Frank Nyakairu
20 January 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
Across the districts of Kitgum, Gulu and parts of Apac and Lira, the LRA marauding bands abducted and killed at random while ambushing vehicles along the main roads. At times they got into contact with government forces and fought pitched battles. But it was in October 1996 when 139 girls from St. Mary's College Aboke in Apac District were abducted, that national and even international attention was again intensely directed at this conflict.
Fortunately, the deputy headmistress of the college, Sister Rachele Fassera pursued the rebels and negotiated the release of 109 of the girls.
Still the atrocities continued. In mid-January 1997, a group of suspected LRA rebels again carried out a campaign of mayhem in the Kitgum villages of Lokung, Palabek and Padibe that left more than 300 people dead. 60,000 people were displaced from their homes as a direct consequence.
According to the accounts of former abductees who somehow escaped, "the LRA [was] revenging on the population of Kitgum for its alleged co-operation with the UPDF."
And then suddenly, from his Jabelein base in Southern Sudan, in November 1997, Mr Kony instructed his 'Secretary for Foreign Affairs', Dr Alfred James Obita to write to President Museveni asking for peace talks.
"We hereby, therefore, inform you that in response to the demands and wishes of the majority of our people, the Lord's Resistance Movement/Army have resolved to pursue a peaceful resolution to the northern conflict through constructive, meaningful and honest dialogue with your government," Mr Kony's letter dated November 6, 1997 reads in part.
The letter was delivered to Kampala by a Southern Sudanese, whose name has already come up in part two of these series which was published last Sunday, Dr Lenzio Angole Onek.
Eighteen days later, Museveni replied: "We have never hesitated to negotiate peace with former enemies: Mustapha Adrisi, Moses Ali, Ateker Ejalu, [Col. William] Omaria, Otema Allimadi, late Tito Okello, late Odong Latek, Angello Okello, Luwero, Kironde and many others. We have negotiated with or pardoned all the above people," President Museveni replied to Dr Obita on November 22 1997.
"... we decided to adopt the policy of forgiving all members of your groups except: Kony, Lagony and Otti Vincent because they were the authors of these heinous crimes against humanity. I personally feel very strongly against these individuals because of the damage they have done to our people in Northern Uganda," President Museveni added. The President said his government had been in contact with the Community of Sant'Egidio of Rome in the search for a possible peaceful resolution, but accused the LRA leadership of being "arrogant and evasive."
But before Sant'Egidio and others could impact the peace process, the LRA forces persisted in an insurgency that continued to lay the political north virtually bare. There were more pronounced outrages like the ambushing and burning of several West Nile-bound buses at Pajok after Karuma in which tens of people died.
But perhaps Ugandans will more vividly still recall the February 2004 killing in Barlonyo, Lira District when more than 200 people were either hacked to death, roasted alive in their huts or 'fortunate' enough to have been shot to death. This was a revenge killing by the rebels who were retreating from Teso after a failed attempt to open a new front in the sub-region.
This article looks at the more pronounced incidents that compare in extremity to the 1996 massacre of more than 150 Sudanese refugees of the 10,000 that were living at Achol Pii camp.
It may make a passing reference to atrocities by government forces like those at Burchoro, where people were buried alive in a pit latrine; Pajimo and Acholibur; but it does not specifically refer to individual victims of whom there have been thousands: People whose lips and ears were chopped off, people killed and dumped in the bushes, teenage girls who were abducted and raped in captivity, property lost and destroyed and then the total destruction of an entire generation. But these facts are recorded in history as part of the consequences of the LRA's insurgency.
In the fourth part of this series, read how other attempts to find a peaceful resolution floundered
Key outrages in LRA conflict
St. Mary's College Lacor: 32 girls were abducted on August 20, 1992 while another 23 girls were abducted on July 23, 1996.
Atiak: On April 17, 1995, over 250 were clubbed or shot dead in Atiak, Gulu. Attack carried out by over 80 LRA rebels led by Otti Lagony and Vincent Otti.
Aboke: In October 1996, 139 girls from St. Mary's College Aboke in Apac District were abducted.
Achol Pii Massacre: In July 1996 more than 100 Sudanese refugees killed by LRA rebels at a UNHCR settlement on Kitgum-Gulu Road. The remaining of over 10,000 refugees were variously translocated to safer areas of Uganda like Kiryandongo in Masindi District.
Sir Samuel Baker School: On August 21, 1996, 39 students were abducted from their dormitory and conscripted by LRA.
Sacred Heart SS, Gulu: 138 girls abducted between June 1987 and March, 1998.
Padibe/Palabek: In mid-January 1997, LRA rebels massacre more than 300 in Kitgum's Lokung, Palabek and Padibe villages.
Mucwini: On July 24, 2002 in Mucwini, Kitgum, 56 civilians at Kirome village were forced to form a queue and clubbed to death or executed sparking off mass displacement of thousands of others.
Lapono: On October 14, 2002 rebels kill at least 52 villagers by hacking with machetes, while 34 were gathered together into their huts, which were then set on fire.
Abia: On February 4, 2002, 40 people killed in a rebel attack on Abia IDP camp outside Lira Town.
Forced cannibalism: In November 2002, suspected LRA rebels compelled mourners in a border village in Southern Sudan, to boil and eat their deceased at gunpoint. Those who refused were massacred.
Patongo: In September 2002, 27 civilians were hacked to death and mutilated at Patongo, Pader district and boiled in their bodies in cooking pots.
Barlonyo: In February 2004 LRA rebels reportedly led by Okot Odhiambo attacked Barlonyo IDP camp killing up to 309 people in a single raid.
General primary school abductions: Between 1987 and 2000, primary schools have recorded as many as 3,384 known abductions. Total cases of known abductions of school children however stands at 5,545, but it is likely tobe higher than this.
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