Deliver Us from Kony
Why the children of Uganda are killing
one another in the name of the Lord.
by J. Carter Johnson
in Kitgum, Uganda | posted 12/30/2005
10:00 a.m.
Sixty years after Allied
soldiers liberated the Nazi death camps, the world stands silent in
the face of another holocaust—one so horrifying that U.N. officials
call it "one of the worst human-rights crises of the past century."
The
perpetrators commit atrocities with such malevolence that even the
most irreligious people familiar with their acts describe them as
"unrestrained evil." The targets of the butchery are children. They
rape, mutilate, and kill them with a rapaciousness that staggers the
imagination. Worse, they compel children to kill one another and
their own families, fighting as "soldiers" in an armed force
deliberately composed of children.
Perhaps the
greatest atrocity is teaching these children that they spread this
carnage by the power of the Holy Spirit to purify the "unrepentant,"
twisting Christianity into a religion of horror to their victims. It
is spiritual warfare at its very worst, and it could not be more
satanic.
Religion of Evil
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is one of the larger terrorist
organizations in the world. It has killed more people than many
other violent groups, yet few Westerners have ever heard of it,
since nearly all its violence is perpetrated in the border region
between Uganda and Sudan in East Africa.
On a
continent plagued with endless guerilla warfare, where war crimes
are standard fighting fare, the LRA stands apart as an especially
odious group. LRA crimes against humanity are so repulsive that its
only former ally, the Islamic government of Sudan, jettisoned its
relationship with the LRA to improve Sudan's international
relations. (Credible sources in Uganda insist Sudan still supplies
weapons to the LRA, however.)
What began
in 1986 as a rebellion against the Ugandan government has
metamorphosed into a military millenarian cult. Its reason for
existence is to perpetuate the power of its leader, a ruthless
witchcraft practitioner named Joseph Kony.
He claims to
be fighting Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni's government on behalf
of the ethnic Acholi people, who populate the nation's three
northernmost districts of Kitgum, Gulu, and Pader. The Acholi have a
longstanding grievance with the more prosperous southern Ugandans,
much of it rooted in 19th-century British colonial policies that
favored southerners in education and business, while relegating the
Acholi to army service. However, the LRA attacks the Acholi, the
very people they claim to defend, far more often than the Ugandan
military.
Kony, 41,
envisions an Acholiland ruled by a warped interpretation of the Ten
Commandments. He uses passages from the Pentateuch to justify
mutilation and murder. He promotes a demonic spirituality crafted
from an eclectic mix of Christianity, Islam, and African witchcraft.
Any
resemblance to these religions is superficial: While the army
observes rituals such as praying the rosary and bowing toward Mecca,
there is no prescribed theology in the conventional sense. Kony's
beliefs are a haphazard mix from the Bible and the Qur'an, tailored
around his wishful thinking, personal desires, and practical needs
of the moment. Jesus is the Son of God. But instead of saving the
world from sin through his sacrificial love on the Cross, he is a
source of power employed for killing those who oppose Kony. The Holy
Spirit is not the Divine Comforter, but one who directs Kony's
tactical military decisions.
Despite
dabbling in the Bible and the Qur'an, Kony's real spiritual
obsession is witchcraft. He burns toy military vehicles and
figurines to predict the course of battles from their burn patterns.
He uses reptiles in magic rituals to sicken those who anger him or
to detect traitors in his midst. He claims to receive military
direction from spirits of dead men from different countries,
including Americans. He teaches that an impending apocalypse will
usher in "The Silent World," where only primitive weapons, such as
machetes and clubs, will bring victory.
Brutality, Terror
Sadly, reports of LRA savagery are not isolated incidents. The
children I interviewed in Uganda and southern Sudan who escaped LRA
captivity, along with thousands of documented cases, demonstrate
that these monstrosities are standard operating procedure. Nearly 90
percent of LRA fighters are enslaved children, kidnapped from their
families. [Editor's warning: The rest of this section contains
graphic descriptions of brutality.]
