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The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is a rebel group based in north Uganda which was formed in 1987. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself a prophet and apparently wishes to establish a state based on his unique interpretation of the Biblical Ten Commandments. The rebels have been accused of many atrocities in the area, including kidnapping children to train as soldiers or use as sex slaves. The group draws its members primarily from the Acholi people, but it lacks widespread support among the Acholis, who have also been the victims of many of its tactics. Atrocities have been reported in the area around the towns of Kitgum, Gulu, and Lira. The Ugandan government blamed the LRA for a massacre of over 200 civilians at a refugee camp in Barlonyo near Lira on February 21, 2004.

The Ugandan army has struggled to defend many towns and villages from LRA attacks, and the Government has now started to foster and arm Acholi militias against the LRA. On February 25, 2004, street protests and riots, apparently protesting the government's failure to adequately protect civilians, caused at least nine deaths. The violence seems to have been motivated to some degree by animosity towards the Acholi, who many collectively blame for the rebellion. At the same time, the army announced it had killed 21 LRA members in battle. Some observers fear that the introduction of more weapons in north Uganda will create more problems in the longer term.

It is estimated that nearly 9000 children were abducted by the LRA between June 2002 and May 2003, and fear of continuing LRA attacks and abductions created a widespread refugee problem. Thousands of families had to leave their towns and villages for the safety of larger settlements, where they slept on street corners and open spaces. Despite these nocturnal and longer term migrations, the plight of the Acholi people received little media coverage in the developed world, prior to November 2003, nor was the subject discussed by the United Nations.

The LRA and their impact on the people of North Uganda was the subject of Unreported World, a television documentary broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK on 14 November 2003.

In December 2003, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni referred the case to the International Criminal Court and ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo started investigation.

External links

• Unreported World - The Children's War (Nov 2003)
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm
• http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAFR590011997
• Religion News Blog (News and news archive on the Lord's Resistance Army)

• Uganda