January 4, 2006
May
I, first of all, congratulate you on your election as the President of the
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). I
warmly applaud the efforts of FDC, together with those of the other democracy-seeking
political parties, in the common struggle to reestablish genuine democratic
practice and space in Uganda.
2. I write this letter with a very heavy and
anguished heart, concerning a national catastrophe and shame, the full
magnitude of which is beyond belief. I refer to the genocide unfolding in
northern Uganda. I know and very much appreciate your deep personal
preoccupation in this respect.
3. I believe that we need a robust non-partisan
all-party response to the genocide. I am
therefore writing this letter to you and to the presidents of the other
democracy-seeking political parties.
4. What is going on in northern
Uganda is not a usual humanitarian crisis, for which an adequate response might
be the mobilization of necessary humanitarian support and relief. The
human rights and humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in northern Uganda is a
methodical and comprehensive genocide, conceived and being carried out by the
government. An entire society is being
systematically destroyed -- physically, culturally, emotionally, socially, and
economically - - in full view of the country. In the sobering words of Father
Carlos Rodriguez, a Catholic missionary priest in the region, “Everything Acoli
is dying”. Or, as MSF has reported, “The
extent of suffering is overwhelming…according to international benchmarks this
constitutes an emergency out of control.”
5. I know of no recent or present situation
where all the elements that constitute genocide under the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNGA resolution
260 A of 1948) have been brought together in such a
diabolically and chillingly comprehensive manner, as in northern Uganda today.
6. Genocide is a precise project. Its determination does not lie in the eye of
the beholder. The actions that
constitute genocide have been laid out in the 1948 Convention. According to the
Convention, genocide is a project or campaign directed against a racial,
national, linguistic, religious or political group with the purpose of
“destroying it in whole or in part or of preventing its preservation or
development.” Typically, these efforts
are directed at destroying “in whole or in part” the physical preservation, the
livelihood, the culture, the children, the public health, and the family structure
and life of a community. The result is
unnatural rates of physical depletion and socio-economic regression of the
community, and a radical undermining of its capacity for preservation,
regeneration, and development, as a group.
7. This is precisely what has been going on in
northern Uganda for many years. In fact,
in northern Uganda, a whole infrastructure -- the concentration camps-- has
been put in place, as the most efficient locale to prosecute the genocidal
project. The concentration camps provide
a controlled environment, in which deadly living conditions are imposed on the
targeted populations, while maintaining total control over them. Here all the ingredients that comprise
genocide have been brought together in a diabolically comprehensive way. The result is all too evident -- a once-vibrant society has been reduced to a
mere existential shadow of itself.
8. Following a recent visit to the region, the
Ugandan journalist, Elias Biryabarema, wrote: “Not a single explanation on
earth can justify the sickening human catastrophe going on in Lango and
Acoliland: the degradation, desolation and the horrors killing off generation
after generation… Frankly, it’s not entirely imprecise to describe what I saw
as a slow extinction facing the Acoli and Langi peoples…I encountered unique
and heart-stopping suffering,…shocking cruelty and death stalking a people by
the minute, by the hour, by the day; for the last two decades…These children,
these women have committed no crime to
deserve this. They deserve an
explanation from their president…Museveni owes these children, these women an
answer: they deserved it yesterday, they do today and will tomorrow.”
9. The situation in northern Uganda is far
worse than that of Darfur, in terms of its duration, its magnitude, the scope
of its diabolical comprehensiveness, and its deep and long-term consequences
for the society being destroyed.
Profile of
the genocide
10. Although cold facts and data are woefully inadequate to convey the
full depth and measure of what is unfolding in northern Uganda, it is a
starting point. Witness the following:
·
20 years of war. The human rights and humanitarian catastrophe in northern Uganda has
been going on, non-stop, for twenty years.
·
10 years in
concentration camps. For over 10 years, a
population of almost 2 million people have been herded like animals into
concentration camps, some 200 camps* where
they live in abominable conditions, defined by staggering levels of squalor,
disease and death, humiliation and despair, appalling sanitation and hygiene,
and massive overcrowding and malnutrition.
As a relief official in Gulu described it, “People are living like
animals. They do not have the bare minimum.” Today virtually the entire population (95%)
of Acoli is in these concentration camps.
·
Staggering death levels
in the camps. A recent joint survey by the Ministry of
Health and international agencies reported that 1,000 excess deaths in the
camps in Acoli every week, that is about 50,000 each year. The survey also estimated that, in the first
half of this year, around 30,000 died in the camps in Acoli, of which over
11,000 were children under five. In November, in the space of three days in
Awere camp alone, 27 people were buried, 19 of them children. These figures do not include those who have
been killed in outright atrocities by both the LRA and the government. As Gulu NGO Forum reported, “The camp
population is not coping anymore but only slowly but gradually dying.” This
observation was underscored by the UN in a report in November, “The mortality
rates are double those of Darfur.”
