May, 23 2011, 02:38pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
US/Central Africa: Protect Civilians From LRA Abuses
Give Priority to Special Envoy, Stronger Peacekeeping, Arresting Rebel Leaders
WASHINGTON
The United States government should step up efforts to protect civilians in central Africa from abuses by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a coalition of 39 human rights and humanitarian organizations said today. The organizations urged the Obama administration to appoint a special envoy for the African Great Lakes region with a mandate extending to LRA-affected areas, to support stronger United Nations peacekeeping and to intensify efforts to arrest three LRA leaders being sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
May 24 is the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama's signing into law the bipartisan LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, the most widely supported, Africa-specific legislation in recent US history, which committed the US to help civilians in central Africa threatened by the LRA. The US government published its strategy for action against the LRA in November 2010 and outlined four primary goals: apprehending or removing the group's top leaders, protecting civilians from LRA attacks, encouraging escape and defection from the LRA, and providing humanitarian assistance to affected communities. Since then, the US has primarily focused its strategy on providing enhanced logistical and intelligence support for Ugandan-led military operations against the LRA, which the US had already been supporting since 2008.
"Congress gave the Obama administration an unprecedented mandate to end LRA atrocities and help affected communities recover," said Michael Poffenberger, executive director of Resolve. "The administration has improved some of its efforts, but, by and large, has failed to strengthen civilian protection or apprehend the LRA's top leaders."
The adoption of the US legislation on the LRA gave hope to terrorized communities across central Africa who felt abandoned and forgotten, the organizations said. The governments of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Southern Sudan - countries where the group is currently active - have not shown sufficient capability or resolve to protect civilians adequately from LRA abuses. UN peacekeepers, meanwhile, are too few in numbers and have little capacity or will to protect civilians beyond the borders of their bases.
"Many of us believed that President Obama's commitment to addressing the LRA threat would finally help stop our suffering," said Abbe Benoit Kinalegu of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission in Dungu, Haut Uele, Congo. "Yet one year later, we continue to live in fear as the LRA's attacks have shown no signs of decreasing."
Continued Threat to Civilians and Regional Stability
Since September 2008, the LRA has killed nearly 2,400 civilians and abducted about 3,400 others, according to Human Rights Watch and UN documentation. These atrocities are continuing in northern Democratic Republic of Congo, eastern Central African Republic, and Southern Sudan. In the first four months of 2011, the LRA carried out at least 120 attacks, killing 81 civilians and abducting 193, many of them children. 97 of these attacks were in Congo, representing nearly half the total number of attacks reported in 2010. More than 38,000 Congolese civilians were newly displaced in 2011 due to LRA attacks, adding to the hundreds of thousands in the region who had already fled their homes. LRA attacks are also undermining international investments in peace and stability in Southern Sudan, ahead of its independence in July 2011.
The LRA, which originated in Uganda, has carried out a brutal campaign of killings, rapes, mutilations, and mass abductions of children for 25 years. Three LRA leaders - Joseph Kony, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen - are sought by the ICC under arrest warrants issued in July 2005 for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in northern Uganda. All three remain at large and have been implicated in new atrocities since the arrest warrants were issued.
The LRA spreads more panic and fear with each attack, devastating livelihoods and forcing whole communities to flee. In the past few months, groups of over 20 well-armed LRA combatants, together with dozens of abducted children pressed into LRA service as combatants or porters, have attacked town centers in northern Congo. They have also begun attacking Congolese army bases, diverging from their usual strategy of choosing civilian "soft targets."
Accounts from people abducted by the LRA who recently managed to escape show that the LRA command structure remains intact. Scattered LRA groups are communicating with each other, and the rebels are continuing to abduct and train new fighters.
Need for Expanded Efforts to Implement LRA Strategy
The United States has been by far the most active government outside central Africa in addressing the LRA. But better coordination and more dedicated resources from the United States could produce significant improvements, the organizations said.
Specifically, the organizations called on the United States to appoint a special envoy for the African Great Lakes region, with a mandate extending to the LRA-affected regions of central Africa and reporting directly to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. If given sufficient resources and experienced staff to coordinate efforts in all countries involved and across different agencies of the government, such an envoy could help ensure that the United States is properly equipped to deal with the LRA's cross-border nature.
The envoy's work should be strengthened through regular engagement among officials across relevant US government agencies at both the working staff level and the more senior Deputies Committee or Principals Committee level. This should include tasking a point person at the Deputies Committee or Principals Committee level.