Under threat
of death, LRA child soldiers attack villages, shooting and cutting
off people's lips, ears, hands, feet, or breasts, at times
force-feeding the severed body parts to victims' families. Some cut
open the bellies of pregnant women and tear their babies out. Men
and women are gang-raped. As a warning to those who might report
them to Ugandan authorities, they bore holes in the lips of victims
and padlock them shut. Victims are burned alive or beaten to death
with machetes and clubs. The murderous task is considered properly
executed only when the victim is mutilated beyond recognition and
his or her blood spatters the killer's clothing.
At St.
Joseph's Hospital in Kitgum, I listened as relatives of four adult
LRA victims recounted recent assaults. Many surviving victims cannot
speak for themselves, because their lips have been sliced off. With
their mouths reduced to gaping holes, they gazed at me with what
combat veterans call the thousand-yard stare.
Many don't
survive an attack. In one case, the LRA attacked a 14-year-old boy
who suffered compound fractures in both legs when beaten with
pangas (large machetes). He crawled for a week to reach the
hospital. But, despite the efforts of surgeons from Doctors Without
Borders, the teen died the next day. He is buried outside the
hospital in a grave marked with two sticks, his name unknown. Since
1986, the LRA is estimated to have abducted as many as 50,000
children. Many more Ugandans have been maimed and traumatized. About
1.6 million have been driven from their homes. The death toll from
the conflict is estimated at more than 30,000 children.
During
attacks, LRA fighters, themselves traumatized captives, abduct more
children and embark on a trek through the African bush that mimics
the Bataan Death March in barbarity. Adult commanders force children
to carry supplies for up to a week, marching from dawn to dusk on
bare feet, without food or water in the equatorial heat. Potable
water is reserved for commanders. Children have been forced to drink
urine or drink from muddy ditches to survive. Their feet become
infected and swollen. Any child who cannot keep pace is killed. Any
child caught in an attempted escape is killed. Children may be
murdered for crying or failing to obey commands quickly enough.
Moreover, it is the other children who must execute the
transgressors, which is done by hacking them to pieces with machetes
or burning them alive.
Commanders
frequently compel children to kill their own siblings, lest family
bonds supersede those to the LRA. Leaders demand every abducted
child kill another child within a week of capture. Afterward,
they're told they'll never be accepted by society because of their
criminal acts, so they must stay with the LRA to survive. They
coerce the children into identifying with their captors by
emotionally blackmailing them with their own guilt.
The physical
and sexual torture of children is a deliberate process intended to
create killers without conscience. Tragically, it works. Most
current LRA commanders were once abducted boys who, having been
through this process, are now committed to Joseph Kony and his
bloodthirsty vision.
Children Escaping in the Night
During my travels through the region, I interviewed several children
who escaped captivity. All were acutely anxious, withdrawn, and
could hardly speak above a whisper or make eye contact. They were
terrified of re-abduction.
Mary was
abducted at age 12 and remained in captivity for two years. She
escaped during a firefight with the Ugandan army. The army treats
escapees as victims, not criminals or prisoners of war.
Recovering
in a hospital from a gunshot wound to the jaw, she told me, "I was
shot by a commander for hiding behind a tree during battle." Mary
insisted the children's accounts of captivity are true. "We were
beaten all the time, sometimes with clubs, sometimes with pangas.
I had to beat another girl until she died—the soldier said he would
kill me if I did not make her die. I had to walk for a very long
time, carrying heavy things. Once, I was too slow, so they beat me
and said they would kill me. I saw them kill others for being too
slow." Her badly infected foot was swollen to nearly twice its size.
The LRA
takes most abductees to base camps in southern Sudan, where they are
indoctrinated in spiritual darkness. Attractive girls may be used as
sexual slaves. Men regularly rape them.
Plainer
girls are, at times, used for what can only be called "murder
practice." Many boys are frightfully traumatized when forced to rape
women captured in ambushes. The children are regularly beaten to
harden them for battle, some so savagely that they are disfigured
for life. They work 12 hours a day with little food or water.
Escapees told of eating leaves to survive.
