lost their homes, too many women and girls have been raped, too many children have been tortured and too many lives have been lost." Edwards called on President Bush to (1) make a public statement of support for the Juba peace talks, (2) dispatch a high-level presidential envoy to support mediation and (3) commit sufficient funds to the UN's Juba Initiative Fund. "As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, there comes a time for all of us when silence is betrayal - not just betrayal of your own personal convictions, not just betrayal of your country, but a betrayal of responsibility to each other, to our brothers and sisters, not just in America, but all across the globe," said Edwards. "Now it is time for America's leadership to break its silence and return our country to its rightful place as a moral leader of the world." For more, visit JohnEdwards.com.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is closely monitoring the progress of the Juba peace talks, the Deputy Secretary-General has said. Florence Mugasha was recently in northern Uganda to assess the progress and activities of the Commonwealth Youth Development Centre. "We are closely monitoring the Juba talks and we are so far very pleased with the results," she told journalists. Mugasha said the Commonwealth is supporting the efforts of the United Nations and African Union to see that the 21-year war ends peacefully. She called upon the government to do everything possible to ensure that the South Sudan-mediated peace talks succeed. "We hope and pray that this project (peace talks) doesn't stop." Read more at The Monitor.

The former chief prosecutor for the Special Court in Sierra Leone says it would be a mistake not to prosecute LRA rebel leaders accused of war crimes. David Crane says the rule of law must not be abandoned in efforts to bring peace to northern Uganda. Professor Crane says in northern Uganda, after more than 20 years of war, the displacement of millions of people and the killing of thousands, it’s easy to see why it’s a peace versus justice issue. "Certainly people want peace and it needs to be respected. Certainly people want justice and it equally needs to be respected," he said. Listen to the interview at Voice of America.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has said the Uganda government should review the forced disarmament of pastoralists in the northeastern Karamoja region because the army is using indiscriminate, excessive force during the controversial exercise. The disarmament, OHCHR said in a report on Thursday, had been marred by torture, beatings, degrading treatment and arbitrary arrests during 'cordon and search' operations. Asked for a comment, Uganda Army spokesman Maj. Felix Kulayige angrily asked: "Do they really think we are horrible monsters happy to butcher children? We are not monsters - far from it." Read more at UN IRIN.

The LRA rebels are re-arming and regrouping, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said. The Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said there are also credible reports that the LRA, which is involved in peace talks with the government, is still holding abducted children. "Arrest warrants have been issued against four LRA commanders who have committed atrocities and are still keeping abducted children under their command...As the obligation to give effect to the arrest warrants are outstanding and there continue to be reports that the LRA are currently regrouping and rearming, efforts to secure those arrests should be pursued," Ocampo said. "Sustainable peace requires accountability; it cannot be achieved at the price of impunity." Read more at The Monitor.

ENOUGH has released its April/May update, arguing that peace remains elusive in the world's worst hotspots, especially in the absence of the strong international engagement. While peace talks may be restarted in northern Uganda, "the international community must convince LRA leader Joseph Kony that this is his best and only chance," International Crisis Group senior advisor John Prendergast argues. Read more at ENOUGH.

Today, the U.S. State Department issued this press statement: "The United States Government welcomes the agreement between the Government of Uganda and Lord's Resistance Army to extend the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and to resume peace talks on April 26. A durable peace agreement that puts an end to the 21-year old conflict and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced northern Ugandans is vital to the region and to the future of Uganda." This is the third such press statement since peace talks began last July. Yet, while U.S. vocal "welcome" of negotiations is a positive development, the U.S. needs to play a greater role in assisting the peace process. This might include sending a high-level official to Juba to express support for the talks.

Former child soldier Kassim "The Dream" Ouma has finally received an official pardon for deserting the Ugandan army in 1998, and will return to his home country for the first time later this month. While in Uganda, the 28-year-old boxer will visit the displacement camps in the north, and see the work that GuluWalk is doing on the ground. Utilizing his boxing profile, Ouma has been a vocal supporter of GuluWalk and its initiatives since day one. "I was a child soldier in Uganda and I know what war can do to a child," said Ouma. Read more at GuluWalk.com.

GuluWalk 2007, a global one-day event focused on raising awareness and funds for education, rehabilitation and youth support programs for the terrorized children of northern Uganda has set this year's date for Saturday, October 20. The grassroots worldwide initiative is expected to take place in 100 cities this year, including such notable sites as Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, London, Rome, Beijing and many more. Last October, GuluWalk was staged in 82 cities in 15 different countries, and featured more than 30,000 participants. Visit GuluWalk.com to learn more and get involved.

Anne Mugisha of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has written a provocative article in The Monitor, arguing that Uganda's deployment of troops to Somalia "further enhances President Museveni as a frontline defender of US interests in sub-Saharan Africa." Mugisha writes, "Precisely because the US and the West are focused of halting the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, they will turn a blind eye to Uganda government’s horrendous acts against its own people." She concludes, "The Uganda government’s interests are fuelled by the need to keep the US blind to its dictatorship as it continues to tighten its grip on power and exploit the riches of a poor country for the benefit of a small political elite." Read her full argument at The Monitor.

The International Criminal Court has withdrawn the arrest warrant against LRA commander Raska Lukwiya, six months after he was killed by the Ugandan army. Brig. Lukwiya was killed in action on 12 August 2006 in Obem village in Kitgum district. "The OTP respectfully requests the Pre-Trial Chamber to order that the warrant of arrest issued for Raska Lukwiya be withdrawn and rendered without effect because of the changed circumstance of Lukwiya's death," the ICC official site said on Friday. Read more at The Monitor.