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Uganda: Rebels blamed for abuse
20/09/2005 16:59 - (SA)
Kampala - Government troops and rebels from the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are responsible for killings, torture, rape and other abuses of civilians in the 19-year civil war in northern Uganda, a US-based human rights group said on Tuesday.
Victims fail to get justice because of a lack of police in camps that house those displaced by the war, police reluctance to act against soldiers in a war zone, a limited number of judges in local courts and prohibitive costs for mounting private litigation, according to Human Rights Watch.
The group is made up of the remnants of a northern rebellion that began after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a southerner, took power in 1986. It holds no territory and is best known for kidnapping thousands of children and forcing them to become soldiers or sex slaves.
'Tarnishing' Uganda's image
Army spokesperson lieutenant colonel Shaban Bantariza denied that troops were committing atrocities with impunity, saying those found guilty of harassing civilians have been arrested and sentenced in the past.
The army spokesperson also charged the Human Rights Watch report was part of efforts to tarnish Uganda's image.
Efforts to negotiate an end to the northern war have failed because of mistrust between the government and rebels. Late last year, government and rebel negotiators failed to sign a cease-fire deal, which had been expected to lead to talks on a political settlement to the conflict. Attempts by religious leaders to mediate also have failed.
More than 1.6 million people now live in some 200 camps after fleeing their homes to escape attacks. At least 30 000 children have been kidnapped.
Government failed to prosecute troops
"People in the camps are forced by extreme necessity to travel outside to farm, hunt and gather firewood or water, where army soldiers have raped women and girls and beaten and detained men and boys," according to the report titled "Uprooted and Forgotten: Impunity and Human Rights Abuses in Northern Uganda."
"These forces have committed deliberate killings, routine beatings, rapes and prolonged arbitrary detentions of civilians to such an extent that there is extreme resentment against their presence," according to the group.
The government has failed to "meaningfully" prosecute troops responsible for abuses or to discipline its forces in northern Uganda, the New York-based group said.
"Human Rights Watch found that the 11th Battalion of the (Ugandan army) based in Cwero and Awach camps of Gulu district committed numerous deliberate killings and beatings of civilians during the months of 2005 when it was assigned to those camps; it was transferred out of the area after numerous international complaints," according to the report.
Human Rights Watch said the International Criminal Court should prosecute government troops and rebels accused of atrocities.
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