NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (November 3-30, 2007)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 001853 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID AND OFDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREF ASEC EAID UG SU CG SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (November 3-30, 2007) ¶1. (U) Summary: The following Northern Uganda Notes provide information on the situation on the ground and USG activities aimed at meeting Mission's objectives in northern Uganda. These objectives include promoting regional stability through peace and security, good governance, access to social services, economic growth, and humanitarian assistance. Post appreciates feedback from consumers on the utility of this product and any gaps in information that need to be filled. End Summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PEACE AND RECONCILIATION PROCESSES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (U) The LRA's negotiating team arrived in Kampala on November 1 and met with President Museveni on November 3. Museveni encouraged the LRA members to sign a peace deal and said that the LRA would be welcomed back into Uganda. The LRA delegates insisted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments be lifted. ¶3. (SBU) During the meeting, the Government and LRA extended the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CHA) until January 31. The CHA extension would be reviewed on February 1. ¶4. (U) Patrick Opiyo Makasi, the LRA's chief of operations, fled the LRA's Garamba Park hideout on October 2 after Joseph Kony arrested his deputy, Vincent Otti, along with other top officers and combatants. On November 1, Makasi and his wife applied for and were granted amnesty after renouncing rebellion. ¶5. (U) Makasi detailed the rupture between Kony and Otti in the press. He said Kony had invited Otti to a meeting at which he was arrested. Makasi feigned illness and did not go. He fled the LRA camp after being tipped off that he was to be arrested. Makasi said that there were only 834 people in the LRA camp. Six hundred of them were fighters, according to Makasi. ¶6. (U) LRA negotiators continued to deny allegations of LRA deputy leader Otti's death during their consultations in Uganda. Northern residents demanded to hear Otti's voice on the radio and refused to participate in consultations at Rikwangba, the last stage of the LRA meetings, until Kony clarified Otti's fate. Kony refused to appear on the radio, but instead called Gulu District Chairman Norbert Mao and claimed that Otti was under arrest, not dead. ¶7. (U) Another group of LRA defectors confirmed that Otti was killed on October 2 on orders from Kony. The group reached U.N. peacekeepers on November 18 and included Sunday Otto, Richard Okema, and Odong-kau. They claimed that senior LRA officers Ben Accelam, Otim Record, and Swaib Adjumani were killed alongside Otti. ¶8. (U) The LRA completed its consultations in the north and then proceeded to western and central Uganda. The overwhelming message was for the LRA to sign a peace deal and return home. Northern opinion remained decidedly anti-ICC, but in areas such as Lango and Teso there was more popular support for a legal trial than in Acholi districts. ¶9. (U) During its delegation meeting with Museveni, the LRA requested that Uganda petition the International Criminal Court to suspend the arrest warrants for the indicted LRA leaders. The delegates asserted that the warrants should be suspended for 12 months to allow Joseph Kony to sign a comprehensive peace agreement. Religious, cultural, and local leaders support the suspension of the warrants and advocate traditional justice methods to restore relationships with communities. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶10. (U) USAID Northern Uganda Advisor reports that population movement was expected to increase in the next few months (the dry season) in the LRA affected areas. Three patterns of movement will likely continue: (1) IDPs moving collectively to transit or satellite camps (2) IDPs moving directly to their homesteads, and (3) IDPs remaining in camps or trading centers. Due to close proximity of many IDPs to their land, the latter group could be 30 percent of camp population or higher. This challenges the traditional view among the humanitarian community of IDP return followed by reintegration. In northern Uganda, because of the close proximity of many IDPs to home, there would likely be a reintegration followed by return. The need for basic services such as water, education, healthcare and roads remains the same. If KAMPALA 00001853 002 OF 003 focus is placed on providing reintegration assistance, the return should take care of itself. ¶11. (U) The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) successfully employed the use of radio to educate IDP's about returning home. UNHCR broadcast programs about security, education, health, and gender based violence on Mega and ChoiceFM, the major radio stations in Gulu area. Henry Leafe, Office Director of UNHCR in Gulu stated that radio was the most effective means of mass communication in rural communities. ¶12. (U) Empowering Hands, a Gulu-based non-governmental organization, petitioned the UN to place greater emphasis on the plight of child abductees forced into child soldiering around the world. Former abductees who escaped the LRA founded the organization. Empowering Hands reintegrates