New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes yesterday that the Sudanese government "seems to be preparing to start the second [genocide] here among the thatch-roof huts of southern Sudan." Kristof reports, "South Sudan is rich in oil, but its people are among the poorest in the world, far poorer than those in Darfur." His basic argument is that while the world turns its attention elsewhere, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 is collapsing and a return to war imminent. We have long been following the situation in southern Sudan and arguing that fresh violence could destabilize the region, dooming peace efforts in northern Uganda. Read the full column here.

Gayle Smith of the Enough project, who spoke this week at the Northern Uganda Lobby Days, has authored a new report on "containing the crisis in Kenya." She writes, "While the level of violence in the wake of December elections caught many off-guard, it is a not entirely surprising manifestation of intertwined political, economic, and ethnic divisions that have gone untended for decades...A viable peace process must therefore be driven by multidimensional negotiations that address the immediate challenge—the post election dispute—while also focusing on the underlying contradictions that have given rise to this spiraling crisis. At the same time, negotiations must be buttressed by a parallel process of resolution and reconciliation within civil society and supported by an economic development strategy that can deliver a tangible peace dividend." Read the full report here.

Gulu District Chairman Norbert Mao wrote in The New Vision earlier this week that "Amnesty International's reaction to the Juba talks smacks of arrogance." After last week's agreement, Amnesty insisted that the LRA rebels should be arrested and tried by the ICC, not domestic tribunals. Mao argues, "Their arguments were on shaky legal grounds and smacked of arrogance and conceit. They did not care that the deal recognised the principle of complementarity. International justice is not intended to supplant domestic processes, but to complement them." We too were also disappointed that Amnesty struck such an ideological position without considering the practical realities of the situation on the ground and a more holistic understanding of justice. Human Rights Watch took a much more flexible position, recognizing that the ICC itself respects local forms of justice first and foremost.

I just returned from the Northern Uganda Lobby Days, which were an enormous success with 800+ U.S. citizens traveling to Washington D.C. to lobby U.S. policymakers to help finalize and implement an agreement for sustainable peace in northern Uganda. Resolve Uganda's Executive Director Michael Poffenberger spoke today on Voice of America about the historic gathering. "What we’re telling Washington is that the signing of an agreement is an important first step, but it’s only a first step. And what we need now is for the US to publicly pledge that it will be a guarantor of whatever is reached in Juba, that it will call on the United Nations to do the same thing, and that it will provide immediate funds to help displaced communities actually return to their homes of origin," Poffenberger said.

It's been a week defined by big news (the signing of a final agreement for justice and accountability), but also the tempered optimism and suspicion that has followed. Many questions linger - is LRA leader Joseph Kony willing to abide by this agreement or do allegations of fresh attacks and a move toward Central African Republic suggest a "pulling back" from the peace process? Will the Government of Uganda capitalize on this new progress or revert to fresh military provocation as the cessation of hostilities expires again? Will the International Criminal Court show new flexibility to re-assess the indictments (as permitted by Articles 16 and 52 in the Rome Statute) or continue rigidly asserting that arrest is the only justice?

With all these questions in flux and the process still fragile, hundreds of us will take to Capitol Hill this Monday and Tuesday at the Northern Uganda Lobby Days to call for a consistent and coordinated message of support from the international community. In particular, the U.S. and others can mitigate anxiety by making clear that they will respect and help implement any final agreement reached. Over the next few days, our blogging might be slower, but we'll try to provide "front line" updates from the historic gathering in Washington D.C.

On the same day that the Government and LRA signed the "implementation annex" finalizing the agreement on 'accountability and reconciliation', Refugees International issued a statement calling for all parties to consider alternatives to the Rome Statute that allow peace talks to succeed. Authored by Katherine Southwick, the statement says that the ICC indictments have helped to pressure the LRA to negotiate and strengthened discussions of justice and accountability at the negotiations. However, they write, "The twin goals of peace and justice begin to diverge, however, when we assume that imprisonment is the only form of punishment acceptable under the Rome Statute and under international standards more generally. It is unlikely that Kony and the other ICC indictees will agree to subject themselves to a judicial process which would ultimately lead to their incarceration."

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Not to take our focus away from northern Uganda, but it's important to keep an eye on developments in the wider region. Here are a few storylines we're following closely:

1.) "Somalia: The World's forgotten catastrophe": The Independent reports that, while the U.S. has continued tracking suspected terrorists and conducting air strikes amidst the Ethiopian occupation, Somalia has been rocked by daily violence and more than 600,000 people fled Mogadishu in 2007.

2.) "Defusing the 'ethnic time-bomb' in Kenya": Greg Mills writes in the International Herald Tribune that fundamental political change is needed to stop the continued violence in Kenya.

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Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Tuesday, U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley was asked: "Could you tell us what the administration has done to end the genocide in northern Uganda?" We'll leave it to you to evaluate his response (or click here for ours at Resolve). Here is his response, verbatim: "It's a long -- it's a long story, and I cannot do it justice. But I think one of the things people need to understand is we do a lot of talking about the problem in Sudan and Darfur, and it is, historically, it killed 2.5 million people. But in terms of the Lakes district, in terms of Congo, the latest estimate that I have is now 5.4 million people died, in addition to the suffering that you've described.

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The East African is reporting that Uganda's Parliament is investigating the manner in which the government hired a lobbyist and paid her firm $75,000 for writing a letter of response to a United States Senate resolution urging greater support for the Juba peace talks. The government hired the Whitaker Group in January 2003 to promote trade and investment opportunities in the country, yet their lobbying has shifted as the conflict in northern Uganda has gained more international attention. Parliament is understandably inquiring whether taxpayers' money was misused by this arrangement, but we have a further inquiry. Have paid lobbyists trying to "build the government's image in the U.S." been a positive or negative force for U.S. support of a peaceful resolution to the conflict?

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A senior UN official said yesterday that 300 people have been displaced since last month during attacks on villages in Central Equatoria State in southern Sudan. Though it is unclear who is responsible for the attacks, local officials have blamed them on the LRA. Read more at The Monitor.