Child
soldiers are given rudimentary training with assault rifles to
ambush the Ugandan army. Told the Holy Spirit will protect them if
they apply holy oil to their bodies with the sign of the cross, they
are ordered to walk upright into enemy gunfire. Children killed or
wounded "deserve their fate" for exhibiting fear instead of faith in
God.
David, 13,
was captured by the LRA when he was 10 and held for about two years.
Like other children, having killed others troubles him greatly. "I
was captured with two women. The LRA gave me a panga and told
me to kill one, or they would kill me. I beat her with it when she
was on the ground. I kept cutting her and cutting her while she
screamed." He began to cry and said, "I was always afraid they would
kill me."
Despite the
risks, most children attempt escape. World Vision operates the
Children of War Rehabilitation Center in Gulu that ministers to
escaped LRA children, giving them medical treatment, counseling, and
the gospel. Desperate parents arrive at the center each morning
looking for their missing children. If they do find them, their joy
may turn to shock, seeing sons without limbs or daughters holding
their own infants.
There are
serious obstacles to social readjustment. Nearly all girls who
escape the LRA have sexually transmitted diseases. They are all
suspected of being HIV positive and viewed as sexually defiled.
Their prospects for marriage are grim.
Joshua Obonu,
director of the Kitgum Concerned Women's Association child
rehabilitation center, explains: "Sex is not spoken about in our
culture, and rape is a shameful thing, so they will not talk about
it. The children will admit to killing people but not raping or
being raped, unless they have many weeks of counseling."
Many
families are wiped out in LRA attacks. Children who have escaped
have nowhere to go. Children who do return to their villages often
find the inhabitants unforgiving. Captivity interrupted their
education and catching up is difficult. Children who grew up in
captivity not only lack the ABCs, but also a basic knowledge of how
society can work without constant violence.
Northern
Uganda's nightmare is further compounded by the phenomenon of "night
commuters"—children who are seeking to avoid the LRA's nighttime
raids. Every afternoon, thousands of rural children journey alone
out of the bush for several miles to sleep on the sidewalks of
district towns.
Often girls
are sexually abused along the way by boys making the same journey or
by drunken men in town. Teenage boys roam the sidewalks in packs,
bullying younger children. Children are beaten in the dark every
night. But these risks are preferable to being abducted by the LRA.
Few children carry any food during their nocturnal sojourn, which
can last 16 hours from departure to return, and they are still
vulnerable to LRA attack in transit.
In Kitgum, I
witnessed several small children caring for toddlers in these
conditions. After a restless night of defending themselves and a
three-hour hike back to their villages, some of these children
manage to attend village schools.
Slowly, more
is being done to protect night commuters. Christian ministries are
taking up the challenge. Wes Bentley, director of Far Reaching
Ministries, which operates the Maranatha Children's Center 15 miles
outside Kitgum, estimates up to 3,000 children per night come to the
center.
"The
sanctuary right now is just a place for kids to sleep safely at
night. I suspect, including women and other people who need safety
for the night, there might be 7,000 people inside." The center is a
fortified compound encircled by fences topped with razor wire and
protected by armed guards.
Political Solution Remote
The LRA rebellion has become a political quagmire. Although the LRA
claims to be fighting for Acholi independence, it has no political
platform or clear objectives upon which to base negotiations for
peace.
Nevertheless, the Ugandan government and concerned intermediaries
continue to attempt negotiations. The efforts of one woman in
particular are heroic. Betty Bigombe, 51, a former Ugandan
government minister who is also Acholi, has met with LRA leaders
several times at great personal risk, trying to negotiate a
settlement to end the fighting.
Currently a
consultant for the World Bank, she has taken unpaid leaves and spent
a small fortune in savings to help both parties navigate a peace
process in one of today's most intractable conflicts. In an effort
to save children by ending the conflict in any way possible, the
Ugandan government passed an Amnesty Act in 1999, which shields from
prosecution any LRA fighter who surrenders to the government. The
act also offers surrendered fighters $150 in "starting over" money.
Terms of the act extend to Kony and his top commanders. Experts
agree that LRA leaders' recent discussions with Bigombe about ending
the conflict were a huge step forward.
