26 Jun 2012

UN / LRA

At a press conference today on a new UN-African Union regional strategy on the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) that includes sending 5,000 African troops after its leader Joseph Kony, Human Rights Watch Deputy Executive Director Jan Egeland said he was worried that 26 years into the conflict, the LRA would not give up until given “a better offer” to lay down arms. UNTV

Posted at: June 26, 2012 6:10 pm

Duration: 02:15

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / LRA
TRT: 2.15
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 26 JUNE 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

26 JUNE 2012, NEW YORK

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. Med shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Francisco Madeira, African Union Special Envoy on the LRA:
"When the deployment is completed its supposed to be five thousand strong, and each contingent will have a sector headquarters in its own country of origin, and it will be commanded by a national of that country, and the overall commander, who's been appointed by the African Union, will coordinate and command the forces."
5. Med shot, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Francisco Madeira, African Union Special Envoy on the LRA:
"The results are: Stop Kony. Stop his atrocities. Neutralize this man. And make sure that the populations return to normalcy, and experience development and stability."
7. Med shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Egeland, Deputy Executive Director, Human Rights Watch:
"There were 53 attacks by the LRA in the first three months of this year, 2012. Fifty-three. There are seemingly new attacks this week by the Lord's Resistance Army. So if I have one worry, it's that, let's not be complacent that we're having bigger press conferences [than] before, we have more plans [than] before, we have more regional cooperation than before, we're talking more about it than ever before, we have millions of people engaged through the NGOs, so we must be making big progress here. The only progress is the one that our friends can measure at the grass roots, and that is: people's lives saved."
9. Med shot, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Francisco Madeira, African Union Special Envoy on the LRA:
"These troops lack almost everything. They lack boots, they lack uniforms, they lack food rations, and they sometimes lack training. So there is a need for these things to be supplied."
11. Med shot, journalists
12. Wide shot, end of press conference

STORYLINE:

United Nations and African Union envoys today (26 June) highlighted a new regional strategy that they hope will bring an end to the activities of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and help affected populations.

Led by Joseph Kony, the group is notorious for carrying out massacres in villages, mutilating its victims and abducting boys for use as child soldiers, while girls are forced into sexual slavery.

In March the four affected countries – Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda – launched a joint military task force to pursue the rebel fighters as part of their efforts to counter the LRA threat.

Addressing a news conference at UN headquarters today, the AU Special Envoy on the LRA, Francisco Madeira said that the task force has been authorized and is almost operational. Its headquarters will be in the South Sudanese town of Yambio, where senior army commanders will be based and coordinate the operations of the force, which is expected to be 5,000 strong at full deployment.

Each contingent will have a sector headquarters in its own country of origin and will be commanded by a national of that country, while the overall commander, who has been appointed by the AU, will coordinate and command the force.

Madeira said the expected results are to "stop Kony, stop his atrocities, neutralize this man and make sure that the populations return to normalcy and experience development and stability".

At the same press conference, Human Rights Watch deputy director and former UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said he was worried that, 26 years into the LRA's existence, new attacks were still being carried out, with Human Rights Watch documenting 53 attacks in the first three months of 2012.

Egeland said it was no reason for complacency that "we're having bigger press conferences [than] before, we have more plans [than] before, we have more regional cooperation than before, we're talking more about it than ever before, we have millions of people engaged". The only measure of progress could be people's lives saved on the ground.

Asked about support from the United States for the task force, AU envoy Madeira said the US was helping to track the LRA and also with training, which he said was essential to ensure that soldiers acted "in the service of the people rather than in the service of themselves". Material support was also needed, as the troops lacked "almost everything", including boots, uniforms, and food rations.

The UN-AU Regional Strategy for the LRA, which will be officially presented to the Security Council on Wednesday (27 June), focuses on five key strategic objectives, including the provision of support for the full operationalization and implementation of the AU regional cooperation initiative against the LRA, and to enhance efforts to promote the protection of civilians.

It also seeks to expand current disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration activities to cover all LRA-affected areas; to promote a coordinated humanitarian and child protection response in these areas; and to provide support to LRA-affected governments in the fields of peacebuilding, human rights, rule of law and development to enable them to establish State authority across their territories.

The LRA carried out the worst of its atrocities in northern Ugandan in the 1990s, but had, by 2004, largely been driven of the area through a sustained military effort. However, remnants of the insurgent group continued to attack civilians in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).