NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (NOVEMBER 1-30, 2008)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 001567 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 1-30, 2008) REF: A. KAMPALA 1552 B. KAMPALA 1558 C. KAMPALA 1561 KAMPALA 00001567 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (U) Summary: The following Northern Uganda Notes provide information on the situation on the ground and USG activities aimed at meeting Mission 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 Chief Mediator of the Juba Peace Process, Government of Southern Sudan Vice President Riek Machar, held a stakeholders' conference in Kampala on November 5 aimed at creating a roadmap for achieving final signatures and implementation of the Final Peace Agreement between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GOU). UN Special Envoy for LRA-Affected Areas, Joachim Chissano, the parties, donors, and non-governmental organizations participated. The stakeholders demanded that the LRA stop attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and sign the FPA without conditions by November 30. In addition, the stakeholders urged Chissano to continue his role and donors to continue support for the peace process. ¶3. (U) The conference communique acknowledged that the LRA had not assembled, that its attacks in the DRC had caused great suffering, that non-implementation of the peace agreement was putting Great Lakes security at risk, and that Chissano's mandate was coming to an end on December 31. Stakeholders' urged: -- The LRA to stop attacks and to unconditionally sign the FPA before November 30, assemble, and immediately release the children held captive; -- All parties, the Chief Mediator, and Special Envoy to make the necessary arrangements for Kony to sign the agreement; -- The continuation of Chissano's role in working to resolve the LRA conflict; and -- The international community to continue support for FPA implementation. ¶4. (SBU) In a much-anticipated response to the conference, Machar and Chissano arranged a meeting for Kony with his delegation at Rikwangba for November 28 and 29 (reftels). Kony refused to hold the meeting until donor-provided food was delivered, causing the meeting to slip a day. Northern elders and religious leaders, members of Parliament, and LRA delegation members, including David Matsanga walked to a location some five kilometers from Rikwangba for the meeting and spent two nights in the LRA encampment. After being subjected to stringent security precautions, the elders met with Kony on November 29. Reports from participants indicate that Kony demanded that the ICC warrants be lifted. He claimed that he had been receiving text messages telling him that he would be killed if he returned to northern Uganda. Senior LRA officers were even more hard-line than Kony and demanded to know what security guarantees they would have if the agreement was signed. They threatened three northern Ugandan leaders not present, which alarmed the delegation. Kony made no contact with either Machar or Chissano during the weekend. Machar held a meeting with Chissano and the parties on December 1. The decision was made to discontinue the Juba Peace Process, but without closing the door for Kony to sign the FPA should he alter his behavior at some time in the future and desire a peaceful end to the LRA conflict (ref C). ¶5. (U) On November 6, President Museveni reassured Machar that the Government of Uganda (GOU) is ready to sign the FPA. Museveni said that the government would fulfill its mandate to rehabilitate the war-affected areas of the north. The meeting also was attended by Chissano and Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda. ¶6. (U) Uganda Amnesty Commission Chair Justice Peter Onega reported that a two-year project worth $2.2 million was launched to support former LRA combatants. He told the New Vision on November 2 that the program will focus on child mothers, persons with disabilities, women and child soldiers. KAMPALA 00001567 002.2 OF 003 ¶7. (U) On November 10, Government of South Sudan Director of Presidential Affairs Martin Majut Yak said that his government was considering the use of force against the LRA to push them out of southern Sudan if Kony fails to sign the FPA. Majut Yak told a press conference in Kampala that the GOSS will not allow Kony rebels to use southern Sudan as a base to destabilize the region. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (U) Kitgum District authorities launched the phase-out of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in November to further encourage IDP returns. Eighty percent of the IDPs in Kitgum have returned home while 20% remain, including the elderly, disabled and children, according to district officials. From October 28-30, the World Food Program (WFP) held a General Food Distribution (GFD) Phase-Off and Regional Strategy Workshop in Gulu Town. Key stakeholders, including local government, UN agencies, NGO and local partners, utilized the findings of three recent assessments to determine which sub-counties in Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader districts would be phased-off of GFD. Preliminary decisions plan for 219,000 IDPs to be phased off by January 2009. A further 573,000 IDPs will require only seasonal food aid support for an additional three to six months. This decision will be reviewed once the findings of the December 2008 Land Use and Crop Yield Assessment (LUCYA) are available. It was estimated that 146,000 vulnerable IDPs will require food assistance through the end of 2009. District-level meetings will develop implementation plans for each sub-county's GFD phase-off process. The district implementation plans must include a communications strategy and sensitization programs. ¶9. (U) USG Activities: USAID's Strengthening Democratic Linkages (LINKAGES) project hosted a series of meetings between the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and key Parliamentary Committees and Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Government's Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) for