UGANDA: DEMARCHE RESPONSE - CHILD SOLDIERS

UNCLAS KAMPALA 001364 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP RACHEL YOUSEY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KTIP ELAB KCRM KWMN KMCA PGOV PREL SMIG UG SUBJECT: UGANDA: DEMARCHE RESPONSE - CHILD SOLDIERS PREVENTION ACT REF: A. STATE 121328 ¶B. KAMPALA 00489 ¶C. SAMPSON-LIDDLE EMAIL 11/4/09 ¶1. (SBU) PolOff informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) provisions and impending implementation per reftel demarche on November 27 (ref. A). The United Nations removed Uganda from the list of countries that actively recruit children into the armed forces in April 2009 based on the conclusions of a two-year evaluation process. Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Americas Desk Officer Jackson Ochana and MFA Multilateral Affairs Officer Issac Sebulime highlighted Ugandan government efforts to ensure that no children are enlisted into the Ugandan army and that child soldiers rescued from the Lord's Resistance Army are reintegrated into their communities. Sebulime noted that there a have been no cases of child soldiers in Ugandan defense forces since 2007 and that the United Nations (UN) delisted Uganda from the UN Security Council Resolution 1612 list in April 2009. ¶2. (SBU) The UN reached this conclusion after a two-year evaluation process. The one "child soldier" case identified in 2007 involved a 17 year old who lied about his age to join the military. This individual was dismissed from the Ugandan army (ref. B). Uganda regards previous UN allegations of child soldiers as politically motivated because they were articulated by former UN Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu. A former Foreign Minister living in exile since 1986, Otunnu is a frequent critic of President Museveni and a potential opposition presidential challenger (ref. C). LANIER