Senior-level US political engagement is also needed to help manage tensions and encourage cooperation among regional governments and other key actors, the groups said. In addition to helping coordinate regional governments, the US should rally serious political engagement and dedicated resources from European partners, the African Union (AU), and the UN Security Council to address the LRA. In particular, ambitions by the AU to help coordinate and facilitate greater regional and international responses to the crisis have stalled and are in need of new momentum.
"The US should lead robust multilateral efforts to overcome years of stalled attempts to address the LRA's threat to civilian populations," said Poffenberger.
Capable Force Needed to Protect Civilians
There is no international peacekeeping presence in the LRA-affected areas of eastern Central African Republic, and fewer than 1,000 UN peacekeeping troops are deployed to northern Congo's Haut Uele district. There are no peacekeepers at all in the neighboring Bas Uele district, even though some of the worst recent LRA atrocities have occurred there and Kony, the LRA leader, is believed to have been there recently. Even where UN peacekeepers are deployed, they often lack the operational capacity or willingness to protect civilians beyond the limits of their own bases.
The US government should take immediate steps, including using its diplomatic influence with other Security Council members and UN member states, to ensure a more effective peacekeeping presence in the LRA-affected regions, the organizations said.
As part of its protection strategy, the US government has made a commitment to build up communications and road infrastructure in the LRA-affected areas, which will eventually improve communities' ability to report attacks or the presence of LRA groups. However, a lack of funds has limited planned communications projects; some people have gained access to life-saving phone and radio networks, but hundreds of thousands of others remain isolated.
"A '911' call can be a lifesaver, but only if those on the other end of the line can bring help fast," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "More peacekeepers are urgently needed in these areas to effectively protect civilians at risk of LRA attacks."
Congolese armed forces, which are insufficiently equipped and poorly paid, have demonstrated little capacity to protect civilians. Soldiers deployed in small units to remote posts in the Uele districts often have no means of transport or communications with their commanders, and, lacking ammunition, are often forced to flee with the population when the LRA attacks.
Congolese army soldiers have also been responsible for serious abuses against the civilians they are charged with protecting, including killing, rape, torture, and arbitrary arrest. In mid-March 2011, for example, soldiers based in Nambia, Niangara territory, Haut Uele, tortured two children, ages 8 to 10, with burning sticks and melted plastic. The children had been accused of stealing a radio. In recent months, Congolese soldiers repeatedly attacked the nomadic Mbororo herder community, committing numerous rapes and killings, and pillaging cattle while forcing community members deep into the forests or across the borders into the Central African Republic or Southern Sudan.
Congolese and Ugandan authorities should investigate any abuses and hold perpetrators accountable in fair trials, the organizations said. The United States should ensure that it does not support any Congolese or Ugandan army unit responsible for serious human rights abuses.
Greater International Efforts Needed to Apprehend LRA Commanders
Apprehending Kony and other senior LRA commanders remains a critical step toward enhancing broader civilian protection efforts, the organizations said. Experience in other conflict zones illustrates that an operation to apprehend people wanted for serious crimes in violation of international law may require specially trained military or police units supported by expert, actionable intelligence and rapid reaction capabilities, including helicopters. In the case of the LRA, such operations should be carried out in parallel with enhanced efforts to encourage LRA commanders and fighters to defect.
The Uganda People's Defence Force lacks adequate intelligence and rapid reaction capacity. A US proposal to send military advisors to assist Ugandan efforts could help address some of these gaps, but even with additional support, the Ugandan army is unlikely to acquire the needed capabilities in the near future, the groups said. Operations are further hampered by deep-seated mistrust and suspicion between the Ugandan and Congolese armies, nearly sabotaging collaborative efforts to protect civilians and pursue the LRA leadership. There are unconfirmed reports that Congolese authorities have called on the Ugandan army to leave Congolese soil by mid-June.
Authorities in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, and in the LRA-affected regions have consistently played down the LRA threat, leading to public protests and tensions between the authorities and local populations. Similarly, Ugandan authorities have repeatedly stated that the LRA has been defeated, despite the new LRA attacks and the fact that the LRA leadership remains at large.
"Congolese and Ugandan denials and inaction do not change the fact that tens of thousands of civilians in central Africa continue to live in fear of the next LRA attack," said John Bradshaw, executive director of the Enough Project. "One year since the passage of a landmark LRA law, the US, with its regional and international partners, has much more to do to move beyond marginal policy shifts and develop an enhanced apprehension strategy capable of decisively ending the LRA threat."