·
Worst infant and
maternal mortality. These camps have the
worst infant mortality rates anywhere in the world today. The infant mortality rate in northern Uganda
is 172 per 1000 live births; the situation is worse for children under five
where 276/1000 die in the region.
Children under five years of age die at the rate of 5 - 6 out of 10,000
each day; in one camp (Agweng) a survey found that the rate was as high as 10.5
deaths / 10,000 children a day. The emergency threshold is less than 2
deaths/10, 000 children. Meanwhile, the
maternal mortality ratio is 700 per 100,000 live births in the north; the national figure is 506/ 100,000.
·
Healthcare, non-existent. As reported by the international
agency IDMC, “Access to healthcare is almost nonexistent.”
·
Malnutrition and stunted
growth. Chronic malnutrition is widespread; 41% of
children under 5 years have been seriously stunted in their growth. A ration of 25 kilos of corn flour and six
kilos of pulses is provided to each family, regardless of size, which could
vary from 6 to 10 persons in a household.
·
Access to latrines,
abominable. Access to latrines is abominable. A recent
survey found that 85% of camp population in Gulu district do not have access to
latrines. The minimum requirements for
such emergency situations is 1 toilet for 20 adults and 1 toilet for 10
children. In Otuboi camp, there is one latrine for 1,566 persons - - this
translates on average into access of 30 seconds per person per day. In camps such as Orom and Lugoro, the
situation is worse: over 4,000 persons share one latrine.
·
Access to water,
appalling. Access to water is equally appalling. 2500-3000 persons share a water source. It takes 4-6 hours (with peaks of 12 hours)
of waiting in line to collect water; the standard waiting time in such
emergencies should be 15 minutes.
·
Camps massively
congested. The camps are massively over-congested. Pabbo and Kalongo, for example, have a
population of 72,000 and 55,000, respectively, herded into a space of 1 square
kilometer. This translates into a space
of 16m2 for each person, whereas the recommended minimum surface
area for each person is 45 m2.
Most of the camps have less than
1/4 of the area recommended in such emergencies. A family of 6–8 persons have to pack
themselves, sardine-like, into a tiny hut of 1.5 metre radius; the minimum
standard for such emergencies is 3.5 square metres per person. And contrary to
traditional culture, three generations of a family -- parents, children and
grandparents -- are all forced to share the same living space, with loss of all
privacy and dignity.
·
20 years without
education. Two generations of children have been denied
education as a matter of policy. They have been deliberately condemned to a
life of darkness and ignorance, deprived of all hope and opportunity. Imagine this in the land of Archbishop Janani
Luwum, Professor Okot p’Bitek (the teacher, philosopher, literary pioneer and
poet) and Professor A. M. Odonga (the pioneer physician and renowned surgeon);
they are among Uganda’s gifts to the world.
But the children of northern Uganda have been deliberately denied the
opportunity to follow in the footsteps of these role-models and pioneers. These children are being targeted for
systematic deprivation in this way within the twisted and racist logic of
genocide -- to ensure that ‘those people’ will never rise again!
·
Death of culture and
values system. In a society renowned for its deep-rooted
and rich culture, values system and family structure -- all these have been
destroyed under the living conditions imposed and prevailing over the last 10
years in the camps. This loss is
colossal and virtually irreparable; it signals the death of a people and their
civilization. At first this seemed unimaginable
but now it has become a grim reality staring us in the face. As stated in a report by
a consortium of NGOs, “Rejuvenation of the Acoli institutions into action,
effectiveness and efficiency seem far- fetched as the Acoli well- cherished and
very rich African culture will never be the same again in its social and
cultural centre.”
·
Suicide and despair. In the face of relentless cultural and personal humiliations and abuse,
suicide has risen to alarming levels. A
survey has reported that, among the population in the camps, 85% suffer from
severe trauma and depression. Suicide is
highest among mothers who feel utter despair at their inability to provide for
their children or save them from starvation, or death from preventable
diseases. For example, in August, 13 mothers committed suicide in
Pabbo camp alone. A survey by MSF shows that 62% of women interviewed in the
camps think of committing suicide. As
Archbishop John Baptist Odama has observed, “These are acts of extreme
desperation. The concept of suicide does
not belong to the culture of the Acoli people.”
