NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (August 1-31, 2008)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 001267 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 (August 1-31, 2008) KAMPALA 00001267 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) 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. (SBU) UN Special Envoy for the LRA-Affected Areas Joachim Chissano traveled to the region from August 13-19. His team had put in place arrangements with Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony to meet with his negotiators on August 24. The meeting did not take place. Kony blamed a skirmish between the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) and the LRA, and a stand-off between the SPLA and the NGO CARITAS over a donor-provided food delivery on August 21. Two SPLA soldiers were reportedly killed in the skirmish. Kony contacted Chissano's office in Kampala and requested that the meeting take place on/about September 6. ¶3. (SBU) On August 5, the Government of Uganda (GOU) granted James Obita, the former leader of the LRA negotiating team, amnesty. Justice Peter Onega, The Chairman of the Amnesty Commission, announced the extension of the Amnesty Act for two years. The law was enacted in January 2000 for six months and has been renewed successively since then. It provides for blanket amnesty to Ugandans who denounce rebellion. A total of 12,841 former LRA rebels have been granted amnesty since the establishment of the Amnesty Commission in 2000. Overall, 22,921 ex-fighters and collaborators from various rebel groups have been granted. ¶4. (SBU) USG Activities: In early August, the GOU began formal discussions to design a transitional justice process for implanting key elements of the agreements on Accountability and Reconciliation from the Juba peace process. A retreat was hosted by the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) and included presentations by the Chief Justice, the Principal Judge of the High Court, the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Minister for Internal Affairs. JLOS is scheduled to present a proposal for an integrated transitional justice system to Cabinet by November; the proposal will deal with legal and institutional mechanisms for war crimes, traditional mechanisms and the relevance of truth-telling and national reconciliation. The USG will support this process through legal and technical assistance from the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG). ¶5. (SBU) In recent weeks, Uganda's Amnesty Commission has distributed 231 USG-funded reintegration packages to amnestied ex-combatants in Gulu, Kitgum, Kampala and Kasese. Hundreds more packages are scheduled for distribution in the coming month to new reporters and the backlog of cases from 1 January 2006 who have not yet received reintegration support from the GOU. In addition to reintegration packages, the USG has supported the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in providing health and psychosocial care to former LRA who are currently in GOU custody. IOM also supported traditional cleansing ceremonies for several new reporters in their home communities. On August 26, the Ambassador, USAID Director, and P/E Chief briefed Resolve Uganda Executive Director Michael Poffenberger on USG engagement in northern Uganda. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶6. (SBU) Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi announced on August 7 that The GOU has earmarked 158 million USD for police, judiciary, education, health, and water and sanitation in its 2008/09 budget for northern districts under the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP). Minister of Education and Sports Namirembe Bitamazire announced that the GOU will construct 4,215 houses for teachers in the 40 districts covered by the PRDP. The first PRDP Monitoring Committee meeting will take place on September 30. Parliamentarian Ronald Reagan Okumu, from Aswa County, Gulu District, told Parliament that government support was lacking in return areas, where about 80 percent of the people displaced by the LRA conflict had returned to their homes. ¶7. (SBU) USG Activities: USAID Mission Director David Eckerson KAMPALA 00001267 002.2 OF 003 visited Gulu, Pader and Lira districts from August 21-24, 2008 on his first trip outside Kampala since arriving in Uganda four weeks ago. In meetings with local authorities, traditional and religious leaders, USAID implementing partners and local communities, he listened to hopes for the signing of a final peace agreement with the LRA; plans for reconciliation and healing as displaced people return to their homes or take up permanent residence in former camps; and presentations as to how USAID-funded activities are helping in the transition from humanitarian relief to recovery and development. He emphasized to implementing partners the importance of working with and strengthening the capacity of local authorities and non-governmental entities, and harmonizing USAID activities with district development plans and results frameworks under the PRDP. A highlight of the visit was a ceremony in Opit on August 22, near Joseph Kony's birthplace of Odek, where local authorities presented tokens of appreciation to former IDP camp commanders for their voluntary service to communities during the worst years of conflict ¶8. (SBU) USAID/Office of Transitional Initiatives (OTI) approved four new grants totaling approximately 120,000 USD. The first is a Hepatitis E grant with the Gulu District Health Department for 17,000 USD. On August 1, Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization launched an emergency plan to fight the Hepatitis E epidemic focused on teaching residents about proper hygiene, improving sanitation through construction of boreholes and pit latrines in IDP camps, and monitoring and treating infected people in northern Uganda. The second grant was to restore Odek local government administrative offices, which will allow sub-county officials to move back to their offices and begin providing services to their constituents. OTI cleared its first two grants in Amuru District. - - - - - - - - SECURITY UPDATE - - - - - - - - ¶9. (SBU) On July 31, Save the Children Uganda Deputy Country Director John Reinstein demanded the immediate and unconditional release of children under LRA captivity. He stated that it is important to pressure Joseph Kony to release the children despite the stalling of the peace process. Reinstein noted that over 5,000 Uganda children were still missing, but the group expected only 1,500 to return home. ¶10. (SBU) In May 2008, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) conducted a joint review on the implementation of two MOUs signed between the ICRC and the Uganda Peoples' Defense Force (UPDF) and the Uganda Police Force (UPDF),to integrate International Humanitarian Law within military doctrine, training and operations. As a result, 25 UPDF instructors and legal officers, including military media and medical staff, attended the seventh two-week "Training of Trainers" course in Jinja. In April 2008, 500 UPDF soldiers and 173 police officers attended human rights information sessions in northern Uganda. ¶11. (SBU) From April to June 2008, ICRC training in principles of humanitarian law reached 400 UPDF soldiers at Fourth Division military training camp; 75 participants in Awach camp; local leaders, administrators and the general public in Gulu and Amuru Districts; 98 local leaders and 60 community members in Kitgum District; and 96 UPDF soldiers and 173 police in Pader District. ¶12. (SBU) Security agencies in the north intensified the search for weapons abandoned during the conflict. On August 4, Fourth Division Spokesperson Captain Ronald Kakurungu said the Army, police, and humanitarian agencies worked together to clear return areas of weapons, ordnance, and landmines. He reported that 175 submachine guns, 60 rocket-propelled grenades, five mortars, three pistols, 67 grenades, 75 land mines, three machine guns, 159 bombs of mortar and airdrop types, and 10,228 rounds of live ammunition were recovered. ¶13. (SBU) On August 11, Uganda's Principal Judge James Ogoola stated that the War Crimes Court set up to try crimes committed in the north cannot start operations before a law outlining its modalities is enacted. Ogoola said the law would define what constitute serious war crimes and determine sanctions for those crimes. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - KAMPALA 00001267 003.2 OF 003 FROM THE MEDIA AND THE WEB - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶14. (SBU) On August 19, IRIN's PLUSNEWS reported on food insecurity facing northern Uganda due to bad weather and lack of adequate farm inputs. IRIN Gulu Senior Agricultural Officer Jackson Lakor expects lower productivity in the coming months due to drought, land deterioration, and high demand from southern Sudan leading to food shortages in the region. BROWNING