Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kampala (Fides Service)- As a “sign of concern for the people in the north victims of civil war” Catholic Religious in Uganda recently presented the national parliament with a report on the war in northern Uganda. The report was drafted at the request of the Association of Religious in Uganda ARU. In northern Uganda for 18 years the rebel group Lord Resistance Army LRA has waged a civil war on the people in the area. Besides attacking, killing and robbing, the militia abduct children and force them to fight in the ranks of the rebels, often after seeing their parents perish under atrocious circumstances.
The report, presented on 29 July, is the fruit of a visit to the region by a delegation of about 30 religious of different congregations The text was drafted by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Association of Religious in Uganda and it mentions several points raised in a Pastoral Letter issued earlier this year by the Catholic Bishops of Uganda “Preoccupied for Peace, Unity and Harmony in Uganda” (see Fides 13 May 2004). “Besides expressing deep concern for the war in northern Uganda, both the report and the Pastoral Letter focus on other problems including corruption and the question of democracy with the passage from a one party system to a multi-party system” the sources told Fides. “Unfortunately the local press give much more attention to these problems, which are important, than the tragedy of the war which is a major concern of the Church in Uganda”.
“Both the Bishops’ statement and the report from the Association of Religious intend to increase awareness of the tragedy of war, first of all among Christians not directly affected by the violence” the sources told Fides. It is urgent and necessary to intervene to stop the war because the humanitarian situation is more critical every day. In northern Uganda there are more than 1.6 million internally displaced persons” the sources told Fides.
“However there are signs of hope at last. Many of the rebels are surrendering and the International Court of Justice has at last opened on investigation on war crimes by the LRA. The international community has at last woken up to the situation although we have yet to see the impact of the International Court on the process of surrender by the rebels who are handing in their weapons and taking advantage of an amnesty issued by the Ugandan government ” the sources told Fides
In the meantime Ugandan military operations continue against the headquarters of the Lord’s Resistance Army in southern Sudan conducted with the consensus of the Sudanese government. A Ugandan military spokesman has said that 120 rebels were killed and that the LRA leader Joseph Koni narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 30/7/2004 righe 37 parole 457)