However,
when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants
for Kony and his top four commanders on October 13, attempts to
mediate the conflict broke down.
Ruth
Kahurananga, World Vision's child protection officer with the United
Nations, paused cautiously when asked about the indictments. "We are
not against the ICC; however, the timing is crucial. We feel that
the talks Betty Bigombe had started with some of the commanders in
the LRA … were enabling some kind of political negotiation to
happen. By the ICC indicting five of the top LRA commanders, World
Vision is very concerned, because that is possibly not a guarantee
to the end of the conflict."
In reality,
there is evidence that the fighting has become more savage.
"Even
looking at the history of the LRA, we have seen that especially when
they think they are being weakened, they retaliate with a lot of
violence, a lot of abductions, a lot of maiming," Kahurananga
explained.
It is not
just Kony and his lieutenants who are in jeopardy from the
indictments. "We are also very concerned that those called as
witnesses in future trials, especially children, are protected,"
Kahurananga said. "That they're given immunity from prosecution, and
that they and their families are protected from retaliation."
Wes Bentley
confirmed that the LRA's attacks are increasing and becoming more
savage. "They've really stepped up their attacks in the last six
months," he said. "Our center was attacked while we were building
it. There have been a lot more killings and mutilations. We couldn't
get it up fast enough, so many people were seeking protection at
night."
Even while
LRA terrorism directed against children has intensified, the U.S.
government has not made the conflict a high priority. Many believe
that without U.S. involvement, the abductions, killing, and maiming
will continue.
In August
2004, the U.S. government enacted the Northern Uganda Crisis
Response Act, which essentially calls LRA terrorism a great tragedy,
offers limited support for a negotiated solution, and warns Sudan
not to support the LRA.
Several
congressmen visited northern Uganda to witness the devastation
firsthand, but they were frustrated to see no end in sight. Sen.
Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said, "I will remain committed to stopping
the horror that has stolen the innocence of so many Ugandan
children."
The Bush
administration has placed the LRA on tier two of its Terrorist
Exclusion List, which means the LRA is judged not to be a threat to
U.S. interests. "There are a lot of sympathetic [members of
Congress], but no significant leadership to move the issue to the
point where there are congressional hearings, and hearings are one
of the first important steps to focus administration and
congressional attention on the severity of the issue," said Rory
Anderson, senior Africa policy adviser for World Vision. "Hearings
will not happen unless people contact their members of Congress and
demand it."
The people
most familiar with LRA terrorism agree that the best hope for ending
the carnage is putting it on the radar screen of the Western world.
Akello
Lwanga, a physician, spent two years treating LRA victims at an
internally displaced persons camp in Pader. "If Americans saw this
on TV as often as they see the Middle East," he said, "it would
stop."
"People need
to see what's happening in northern Uganda," said U.S. ambassador to
Uganda Jimmy Kolker. "The suffering of these children is
unimaginable. Absolutely, it is important for the public to know
about this as a step toward bringing it to an end."
Ordinary
Christians can help stop LRA terrorism. Presenting the issue to
churches, continuing in intercessory prayer over the conflict,
donating to Christian agencies that work with Ugandan children, and
pressing government officials for action all work to save LRA
victims.
Michael
Oruni, director of Uganda's Children of War Rehabilitation Center,
told CT he was urging Christians to get involved: "Imagine your own
child taken away, being raped as your family is killed in front of
your eyes. If it were you, what would you feel like?
"Kids in
Uganda—kids just like yours—are taken every night and enslaved,
raped, mutilated, murdered. You can make a difference. Talk to your
government. Help us."
J. Carter
Johnson is a journalist based in Arizona.
How to HELP
Here are key Christian and
charitable organizations that work with the victims of the lra
conflict in northern Uganda.
Far Reaching Ministries
www.farreachingministries.org
951-677-4474
World Vision
www.worldvision.org
www.seekjustice.org
888-511-6548
Save the Children
www.savethechildren.org
800-SAVETHECHILDREN
Oxfam
www.oxfam.org.uk
www.oxfamamerica.orgp
800-77-OXFAM
Jesuit Refugee Service
www.jesref.org
202-462-0400
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