·
Rampant rape and sexual
abuse. As several reports have documented, rape and
generalized sexual exploitation, especially by government soldiers (both those
stationed in the camps and the mobile units) have become “entirely
normal.” The soldiers feel entitled to
take any woman or girl and do anything they want with her, with complete
impunity. As noted in a recent report by
Human Rights Watch, “Women in a number of camps told how they had been raped by
soldiers from the Ugandan army… It is
exceptionally difficult for women to find protection from sexual abuse by
government soldiers.”
·
Using HIV/AIDS as weapon
of mass destruction. In northern Uganda,
HIV/AIDS is being used as a deliberate weapon of mass destruction. Soldiers are
screened and those who have tested HIV-positive are especially deployed to the
north, with the mission to commit maximum havoc on the local girls and
women. Thus from almost a zero base, the
rate of HIV infection among these rural communities has galloped to staggering
levels. A recent survey found 30% infection in Kitgum district, compared with a
national level of 5%. Last June, the
medical superintendent of Gulu Hospital reported that 27% of children who were
tested there were found to be HIV-positive; 40% of pregnant women attending
Lacor Hospital for routine prenatal visits tested HIV-positive. Journalists John Muto-Ono p’Lajur and Wendy
Glauser reported that, “Awer camp leader Benjamin Oballim believes HIV
infection is close to 50% among adults living in his camp. A 2004 study in Lira found out of 4,026 IDPs
who went for testing, 37% were positive.”
It is instructive to note that, although they are in the greatest need,
the facilities and programs under the Global Fund for distribution of
anti-retroviral drugs (ARV) have not been made available to the populations in
the camps. All this, even as official
propaganda touts Uganda’s experience as the model for the fight against
HIV/Aids!
·
Loss of livelihood. The population has been deprived of all means of livelihood. The people have been uprooted from their
lands. In their absence, some powerful government officials have embarked on a
land grab in Acoli, in possible partnership with commercial farmers from South
Africa and Zimbabwe. The entire mass of
livestock from Acoli, Lango and Teso has been forcibly confiscated and simply
exported from the region; before the looting, the average household in northern
Uganda owned 33 cattle, 17 goats, and 23 chickens. According to USAID-sponsored field study,
“The vast majority of savings- 300,000 cattle and most other livestock,
including oxen upon which agricultural acreage and yield depend have
disappeared.” The situation is so
desperate in the camps that the few people who are able to cobble together a
savings of US $25-50 cents are considered very well-off, because the rest of
the population has nothing at all.
·
Children abducted and
brutalized. Over the years, over 20,000 children,
unprotected, have been abducted and brutalized by the LRA. Some 40,000
children, the so called ‘night commuters’,
trek several hours each evening to sleep in the streets of Gulu and
Kitgum towns (and walk back the same distances in the morning) to avoid
abduction.
11. This is the face of genocide writ large.
Sadly, most Ugandans have been shielded from the nightmare and staggering facts
outlined above, although some in the know may have chosen the path of silence
and indifference. In the words of Ugandan journalist, P.K. Mwanje, “Ugandans
south of the River Nile and their friends do not know of the genocide taking
place in northern Uganda.”
12. Can the attributes of peace, stability, good
government and accountability, in any way, be ascribed to Uganda, while a
significant part of its population is
being exterminated in this way in the concentration camps?
13. In the 1970s, the Amin regime especially
targeted and decimated Acoli leadership, intelligentsia, businessmen, and
military officers and men. It was
therefore unimaginable for the Acoli that they would ever experience a worse
nightmare. Alas, the systematic genocide
unleashed by the Museveni regime has turned out to be many times more
devastating and deadly for the community.
A mother in one of the concentration camps lamented: “At least Amin
killed only our educated sons and parents, but Museveni and his accomplice,
Kony, are determined to wipe out a whole people.”
14. Genocide, by definition, is a deliberate and
intended project; it does not occur through inadvertence. Those who plan to carry out genocide,
typically prepare the ground through a hate campaign directed at the targeted community. In the case of northern Uganda, a long trail
of both the pronouncements and the deeds of the Museveni regime have
consistently pointed towards the same objective. In fact, President Museveni has personally
led a very toxic campaign of ethnic
racism, hatred, demonization, and dehumanization, echoed by his close associates. In numerous declarations, they have made manifest their intention and
scheme. Here are some examples of the pronouncements and themes that have been
orchestrated through this campaign:
-- “We shall make ‘them’ become like the ensenene
insects; you know what happens when you trap them in a bottle and close the
lid.”
--“Let them go and eat grass and lizards.”
