{UAH} IDDI AMIN NEVER TARGETED LANGIs/ACHOLIs, THEY TARGETED HIM {---Series One-Hundred and fifty nine}

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Schools in particular are a common location in which abductions occurred, as they were one of the few symbols of state presence in the north outside of military bases.10 Through mass violence and intimidation the LRA soldiers were then able to conscript new  members into their ranks. Janet M., a twelve year old abducted by the LRA in November 2002, reflects on her abduction experience: "Thirty-two were abducted from the village, both children and adults. I was the youngest, at age twelve. The next day they divided up the captives, and told the old people, including my father, to lie down on the ground. They started beating them with a machete. They cut him badly and left him there." Children must also bare witness to the killings of other abducted children. Sometimes they were even forced to watch the murder of their own siblings: "Early on when my brothers and I were captured, the LRA explained to us that all five brothers could not serve in the LRA because we would not perform well. So they tied up my two youngest brothers and invited us to watch. Then they beat them with sticks until the two of them died. They told us it would give us strength to fight. My youngest brother was nine years old. Madeline Bright flew into Uganda to study Acholi violence, she wrote a piece The Children of Northern Uganda: The effects of civil war it was published in the  Global Majority E-Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1 (June 2011), pp. 4-18

 

Ugandans we need to discuss Acholi violence candidly

 

III.4. Misconception of Progress

The overall improvements in education, immunizations and mortality over the past two decades reinforce the misconception that all of Ugandan children were reaping the benefits of these changes. The truth remains that up until 2007, the children abducted by the LRA in Northern Uganda as well as the child soldiers of the Ugandan government had to face severe physical and psychological health issues, which continue to have negative implications on their lives.5

IV. Situation of Ugandan Children during the Civil War

IV.1. Night Commuters

The emergence of "night commuters" in Uganda was a growing phenomenon among the children living in unprotected Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps and villages. Every night, tens of thousands of children would flee their homes and walk miles to city centers and protected areas in order to avoid abduction by the LRA.6 Sleeping in hospital verandas, bus parks, church grounds and in local factories, the children travelled wherever they could in order to feel a sense of safety and comfort.7 This aspect of life exposes the effect the civil war had on Ugandan children on a nightly basis. Although many of these children had yet to suffer the fate of becoming child soldiers, the night commuters are living in a horrible reality, in constant fear of abduction or death, with no one to protect them but themselves. As shown in the Invisible Children documentary, not only does this commute threaten Ugandan children‟s stability, but it also a) deters the advancement of education and b) increases the likelihood of children engaging in unprotected sex at early ages (as many lack the knowledge of safe sex methods).8

IV.2. Abductions

Since 1987, it is estimated that 20,000 children have been abducted by the LRA and subsequently been forced to become child soldiers under Joseph Kony‟s leadership.9 These abductions usually occur in heavily populated IDP camps, small villages or even schools in the Gulu, Amuru, Kitgum, and Pader regions of Uganda (also referred to as Acholi-land), indicated in Figure 8.

Schools in particular are a common location in which abductions occurred, as they were one of the few symbols of state presence in the north outside of military bases.10 Through mass violence and intimidation the LRA soldiers were then able to conscript new  members into their ranks. Janet M., a twelve year old abducted by the LRA in November 2002, reflects on her abduction experience: "Thirty-two were abducted from the village, both children and adults. I was the youngest, at age twelve. The next day they divided up the captives, and told the old people, including my father, to lie down on the ground. They started beating them with a machete. They cut him badly and left him there." The LRA targets children because they are easier to control and indoctrinate. By taking advantage of the authoritarian structure in which most children are brought up (both in schools and families) the LRA soldiers were able to instantly influence and mold the identities of the abducted children.12 The LRA‟s version of this authoritarian structure is one in which punishment is taken to the extreme, and the children learn obedience and discipline quickly. In this environment, the children were then trained to kill other civilians without hesitation.

IV.3. Conditions in the Bush

Following abduction, the LRA immediately began to desensitize the children by exposing them to brutal acts of violence. During initiation, the LRA soldiers regularly beat the newly abducted children with sticks, the butt of their weapons and other instruments. Children must also bare witness to the killings of other abducted children. Sometimes they were even forced to watch the murder of their own siblings: "Early on when my brothers and I were captured, the LRA explained to us that all five brothers could not serve in the LRA because we would not perform well. So they tied up my two youngest brothers and invited us to watch. Then they beat them with sticks until the two of them died. They told us it would give us strength to fight. My youngest brother was nine years old."Derluyn, Broekaert, Schuyten and de Temmerman (2004) provide the type and frequencies of traumatic experiences during abduction among a sample of 301 children who were abducted and conscripted into the LRA. The statistics taken from the study (shown in Table 1) provide a gruesome look into the treatment of child soldiers through an extreme authoritarian structure.

Table 1: Type & Reported Frequencies of Traumatic Experiences during Abduction

Source: Derluyn, Broekaert, Schuyten and de Temmerman (2004), Table 2, p. 862.

IV.4. Treatment of Girls

While boys are trained to become fighters, the majority of girls abducted by the LRA serve as slaves for the LRA commanders. The LRA utilizes a hierarchical, family-like structure in the bush, in which the commanders‟ wives act as the heads of family in which all abductees are placed as "siblings".14 Younger girls assume the position of servants to the commanders of whom they are assigned.15 Their role ultimately consists of cooking, cleaning, carrying large loads, fetching firewood, and attending to the whims of their commanders. According to Abigail Leibig (2005), girls comprise 20 to 30 percent of the child soldiers recruited and abducted in Northern Uganda.

Once a girl has reached puberty, they typically assume the role of "wife" to the commander. These girls act as sex slaves, and are repeatedly raped, often bearing the  children of the men who have taken advantage of them. Of the estimated 7,500 girls abducted by the LRA, some 1,000 have conceived children while captive in the bush.16 In the scholarly article "Our Children Have Only Known War", Kristin E. Cheney (2005) gathers two first-hand accounts of life in the LRA. One is given by a girl named Chancy, who escaped captivity after experiencing horrific atrocities: "I was so scared [to go to the commander], but I could not refuse. I had seen a girl refuse to go to a man. She was beaten so bad and she was tied on a tree to be shot... When she was about to be killed, she went to him."17

Not only do "wives" of LRA commanders fall victim to rape and sexual assault, they also become more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDS) during their time in captivity. Although the rate of HIV infection among the abducted children is unknown, various non-profit groups based in Northern Uganda have recognized a need for HIV/AIDS testing in former abductees. World Vision‟s rehabilitation center recorded eighty-three children in 2002 being tested for HIV/AIDS; of those eighty-three, thirteen (seven boys and six girls) were found to be HIV-positive.18

V. After-effects of War on Former Child Soldiers

While many of the children abducted by the LRA die in the bush, some find ways to escape from the army and return to civilization. However, the effects of their time in captivity are evident in their poor health and lack of education, creating significant obstacles for reintegration into their communities.

 

 

Stay in the forum for Series One hundred and sixity on the way   ------>

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"