The Lord's Resistance Army reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Lord's Resistance Army

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The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is a rebel group based in north Uganda which was formed in 1987. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaimed himself a prophet and apparently wished to establish a state based on the biblical ten commandments. The rebels have been accused of many atrocities in the area, including kidnapping children to train as soldiers or use as sex slaves. The group draws its members primarily from the Acholi people, but it lacks widespread support among the Acholis, who have also been the victims of many of its tactics. Atrocities have been reported in the area around the towns of Kitgum, Gulu, and Lira. The Ugandan government blamed the LRA for a massacre of over 200 civilians at a refugee camp in Barlonyo near Lira on February 21, 2004.

The Ugandan army have struggled to defend many towns and villages from LRA attacks, and the Government has now started to foster and arm Acholi militias against the LRA. On February 25, 2004, street protests and riots, apparently protesting the government's failure to adequately protect civilians, caused at least nine deaths. The violence seems to have been motivated to some degree by animosity towards the Acholi, who many collectively blame for the rebellion. At the same time, the army announced it had killed 21 LRA members in battle. Some observers fear that the introduction of more weapons in north Uganda will create more problems in the longer term.

It is estimated that nearly 9000 children have been abducted by the LRA between June 2002 and May 2003, and fear of continuing LRA attacks and abductions has created a widespread refugee problem. Thousands of families have had to leave their towns and villages for the safety of larger settlements, where they sleep on street corners and open spaces. Despite these nocturnal and longer term migrations, the plight of the Acholi people has received little media coverage in the developed world, and to date (November 2003), the subject has not been discussed by the United Nations.

The LRA and their impact on the people of North Uganda was the subject of Unreported World, a television documentary broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK on 14 November 2003.

In December 2003, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni referred the case to the International Criminal Court and ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will start investigation.

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