This, in response to reports of widespread starvation and death in the
northeastern region.
--“‘Those people’ are not human beings; ‘they’
are biological substances.”
--“‘They’ are backward and primitive.”
--“You wait and see, we shall teach ‘them’ a
lesson from which ‘they’ will never recover.”
--“‘Those people’ are swine.”
--“Yes, we are killing off the ‘anyanya,’ they
are not Ugandans”. The appellation
‘anyanya’ is a term from Sudan which has been corrupted by the Museveni regime, which now uses
it to demonize northerners as ‘terrorists’ and ‘foreigners’ who emanate
from southern Sudan.
--“The chauvinism of the Acoli has to be
destroyed.”
-- “It is Acoli soldiers causing the
problems. It is the cultural background
of the people here; they are very violent.
It is genetic.”
--“We have not yet punished ‘them’ enough.”
--“Alice Lakwena has been very useful to us;”
“We have massacred them”; “We mowed them down.” This refers to a series of
wholesale massacres of unarmed populations by government forces in the wake
of the uprising led by Alice Lakwena.
15. In
fact, Museveni’s tribalist politics and virulent rhetoric against the Acoli and
other northerners first surfaced seriously in the 1970s while in Tanzania. As
an insurgent leader in Luwero in the 1980s, Museveni escalated and deepened his
campaign of ethnic hatred and demonization, teaching his largely southern
cadres that the real enemies they were fighting were the ‘Abacoli.’
16. When faced with genocide, we have a moral and
political obligation to recognize it, denounce it, and stop it, regardless of
the ethnicity or political affiliation of the population being destroyed.
17. The enormity and nature of what is unfolding
in northern Uganda calls for a bold prophetic voice -- a moral voice of witness
and action. We look particularly to the
new leaders of the democracy-seeking parties to provide that prophetic voice
and leadership.
18.
There is a need for a non-partisan agenda for action on northern Uganda. I believe that the following key issues
should constitute that agenda.
i.
Breaking the silence on the genocide. The leaders of the political
parties should take the lead in recognizing and breaking the silence on the
genocide, and in informing Ugandans of the sordid crimes being committed in
their name. This is a matter of
truth-telling and bearing witness. The
country has to come clean on the unfolding genocide.
ii.
Genocide in the north is a national catastrophe. The genocide going on
in northern Uganda is a national catastrophe of immense scale and
consequence. It is of a whole different
order of magnitude. As such, it should
be at the top, front and centre of national discourse and preoccupation. Sadly, as yet, this is far from being the
case. Can Ugandans carry on economic and
political business as usual, against the backdrop of on-going genocide against
their compatriots behind the iron curtain?
We look to the leaders of the political parties to give this national
emergency the urgency and priority it deserves.
iii.
Campaign to end the genocide. In the face of genocide, the
first order of business must be to immediately employ all means necessary to
stop it. This cannot wait. We know that every day and week that pass
literally wreak their steep toll, especially in the camps. We look to the leaders of the political
parties to mount right away a robust national campaign to end the genocide.
iv.
Independent observers for the camps and the region. A significant team of independent observers,
composed of trained personnel, both international and national, should be
deployed right away in northern Uganda to monitor and report first-hand on security,
living conditions, and treatment of the populations in the camps; they would
also monitor their subsequent return to their villages. Such arrangements,
usually under the auspices of the UN, have served as effective protection
mechanisms, for example, in Burundi, eastern DRC and Darfur. We look to the leaders of the political
parties to insist on such protection measures for the sake of the populations
now rendered utterly vulnerable in the north.
v.
Dismantling the concentration camps. The camps and the abominable living
conditions imposed therein are at the centre of the genocide project. The most urgent step towards ending the
genocide must therefore be the dismantling, without delay, of all the camps in
Acoli, Lango, and Teso, under an organized programme of resettlement and
assistance. We look to the leaders of the political parties to insist on this
demand on behalf of the camp populations.
The LRA have been responsible for
brutal atrocities, including massacres, abduction of children and gruesome
maiming, for which they must be held accountable. However, it is clear that the LRA factor has
been cynically manipulated to divert attention from the genocide unfolding in
the camps and other atrocities being committed by the government itself. A carefully scripted narrative is promoted,
according to which the catastrophe in northern Uganda begins with the LRA and
ends with their demise. In this respect, the LRA and the ‘war’ have become both
the cover and the pretext under which genocide is being conducted in the
region. The continued existence of the
LRA serves several very important purposes for the government. We look to the leaders of the political
parties to challenge the scripted narrative and present to Ugandans and the
world, the full picture on the situation in the north.
vii. Halting the land grab.
There is disturbing and growing
incidence of appropriation and exploitation of land in Acoli by some powerful
government officials, while the population remains displaced and alienated from
their land and villages. The
modification of land status and entitlements in such circumstances is
inadmissible and unconscionable. The land grab should be halted and reversed.
We look to the leaders of the political parties to take a clear stand on this
issue.
viii.
Special programme for rehabilitation, healing and
reconstruction. A special and major program for rehabilitation, healing
and reconstruction, will be needed in post-genocide northern Uganda. The
challenges are immense and particularly daunting. This will require very strong
commitment and support from a democratic national government as well as the
international community. We look to the
leaders of the political parties to make clear their serious commitment and
plan for this undertaking. This should be reflected in national policy making,
priority-setting and resource allocation.
ix. ICC and ensuring accountability.
President Museveni has invited the ICC to investigate crimes committed
in the north; this is to be welcomed.
Regrettably, the ICC seems to have been carefully steered in only one
direction. It is critical that ICC
pursue the Ugandan dossier with complete independence and impartiality. It needs to investigate and ensure accountability
for all major crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and other
crimes of war, regardless of the identity and affiliation of the
perpetrators. Only such an approach can
contribute to justice and healing in Uganda, while preserving the credibility
of the ICC itself.
x. Ending
the war.
Ending the war, by all means necessary, should become an absolute and
non-partisan priority for all political parties. For all these years, all attempts to
accomplish this, through a negotiated settlement or the government’s preferred
means of a military campaign, have been sabotaged, because the status quo
serves important purposes for those prosecuting the war. In this context, it should be stressed that
dismantling the concentration camps should not be made hostage to ending the
war; this has been used as a pretext for maintaining the concentration camps
for the last ten years.
xi.
Comprehensive truth-seeking and reconciliation process.
When a new democratic space makes
it possible to do so, there should be a comprehensive and rigorous
truth-seeking process, on the genocide in northern Uganda and other traumatic
periods in Uganda’s post- independence history. This is a necessary and much-needed step
towards reconciliation and healing in
the country.
19. As I review what is unfolding in northern
Uganda, I cannot help but wonder if we have learned any lessons from the
earlier dark episodes of history: millions of Jews exterminated during the
Holocaust in Europe, genocide perpetrated in Rwanda, children and women systematically massacred in the Balkans. Each
time we have said, “never again,” but only after the dark deed was
accomplished.
20. The genocide unfolding in northern Uganda
today is happening on our watch, with our full knowledge. And tomorrow, shall we once again be heard to
say that we did not know what was going on for all these years? And what shall we tell the survivor children
in northern Uganda, when they ask why no one came to stop the dark deeds
stalking their land and devouring its people?
23.
All patriotic Ugandans who are concerned for the political health and
future of the country have to be prepared to reckon with and repudiate this
deeply corrosive legacy of the NRM which has been embedded into the body
politic of the country.
24. The purpose of all this has been to divide
and rule, to gain and retain power.
Whereas the compatriots in the north have been subjected to genocide,
discrimination and humiliations, the compatriots in the south have witnessed
grand deception, denial of democratic practice, massive corruption and plunder,
and political repression. In this scheme
of things, apart from a small political and military clan, for whose benefit
the system has operated, all Ugandans have in fact been losers. This picture is now becoming clearer and
clearer for all Ugandans to see.
25.
The country has never been in greater need of authentic
national leadership, a leadership animated by genuine patriotic vision and a
deep commitment to the country as a whole.
26.
We look to the leaders of the democracy-seeking political
parties to provide this leadership. We
look to them to begin the process of rebuilding the shattered national project
-- the sense of a shared national purpose and common belonging. We look to the day when Ugandans can once
again declare with confidence and conviction: “We are all Ugandans. We have a common destiny. We have equal rights.”
27.
Is this a utopian dream?
Not so. I believe, with all my
heart, that this dream is realizable, if all patriotic forces decide to commit
to it, to work for it, and to invest in it.
28. I wish you and FDC, together with the other
democracy-seeking political parties, great success in our common struggle to
end genocide, and to reestablish democracy, accountability and the rule of
law. In this respect, our prayers and
efforts will be that 2006 should mark a new beginning for the beloved country.
With
my prayers and very good wishes,
Yours
sincerely,
Olara
A. Otunnu
President,
LBL
Foundation for Children
* Although the camps are predominantly concentrated in Acoli since 1995, Lango (particularly Lira district) and Teso (Katakwi, Kaberamaido, and Soroti) are also gravely affected; the living conditions in all the camps in the region are abominable.