The following 39 organizations have signed on to this news release:
1. HelpAge International
2. Human Rights Watch
3. Organisation pour la Defense des Droits de l'Enfant Internationale
4. A Thousand Sisters, USA
5. ENOUGH Project, USA
6. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, USA
7. Invisible Children, USA
8. Resolve, USA
9. Action des Chretiens Activistes des Droits de l'Homme a Shabunda (ACADHOSHA), Democratic Republic of Congo
10. Action des Chretiens pour l'Abolition de la Torture (ACAT) - Nord Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
11. Action Globale pour la Promotion Sociale et la Paix (AGPSP)
12. Action Humanitaire et de Developpement Integral (AHDI)
13. Africa Justice, Peace, and Development (AJPD)
14. AJDI Doruma, Democratic Republic of Congo
15. Appuis aux femmes Diminue et Enfants Marginalises (AFEDEM), Democratic Republic of Congo
16. Blessed Aid, Democratic Republic of Congo
17. Bureau des Actions de Developpement et des Urgences (BADU), Democratic Republic of Congo
18. Centre des recherches pour l'Environnement, la Democratie et les Droits de L'Homme (CREDDHO)
19. Centre d'Etudes et de Formation Populaire pour les Droits de l'Homme (CEFOP/DH), Democratic Republic of Congo
20. Centre d'Observation des Droits de l'Homme et d'Assistance Sociale (CODHAS), Democratic Republic of Congo
21. Centre pour la Paix et les Droits de l'Homme - Peace and Human Rights Center (CPDH-PHRC), Democratic Republic of Congo
22. Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo (COJESKI), Democratic Republic of Congo
23. CONVERGENCES, Democratic Republic of Congo
24. Defense et Assistance aux Femmes et Enfants Vulnerables en Afrique (DAFEVA), Democratic Republic of Congo
25. Doruma Civil Society, Democratic Republic of Congo
26. Encadrement des Femmes Indigenes et des Menages vulnerables (EFIM), Democratic Republic of Congo
27. Groupe Lotus, Democratic Republic of Congo
28. Human Rights Activists of Niangara Territory, Democratic Republic of Congo
29. Initiative Congolaise pour la Justice et la Paix (ICJP), Democratic Republic of Congo
30. Initiatives Alpha, Democratic Republic of Congo
31. Ligue des Jeunes de Grand Lac (LJGL), Democratic Republic of Congo
32. Observatoire Congolais des Prisons (OCP), Democratic Republic of Congo
33. ReseauProvincial des ONG de Droits Humains au Congo (REPRODHOC), Democratic Republic of Congo
34. Solidarite des Volontaires pour l'Humanite, Democratic Republic of Congo
35. Solidarite Feminine pour la Paix et le Developpement Integral (SOFEPADI), Democratic Republic of Congo
36. UJDL Youth Association of Doruma, Democratic Republic of Congo
37. Union d'Action pour les Initiatives du Developpement (UAID), Democratic Republic of Congo
38. Diocese of Nzara, South Sudan
39. Nzara Comboni Missionary Sisters, South Sudan
LATEST NEWS
US Healthcare Workers Back From Gaza Tell Harris and Biden: 'End This Madness'
"Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets."
Jul 26, 2024
As President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, dozens of American healthcare workers who recently volunteered in the Gaza Strip urged the U.S. leaders to do everything in their power to end Israel's assault on the enclave, citing the horrors they witnessed firsthand.
In an open letter addressed to Biden, Harris, and First Lady Jill Biden, 45 physicians, surgeons, and nurses wrote that "we wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them."
"We wish you could hear the cries and screams our consciences will not let us forget," the letter reads. "We cannot believe that anyone would continue arming the country that is deliberately killing these children after seeing what we have seen."
The healthcare workers called on the Biden administration to "withhold military, economic, and diplomatic support from the state of Israel and to participate in an international arms embargo of both Israel and all Palestinian armed groups until a permanent cease-fire is established, and until good-faith negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians lead to a permanent resolution of the conflict."
"We are not politicians. We do not claim to have all the answers," they continued. "We are simply physicians and nurses who cannot remain silent about what we saw in Gaza. Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets. President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you: End this madness now!"
This is an open letter addressed to @POTUS, @VP , and @FLOTUS signed by 45 American physicians and nurses, about what we saw while working in Gaza. Please feel free to distribute. A PDF can be downloaded from the link and/or QR code on page 1. pic.twitter.com/LHVvmeAFad
— Feroze Sidhwa (@FerozeSidhwa) July 25, 2024
The letter was released as Netanyahu, fresh off his widely condemned address to the U.S. Congress, met separately on Thursday with Biden and Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
In remarks following her meeting with Netanyahu, Harris said that "what has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating," pointing to "the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third, or fourth time."
"We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies," the vice president added. "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent."