northern Uganda. OPM is leading the PRDP effort, which brings together central government ministries, local governments, Parliament, civil society and development partners. The government has contributed $15 million to the PRDP as additional funds through various line ministries. ¶10. (U) LINKAGES also supported district and select sub-county Local Governments in Amolatar, Arua, Kitgum, and Pader in their annual planning and budgeting activities through the Government's Harmonized Participatory Development Planning (HPDP) process. This support will help Local Governments in the conflict-affected areas improve their planning and budgeting processes and documents, provide opportunities for civic engagement in priority setting, and help to re-establish lower local governments after long displacement. ¶11. (U) On November 13, USAID and Political/Economic Section Officers met with OPM's new Permanent Secretary to discus PRDP progress and USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives' programs in the north, including the Northern Uganda Transition Initiative program (NUTI). OTI is working with OPM to develop and implement a PRDP communications strategy, including establishment of a website. ¶12. (U) On November 20, the USAID Mission Director briefed the Greater Northern Parliamentary Association, a caucus of 102 parliamentarians from West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Karamoja, and Teso sub-regions. The briefing helped northern parliamentarians understand the scope and depth of USG activities in the north. The briefing also helped the parliamentarians begin to develop a focused legislative agenda and to become stakeholders in the PRDP. ¶13. (U) On 26 November, USAID hosted a reception to launch support for the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG). The reception also honored internationally-known Michael Newton's Uganda visit to provide legal advice on transitional justice to the various institutions within the Justice, Law and Order Sector. Newton was one of the U.S. negotiators of the ICC Statute. In a meeting with the Ambassador, Newton reported that the GOU is committed to domesticating the ICC Statute and moving ahead with accountability and reconciliation mechanisms. - - - - - - - - SECURITY UPDATE - - - - - - - - KAMPALA 00001567 003.2 OF 003 ¶14. (U) On November 1, LRA rebels reportedly killed three Congolese soldiers and abducted 36 boys and 21 girls when they attacked Dungu in Orientale Province, eastern DRC. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FROM THE MEDIA AND THE WEB - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶15. (U) On November 3, The New Vision ran Gulu District Chairman Norbert Mao's weekly column under the headline, "Chissano Factor in Juba Talks Still Vital." He wrote that LRA leader Joseph Kony had been making contact with key players in the peace process and that after months of silence and evasiveness, the LRA leader seemed to have realized that Juba might be the best way out of the bush. Reports over recent months have accused the LRA of killing and abducting civilians both in the DRC and in South Sudan. In spite of this, Mao wrote, there seems to be a consensus that there should be an open door policy as far as the LRA is concerned. Mao argued that given the peace dividend that Juba has given northern Uganda, the UN should not disengage from the Juba Peace Process. Continued UN engagement is also required given the impact of LRA presence and activity in neighboring countries and it should therefore renew Chissano's mandate. ¶16. (U) On November 11, The New Vision carried an op-ed by the UPDF and Ministry of Defense spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda entitled, "How Long Can We Wait for Kony's Signature?" He pointed out that the Juba peace talks were the fourteenth initiative through which the government had tried to engage the LRA and bring a peaceful end to the conflict. These talks were different because of the fact that the government kept the LRA involved in the process up to the advanced stage of signing a Final Peace Agreement. In spite of this, Major Ankunda believes that the Juba talks have not made a difference in changing the situation in northern Uganda. He attributed the prevailing peace in the region to the UPDF dislodging rebels and forcing them to migrate. He also said that there is no indication that the Juba talks have helped to encourage the displaced to return home. He concluded that since the rebels have continued to commit crimes in DRC, Central African Republic, and Southern Sudan, in spite of arrest warrants issued by the ICC, they have "learned nothing and forgotten nothing." ¶17. (U) On November 13, Human Rights Watch, the Enough Project, Resolve Uganda, and the Justice and Peace Commission of Dungu/Doruma called on the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and governments in the region to develop and carry out an arrest strategy for LRA leaders wanted by the ICC. The organizations issued a press release calling on the UN Security Council to increase the number of peacekeepers in northern DRC to help protect civilians following renewed attacks by the LRA. John Norris, executive director of the Enough Project, said that "unless the world acts now to execute the ICC warrants, Joseph Kony's war on civilians will continue and an already fragile region will be further destabilized." ¶18. (U) In a November 20 Daily Monitor article, GOU Media Center representative Pamela Ankunda wrote an op-ed "Deliberate Lies Won't Bring Peace to the North." She noted the "great strides UPDF is achieving against the odds put up by detractors, "an explicit reference to a November 17 Amnesty International report accusing the UPDF of committing human rights abuses in northern Uganda and not providing the assistance to war victims. Ankunda wrote that the report suggested that the $336.8 million Peace, Recovery and Development Plan was useless and efforts made by the partners irrelevant. She disagreed, arguing that the government had done its part and continues to move forward. BROWNING