by Matthew Davies
Despite efforts by the Church Mission Society to raise awareness of the shocking realities of child abduction and the 17-year war in Northern Uganda, violence is still wreaking havoc throughout the nation. Armed rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have struck again, rounding up 22 people in a bar in the Lira district and shooting them dead.
The Church Mission Society (CMS) launched a campaign on 21 August by delivering a petition to Downing Street asking Tony Blair to "help break what local churchmen have dubbed an 'international conspiracy of silence' over the LRA's brutal reign".
The current conflict in northern Uganda began soon after the National Resistance Army (NRA) of President Museveni took power in 1986. Remnants of the previous government's forces fled into northern Uganda and southern Sudan and formed the Ugandan People's Democratic Army (UPDA). Several splinter groups began emerging out of the UPDA and the story of the LRA began, originally named the Lord's Salvation Army, then the United Christian Democratic Army and finally the Lord's Resistance Army.
The worst victims of the situation are the youth, who are the most productive age group and the hope of the region. The LRA are responsible for the abduction of thousands of children and more than 20,000, some as young as seven, are being used as soldiers, labourers and sex slaves.
According to Human Rights Watch, an organisation dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world, Ugandan government forces also recruit children who are intended to provide security for local villages or camps. Unfortunately, many do not return to their home areas and are reportedly used to fight against the LRA.
CMS, which has been working with the Kitgumi people since 1904, announced that there are 800,000 people - 75% of the population of northern Uganda - who now face starvation in so-called 'protected camps'.
The recent attack comes less than a month after the rebels killed 10 people in a market. Uganda and Sudan have renewed an agreement to work together to flush out the LRA.