02/20/2007

Contacts: Sarah Martin and Kavita Shukla
ri@refugeesinternational.org or 202.828.0110


With a tenuous ceasefire in place in Northern Uganda and improvements in security in recent months, internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps have experienced increased freedom of movement and some measure of improvements in their lives. A breakdown in the peace talks between the government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) threatens to undermine these improvements. While movement out of the overcrowded camps, which have been notorious for squalid living conditions, human rights abuses, sexual exploitation and a general lack of protection for the displaced, is a positive one, the Government of Uganda must use this moment of peace to strengthen government efforts to protect their citizens.

The internally displaced in northern Uganda have lived in camps for a number of years. Many were herded there by the Ugandan military, the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF). Other camps were spontaneously formed settlements around UPDF detachments. The UPDF established strict curfews for all living in Acholiland and accused those living outside camps of being collaborators with the LRA. Human rights violations have been widespread for years (see RI bulletin: Inadequate Response to Protection Crisis in Northern Uganda ).

Many of the abuses against the displaced in the camps were perpetrated by UPDF contingents, which were posted there to protect them from the LRA. Soldiers from mobile units that were rotated from camp to camp were responsible for some of the worst violations, including rape of young women. While there have been few attacks by the LRA since May 2006, human rights violations still occur in the camps. According to a government official, “There are still isolated incidents. In November, seven members of a family were killed by a UPDF soldier who was living with one of the girls. It was unfortunate.”

Reform of the UPDF has been a priority for local human rights agencies, which undertook efforts to educate and sensitize the military and camp population about abuses. In recent months, UPDF conduct has also improved, but some feel it is due to the LRA’s absence from northern Uganda. “In the past, it was debatable about who did what – but now only the UPDF are here so they will be blamed,” said one human rights agency. “I feel a little bit more secure because the soldiers are outside the camps,” one woman at Pagok camp told Refugees International, “but the safety is because the LRA is gone.”

The notorious mobile units have been called away from camps as the LRA threat has diminished and this has further reduced attacks on the displaced. “Civil-military relations are good,” said a UN representative in Gulu. A local human rights monitor told RI, “The UPDF army and police have committed a lot of violations in the past. But they are trying to improve. They now allow us to inspect the Army barracks.” Another human rights group seconded this, “They are mindful about their image --- more worried about protecting civilians than they were before. In Kitgum, two years ago, an entire IDP camp was attacked by UPDF and it wasn’t taken seriously. Now you do not see that happening.”

While the UPDF’s attention to reform is laudable, there still remain considerable concerns. Some UPDF commanders have become draconian in responding to reports of soldiers abusing IDPs and have carried out immediate executions with no appeals process for the accused. But the top commanders themselves are exempt from discipline and allowed to act with impunity. RI received reports that commanders of units carrying out the worst violations were simply transferred to other posts where presumably the abuses will continue. Local NGOs have pushed for the battalions linked to the worst human rights conduct to be disbanded but this has not happened. It is imperative that the Government of Uganda ensure that the military obey international and domestic laws and respect the rights of the displaced in northern Uganda.

Another possible solution to curb the abuse of military power in northern Uganda would be to transfer responsibility for the protection of civilians from the UPDF to the police. Currently, there is little police presence in the north. Although the Government of Uganda has promised between 1,500-1,700 police personnel, they are not yet deployed. According to human rights organizations, the government has claimed that the delay in deployment is due to lack of resources. In Lira, which has the most substantial police presence in northern Uganda, most constables don’t have uniforms or wages. Another problematic aspect of the police is that members of militia known as the Local Defense Units are being absorbed into formal forces without a vetting process to screen out human rights violators.

Unlike many countries with internal displacement, Uganda has a functioning government that operates throughout the country. But government services in northern Uganda have always been notoriously weak --- one of the root causes of the conflict. The central government has good IDP policies on paper but has been reluctant to allocate adequate resources towards many of the initiatives that would enhance protection of the displaced.

The government’s mechanisms for handling protection issues in the north remain severely under-funded. The Uganda Human Rights Commission has very limited resources to work at district level; there are only six staff at the Commission’s Gulu office, which has a mandate for 16 districts. One successful program has involved establishing a paralegal system in each of the camps so violations could be documented and reported. These paralegal systems were necessary because there are few government employees in the camps to enable the displaced to register abuses. As security has improved, so has access to the camps to monitor abuses. But as the people in the north move out of the camps, these paralegal systems, already under-funded and overstretched, will be further taxed. “How will we find the resources to extend these services?” asked one human rights activist. “There is much that needs to happen.”

Another consequence of the increased movement of people out of the camps has been a surge in land disputes. There is only one High Court in northern Uganda based in Gulu district. The court has a backlog of 3,000 cases and the majority of the judges handle only civil cases. As displaced persons begin to return to their original homes, there are virtually no mechanisms in place to handle land disputes. At present 2,000 applications are pending before land tribunals set up two years ago, and there is little chance the one high court will become involved in the process.

The lack of resources and political will within the government of Uganda will be felt even more keenly by those who have been the most vulnerable to abuses --- women and children. Periodically since 2004 the Lord’s Resistance Army has released child combatants to be reunited with their families. Recently, there have been increasing reports of these children being rejected and forced onto the street. “We have to help these children,” said one human rights activist. “They have to start some sort of life. They have missed death so narrowly that we have to help them heal – slowly, slowly but we must do it.” Young girls, returning as child mothers, are particularly vulnerable. When resources become tight in the IDP camps, the returning children are usually the first to be accused. “People say – ‘How can you sleep on a nice mattress when you have caused these problems for us?’” The Amnesty Commission, a government body entrusted with sensitizing local communities where former LRA are returning, is unable to carry out follow up activities due to a lack of funds.

In Lira, which is a kind of indicator for the future of Acholiland, it seems that the most vulnerable IDPs, such as the elderly, disabled, widows and orphans, will continue to live in the camps after everyone else has returned home. It is the government of Uganda’s responsibility to provide protection to its vulnerable citizens. Its policy of prolonged encampment has destroyed many of the traditional survival tactics that people have used in the past, leaving the most vulnerable more in need of protection.

Refugees International, therefore, recommends that the Government of Uganda:

• Investigate all allegations of abuse and exploitation and hold accountable senior UPDF officials who have committed violations.
• Ensure that UPDF troops stationed at IDP camps receive training and sensitization to curb human rights violations.
• Begin a vetting process to screen out human rights violators from the police force.
• Fulfill previous promises to fund human rights and police presence in the north and actively recruit personnel for these functions.
• Strengthen the provision of basic services in the camps by allocating the necessary human and financial resources.
• Along with donor governments, fully support specific programs to enhance IDP protection in northern Uganda.