Harris said she told Netanyahu directly to "get this deal done"—referring to a cease-fire agreement with Hamas—but, as expected, she did not break with the administration on supplying arms to the Israeli military.
While there has been no obvious policy change from the administration now that Harris has taken over for Biden at the top of the Democratic Party's presidential ticket, Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft argued that the vice president "clearly broke with Biden on Israel in terms of rhetoric and tone."
Parsi also contended that there was "a substance shift."
"Biden has disingenuously claimed that Hamas blocked a cease-fire deal," Parsi wrote on social media. "By saying that she urged Netanyahu 'to clinch the deal,' Kamala pointed to the real obstacle."
BREAKING: VP Harris speaks after meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu
Harris calling for an immediate cease-fire deal to free the hostages.
The VP saying she “will not be silent" about the suffering in Gaza, the "devastating" loss of life and the "dire" humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/Fe5QPoOuFh
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 25, 2024
In their letter to Harris and Biden, the healthcare workers wrote that Israel "has directly targeted and deliberately devastated Gaza's entire healthcare system" and "targeted our colleagues in Gaza for death, disappearance, and torture." According to figures from the United Nations Human Rights Office, Israeli forces have killed one in every 40 healthcare workers in the Palestinian territory since October as diseases spread and the number of Gazans killed or wounded continues to grow by the hour.
The healthcare workers expressed the view that—based on available evidence and their experiences—"the death toll from this conflictis many times higher than what is reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health," which currently stands at over 39,100.
"We also believe this is probative evidence of widespread violations of American laws governing the use of American weapons abroad, and of international humanitarian law," they continued. "We cannot forget the scenes of unbearable cruelty directed at women and children that we witnessed ourselves."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Tragic Outcome' for Gig Workers as California Supreme Court Hands Win to Uber, DoorDash
"Today's ruling only strengthens our demand for the right to join together in a union so that we can begin improving the gig economy for workers and our customers," the case plaintiff said.
Jul 25, 2024
Labor advocates on Thursday decried a ruling by the California Supreme Court upholding a lower court's affirmation of a state ballot measure allowing app-based ride and delivery companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors, limiting their worker rights.
The court's seven justices ruled unanimously in Castellanos v. State of California that Proposition 22, which was approved by 58% of California voters in 2020, complies with the state constitution. Prop 22—which was overturned in 2021 by an Alameda County Superior Court judge in 2021—was upheld in March 2023 by the state's 1st District Court of Appeals.
The business models of app-based companies including DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft, and Uber rely upon minimizing frontline worker compensation by categorizing drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. Independent contractors are not entitled to unemployment insurance, health insurance, or compensation for business expenses.
There are approximately 1.4 million app-based gig workers in California, according to industry estimates.
While DoorDash hailed Thursday's ruling as "not only a victory for Dashers, but also for democracy itself," gig worker advocates condemned the decision.
"Over the last three years, gig workers across California have experienced firsthand that Prop 22 is nothing more than a bait-and-switch meant to enrich global corporations at the expense of the Black, brown, and immigrant workers who power their earnings," plaintiff Hector Castellanos, who drives for Uber and Lyft, said in a statement.
"Prop 22 has allowed gig companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash to deprive us of a living wage, access to workers compensation, paid sick leave, and meaningful healthcare coverage," Castellanos added. "Today's ruling only strengthens our demand for the right to join together in a union so that we can begin improving the gig economy for workers and our customers."
Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, said that "we are deeply disappointed that the state Supreme Court has allowed tech corporations to buy their way out of basic labor laws despite Proposition 22's inconsistencies with our state constitution."
"These companies have upended our social contract, forcing workers and the public to take on the inherent risk created by this work, while they profit," she continued. "A.B. 5 granted virtually all California workers the right to be paid for all hours worked, health and safety standards, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and the right to organize."
"Rideshare and delivery drivers deserve those rights as well," Gonzalez stressed.
The Gig Workers Rising campaign said on social media that "Uber and other app corporations spent $220 million to buy this law, and they did it by tricking Californians."
Prop 22's passage in November 2020 with nearly 59% of the vote was the culmination of what was by far the most expensive ballot measure in California history. App-based companies and their backers outspent labor and progressive groups by more than 10 to 1, with proponents pouring a staggering $204.5 million into the "yes" campaign's coffers against just $19 million for the "no" side.
"Voters were told the initiative would provide us with 'historic new benefits' and guaranteed earnings," said Gig Workers Rising. "But since it went into effect, drivers have seen our pay go down, learned the benefits are a sham, and have to accept unsafe rides because of the constant threat of being 'deactivated,' kicked off the app with little explanation or warning."