escapees and freed children into their communities and provides counseling and training. ¶13. (U) Caritas, a Catholic non-governmental organization, sponsored the surgery of 36 victims of the LRA from November 22-23. The patients had lost arms, ears, lips and other body parts during the insurgency of the LRA. They were from various sub- counties in the north. The Government of Uganda stated that it would sponsor a similar event next year at Mulago Hospital. ¶14. (U) USG Activities: USAID Uganda's $9.2 million three-year Rural Savings Promotion and Enhancement of Enterprise Development (Rural SPEED) ended on 9 November. This concluded a decade of Mission exclusive support to the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) finance industry during which USAID leadership influenced the robust and rapid growth of the MSME sector. USAID's partnership with the private sector achieved several successes in the micro and small finance industry. ¶15. (U) The Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) program was launched in all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps and villages where former IDPs are returning to their homes in northern Amuru district last week. This program targets 110,000 households to be sprayed with Government of Uganda-approved synthetic pyrethroids (ICON-WP) and will protect approximately 420,000 people from malaria. The program was officially launched by the Honorable Dr. Steven Mallinga, the Minister of Health, who informed the public that IRS conducted in Uganda with President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) support reduces the malaria burden in Western and Northern Uganda. In the next two months the northern districts of Gulu, Oyam and Apac will also be sprayed. In 2008, 15 districts in Uganda will benefit from the PMI IRS spraying. ¶16. (U) USG Activities: The CJTF HOA civil affairs team started the construction of a children's ward for the Kitgum Referral Hospital. The children's ward will be 240 square meters and house a small clinic and have wards for maternity, delivery, and pediatric. Construction on a library in Kitgum has also started. Work continues on providing clean drinking water to Northern Uganda and contracts to drill several wells have been finalized. In January, a veterinarian civil affairs project will be conducted in Gulu District and parts of Amuru District. This project will provide inoculation against several common diseases for cows, pigs, goats, and dogs. - - - - - - - - SECURITY UPDATE - - - - - - - - ¶17. (U) On November 13, Onen Kamdulu, a former LRA director of 0perations, was arrested for aggravated robbery in Gulu. Kamadulu was detained with former LRA members Maj. Thomas Opiyo, UPDF Lieutenant Odongkara Ajiba, and four other individuals. They were charged with robbing Sunday Opayat in Anganga village, Akokoro sub-county. Kamadulu was one of the key state witnesses against FDC leader Kizza Besigye. ¶18. (U) The Bon Ayom area of Pader District remains tense after a series of robberies, freshly planted land mines, and the killing of two members of local defense units (LDU) occurred in a one-month period. UPDF are patrolling the area. There have been no reported incidents since October 30. U.N. security will undertake an assessment to determine when travel restrictions can be lifted. - - - - - - - - - - - - - IN THE MEDIA AND THE WEB - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶19. (U) "Kony Eats Otti's Penis," headlined the tabloid newspaper "Saturday Red Pepper" on 17 November. The article cited unnamed KAMPALA 00001853 003 OF 003 intelligence sources, who claimed to have obtained information from sources close to Kony, regarding Otti's alleged post-execution fate. According to these reports, a Gulu-based "witchdoctor" was brought to Garamba, accompanied by a white goat suitable for sacrifice. In Garamba, rituals were undertaken with Otti's body parts (and the goat's) with the intent of containing Otti's ghost. Kony, as executioner, has reason to fear retribution by Otti's reincarnated spirit. ¶20. (U) The "Red Pepper" specializes in sensationalist stories, and often (usually) pushes the boundaries of accepted journalistic practice. However, the paper does have sources in the Ugandan security/military establishment. Kony's history of using ritual and claims of contact with spirit mediums also lends some credence to the story. ¶21. (U) On November 19, "The East African" headlined "Exile for Kony the Best Option for Peace in Northern Uganda," citing an October 29 report by the Enough Project, "What To Do With Joseph Kony?" The Enough Project report, authored by John Prendergast, said that "the time to strike a deal was now." The report presents three options for dealing with Kony. The first would have Kony agreeing to return to Uganda, where he would face serious domestic justice mechanisms meeting local needs and international standards. The second option would be asylum in a third country, and the third option would be his arrest. ¶22. (U) "A credible military option, involving regional states, the UN missions in Sudan and Congo, and governments willing to offer equipment and personnel, combined with a sustained, high-level diplomatic push directed at Kony, might provide the essential ingredient and leverage to get the job done," according to the report. The report also recommended that the State Department remove Kony from its Terrorist List if Kony signed a peace agreement. CHRITTON