UN: Rebel Group's Attacks in Congo, Sudan May Be Punishable War Crimes

The U.N. Human Rights Office says the attacks and systematic, widespread violations carried out by the Lord's Resistance Army in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Southern Sudan may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.N. agency has just issued two reports on the atrocities committed by the LRA over a 10-month period.

Between September 2008 and June 2009, the U.N. report says the Lord's Resistance Army killed 1,200 people and abducted 1,400 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some 600 children and 400 women were among those kidnapped. These terror tactics are blamed for forcing 230,000 terrified villagers to flee their homes.

Last Christmas, the LRA unleashed its most devastating wave of synchronized attacks. Dozens of locations in and around the towns of Faradje and Doruma were attacked. About 500 civilians were killed and hundreds of others abducted.

Human Rights Spokesman, Rupert Colville, says last year's events haunt everyone in the region. "There is a major fear that they may, in fact, try and repeat, at least partly, what they did last Christmas this Christmas and the U.N. peacekeeping force in DRC, MONUC said last week it had gone on high alert because it had some indications that the LRA could try and do what they did last year, which was particularly savage. They had exploited Christmas, exploited the fact that people were gathering in town centers for the festivities. People were gathering in churches and they used that to maximize their impact," he said.

The LRA waged a civil war in Uganda for more than two decades. During that time, the rebel group abducted more than 10,000 children, using them as child soldiers and sex slaves. About a million people were displaced.

After the LRA was driven out of Uganda in 2002 and out of Southern Sudan in 2005, it took refuge in the Orientale Province, a remote corner in northern DRC.

Last year and early this year, the Congolese army, with support from the U.N. Mission in DRC, launched three separate military operations to try to dislodge the Lord's Resistance Army.

As a consequence, the LRA splintered into several groups and crossed into neighboring Central African Republic and Sudan. Colville says this may have reduced the intensity of their attacks, but it has not stopped them. "And the splinters themselves are causing problems in that they are now in three countries again, not just in one ... It is a very worrying situation because as you say, they have gone on for decades this group. They spent about 20 years largely in Uganda. The same style - killing, mutilating, raping, stealing children, sex slavery ... And, because they keep stealing people, they keep replenishing their forces. So, it is a very efficient form of barbarity in the practice by the LRA. They manage to replicate themselves and keep going," he said.

The report urges the international community to help the DRC improve the quality of its security forces and their ability to protect civilians. It also calls for governments to cooperate with the International Criminal Court in investigating and arresting all LRA leaders accused of international crimes

Souce:voanews.com/

South Sudan: For the love of cows [16 Days]

From November 25 to December 10, the International Rescue Committee is observing the "16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence."

RUMBEK, SOUTH SUDAN – Angelina was 16 years old when her mother told her that she would have to get married. She had already agreed on a husband for her daughter, a man in the village. Angelina didn't know this man, but he owned a lot of cows — cows that her family needed for their livelihood.

Rumbek is a town that was affected by 21 years of civil war between North and South Sudan. Angelina is one of hundreds of thousands of people from the region who fled their country to take refuge in neighboring countries. She returned in 1999 from being displaced for eight years in Uganda. The IRC helps more than 450,000 people in South Sudan with health care, human rights advocacy measures and support for women facing violence.

In Rumbek, and in the culture of South Sudan, a cow means everything. Most families in Rumbek depend on cattle. They're such an important family asset that women are typically referred to based on how many cows they're "worth." Angelina equaled 70 heads of cattle.

For Angelina, a forced marriage meant having to drop out of school, and never again seeing the boy she loved and wanted to marry. Her father had died, and none of her brothers lived nearby, so Angelina wouldn't able to call for help from family if the arranged husband mistreated her.

Afraid of her prospects, Angelina tried running away from home. She fled on foot to a village three hours away to stay with an aunt, but was sent back home.

After Angelina tried running away a second time, this time with her boyfriend, her family said she could only marry the man of her choice if he could give the family the dowry they were expecting from the husband of their choice.

It took Angelina's boyfriend a full year to gather 70 cows. He borrowed from family, purchased what he could, and finally returned to present Angelina's mother and brothers with the dowry required. He and Angelina hadn't been allowed to contact each other over the course of the year, which was painful for her.

While Angelina was able to take control of her own fate and fight for her right to choose a partner, she wanted to do more with her skills and sense of self-determination. She wanted other girls in Rumbek to be able to complete their education and to claim their basic rights.

So in 2003, Angelina joined the IRC team in South Sudan. Today she works as a project officer, leading community outreach initiatives that promote understanding of the consequences for families and communities when violence against women and girls is permitted.

Source:reliefweb.int/