"If Uber really cared about good benefits and fair wages, it could make that happen tomorrow," the campaign added. "Instead, it has shown it would rather slash pay, bamboozle voters, and put drivers' lives and livelihoods in danger—all while promising $7 billion in stock buybacks to banks and billionaires."
Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who focuses on labor and inequality, toldCalMatters that Thursday's ruling was "a really tragic outcome," but "it's not the end of the road."
Dubal's sentiment was echoed by some California state legislators, who said the ruling presents an opportunity to act.
"While this decision is frustrating, it must also be motivating," said state Senate Labor Committee Chair Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-28). "I'm more determined than ever to ensure that all workers—including our diverse and Black, Indigenous, and people of color-led gig workforce—have the basic protections of workers compensation, paid sick leave, family leave, disability insurance, and the right to form a union."
Prop 22 has served as a template for lawmakers in other states seeking to deny or limit basic worker rights, benefits, and protections.
In Massachusetts, app-based companies have been fighting for years to get a measure to classify drivers as contractors on the state ballot. In 2022, Lyft made the largest political donation in state history—$14.4 million—to a coalition funding one such proposal.
Last month, Uber and Lyft reached an agreement with the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, a Democrat, to pay $175 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2020. As part of the deal, the companies also agreed to increase driver pay and provide paid sick leave, accident insurance, and some health benefits. The agreement does not address how app-based gig workers should be classified.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Young Voters Tell Kamala Harris to 'Fight for Our Future'
"This is your chance to energize young people and our communities to vote, mount one of the greatest political comebacks in decades, and deliver a resounding defeat to the far-right agenda of Trump and Vance."
Jul 25, 2024
Four youth-led groups on Thursday urged Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to "fight for our future" by pursuing a policy agenda the coalition unveiled in a March letter to U.S. President Joe Biden.
It's been less than a week since Biden left the race and endorsed Harris, who is expected to face former Republican Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), in the November election. Since then, she's racked up endorsements from Democratic members of Congress and progressive groups focused on issues including climate, labor, and reproductive rights.
March for Our Lives, which was launched after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, honored Harris with the group's first-ever endorsement on Wednesday, calling her "the right person to stand up for us and fight for the country we deserve."
"To defeat Trump, you must rebuild support and enthusiasm among young voters."
The gun violence prevention organization is part of the youth-led coalition behind the new letter, which also includes the climate-focused Sunrise Movement; Gen-Z for Change, which advocates on a range of issues; and the national immigrant network United We Dream Action.
"You have an urgent and important task. To defeat Trump, you must rebuild support and enthusiasm among young voters," the coalition told Harris on Thursday, noting that she sought the Democratic nomination during the last cycle. "You should build on your 2020 campaign platform where you put forward a strong vision to make the economy work for everyday people and ensure a livable future for us all."
The groups urged Harris to support the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. They pushed her to expand pathways to citizenship, keep families together, end fossil fuel subsidies, and create good, union jobs. They also called on her to prioritize gun violence prevention and investments in public health solutions and green, affordable housing.
"Democrats are at a critical crossroads with young people," the coalition wrote to Harris on Thursday. "Polls showed Biden and Trump neck-and-neck among young voters."
ANew York Times/Siena College poll conducted July 22-24 shows Trump leading Harris 48% to 47% among likely voters and 48% to 46% among registered voters—differences that fall within the margin of error.
Forbesnoted Thursday that "Democrats are far more enthusiastic about Harris than they were Biden, the Times/Siena survey found, with nearly 80% of voters who lean Democrat saying they would like Harris to be the nominee, compared to 48% of Democrats who said the same about Biden three weeks ago."
The outlet also pointed to two other polls conducted by Morning Consult and Reuters/Ipsos since Biden dropped out, which both show Harris with a narrow lead over Trump.
"You have an opportunity to win the youth vote by turning the page and differentiating yourself from Biden policies that are deeply unpopular with us, such as approving new oil and gas projects, denying people their right to seek refuge and asylum, and funding the Israeli government's killing of civilians in Gaza," the youth coalition highlighted Thursday. "You must speak to the economic pain young people are facing from crushing student debt and skyrocketing housing and food prices."
Looking beyond November, the groups told Harris—who could be the first Black woman and person of Asian descent elected to the country's highest office—that "you could be a historic president. Not just because of who you are, but what you can accomplish."
"Young people are energized and ready to organize against fascism and for the future we deserve," they concluded. "This is your chance to energize young people and our communities to vote, mount one of the greatest political comebacks in decades, and deliver a resounding defeat to the far-right agenda of Trump and Vance."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular