UN: Lord's Resistance Army rebels displace 440,000 in Central Africa

[News_Editor]

UN: Lord's Resistance Army rebels displace 440,000 in Central Africa

2011-11-15 17:58:52 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday condemned the continuing attacks across Central Africa by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and demanded an immediate end to the violence which has left hundreds of thousands of people displaced.

LRA attacks have displaced more than 440,000 people across the region and the group has been accused of serious humanitarian and human rights violations, the UN Security Council noted, expressing deep concern that its previous calls for the LRA to cease its attacks have not been heeded.

The LRA was formed in the late 1980s in Uganda and for over 15 years its attacks were mainly directed against Ugandan civilians and security forces, which in 2002 dislodged the rebels. They then exported their rampage to Uganda's neighbors such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan, with practices that include the recruitment of children, rape, killing, maiming and sexual slavery.

More than 12,000 combatants and abductees have left the LRA's ranks since the group's existence and have been integrated and reunited with their families. "The Security Council encourages the remaining LRA fighters to leave the group's ranks and take advantage of offers of reintegration support," the 15-member body said.

Meanwhile, the UN envoy for Central Africa, Abou Moussa, told the Council that the affected countries' limited capacity to control their porous borders stretching over vast areas means that the group can move easily between the affected countries.

Presenting the UN Secretary-General's report on the LRA-affected areas, he also noted that the governments of the affected countries have recently taken important steps to address the threat, including through coordinated military operations.

Moussa, however, noted that the national security forces of these countries lack the full range of resources and capabilities in areas such as logistics, intelligence-gathering and air mobility to effectively deal with the problem on their own as well as extend their authority throughout their respective territories, protect the civilian populations and enforce the rule of law.

The UN peacekeeping operations have taken a number of actions in the region in order to strengthen their capacities within their mandates and capabilities in strategic locations in the LRA-affected areas to help deter attacks against civilians and facilitate humanitarian operations.

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