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Author: Ashley Benner

Uganda Seeks to End Amnesty for LRA Rebels

Uganda Seeks to End Amnesty for LRA Rebels
The controversial trial of former Lord’s Resistance Army commander Thomas Kwoyelo has taken a discouraging turn. The first former LRA rebel to stand trial, Kwoyelo has applied for amnesty through Uganda’s Amnesty Act of 2000 but has not been granted it. Furthermore, the Ugandan government is now attempting to strike down the Amnesty Act – a vital tool for encouraging LRA commanders and rank-and-file fighters to leave the group – by contending that the law is unconstitutional ...

AFRICOM Commander on LRA: “A lot of work yet to do”

AFRICOM Commander on LRA: “A lot of work yet to do”
The commander of U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, recently spoke about the commitment of the United States to apprehending Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and acknowledged that there is “a lot of work yet to do.” Meeting with Ugandan reporters at AFRICOM headquarters, Commander General Carter F. Ham said that the priority is stopping Kony. “The preferred way to do this is to capture him and bring him to justice,” Ham said ...

LRA in the Spotlight, as African Union Considers New Joint Effort

LRA in the Spotlight, as African Union Considers New Joint Effort
In an uncommon show of interest, the U.N. Security Council held a private meeting late last week to discuss the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA. It was the first time in nearly two years that the Council discussed the LRA as a stand-alone issue in an official meeting ...

Efforts to End LRA Falter

Efforts to End LRA Falter
Efforts to end the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, show further signs of slowing, at a time when they are urgently needed. While LRA violence is increasing in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the group’s leader Joseph Kony and the majority of his fighters are now in Congo likely regrouping and reorganizing, efforts to apprehend the LRA senior leadership, protect civilians, and promote the defection of its fighters continue to falter. Here’s a sketch of some recent developments ...

On First Anniversary of LRA Bill, What’s Changed?

On First Anniversary of LRA Bill, What's Changed?
It’s been a year today since President Obama signed the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, to much optimistic fanfare. This landmark legislation, supported by a broad bipartisan coalition, required President Obama to develop a strategy for eliminating the threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, a brutal rebel group that has been terrorizing civilian populations in central Africa for nearly 25 years. So, one year later, what has changed? ...

Congo Government, U.N. Underestimate LRA Threat

Enough recently wrote about the upsurge in violence committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, against civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which had raised the concern of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, and severalNGOs. In early March, UNHCR expressed alarm about the 52 LRA raids that had occurred this year in Orientale Province in northeastern Congo and resulted in 35 deaths, 104 abductions, and the displacement of 17,000 people ...

Comedian, Activist Jane Bussmann Returns to NYC

Comedian, Activist Jane Bussmann Returns to NYC
If you missed British comedy writer, performer, and activist Jane Bussmann last time she was in New York City, or if you just want to see her again, you’re in luck. She’ll be performing her sometimes inappropriately funny comedy show, Bussmann’s Holiday, in NY on March 11, 16, and 18 ...
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