Amber+Beltran,+LRA

toc __**WARNING: Graphic Images.** __ //“The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today.”//

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been terrorizing villages and its people for the past twenty years all while in war, that never seems to end, with the government of Uganda (GoU). A war that has left more than two million civilians dead and an entire generation of youth that has never known peace. (Invisible Children) The Lord's Resistance Army has ruined and separated Africa for years, if we all come together and help, we can change the outcome. Together we can put hope back into the hearts of the lost, the fearful and the hopeless. media type="youtube" key="PNL2oyvrJZ0" height="315" width="560" align="center"

= A History of Africa's Longest Running War. = The Lord’s Resistance Army, the LRA, controlled by a man named Joseph Kony  since the early eighties with the initial goal to rule Uganda based on the Ten Commandments to save his people from discrimination by the government. However, the spark of the LRA can be traced back to woman named Alice Lakwena who claimed the Holy Spirit spoke to her and ordered her to overthrow the Ugandan government. Although, the tactics of the Lord's Resistance Army were initially less violent gradually increased in violence when Kony became convinced that the people were collaborating with the government, this changed everything. Throughout the years, the LRA has increased their violent tactics. The LRA carries vicious attacks to show their power, they abduct adults and children to become part of the LRA to carry out plots to kill innocent people. In 1996, as a response to the LRA attacks in the villages, the Ugandan government evicted thousands from their homes, relocating them into overcrowded camps in hopes of providing protection. But over a decade later, about one million individuals still live in these camps and struggle to survive among the effects of poverty, rampant disease, and near-certain starvation. By December of 2001, the Lord's Resistance Army was declared a terrorist organization by the United States and by May 24, 2010 the Lord's Resistance Army disarmament and North Uganda Recovery act was signed and passed, legislation aimed at stopping Joseph Kony and helping the countless children whose lives are at risk as long as he roams free. After a year of hard work from thousands of activists and champions within Congress, this landmark legislation stands as the most significant action ever taken by our leaders to end this crisis.

//"Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart, //  //for his purity, by definition, is unassailable." -James Baldwin //

=The Silenced Ones. = The Lord's Resistance Army DOES NOT discriminate on gender or age. Young boys are targeted specifically to join the military forces and molded into "killing machines," being forced to kill family, friends, and younger children. Young girls are not relieved of the risk at being put in the battle field, however, they are more prone to be used as sex slaves or servants to their assigned commander, also know as ting tings. Once the girls reach the age of about fifteen they are given to soldiers as wives and are forced to have sexual intercourse with men that are about three times their age. Some children are able to return to their homes after being abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army by surrendering to the Uganda's Peoples Defense Force, being rescued or captured in a battle, slipping away at night, or after being abandoned when they are sick, injured, or thought to be dead. Can you imagine the psychological damage? Many children go through a great deal of counseling in their villages but the nightmares never go away. The victims never truly escape the Lord's Resistance Army. //"In Sudan we were fighting the Dinkas, and other Sudanese civilians. // //I don't know why we were fighting them. We were just ordered to fight." - Timothy, fourteen //  = **Where is the solution? ** =
 * 1) United States: President Barack Obama has ordered the deployment of one hundred armed military advisors to Central Africa to help regulate the Lord’s Resistance Army. In Barack Obama’s letter to congress announces his plan for deployment.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There are also organizations that spread the terror of the Lord's Resistance Army, such as Invisible Children who have a Crisis Tracker that shows how many abductions, killings and attacks have taken place on a day to day basis.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In December of 2003, the government of Uganda referred the situation in northern Uganda to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and asked for an investigation into the LRA. The ICC indicted Joseph Kony and four other LRA leaders (Vincent Otti, Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen) for war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, rape, sexual slavery, and enlistment of children. Arrest warrants were issued for the five LRA commanders, but have since been responsible for creating tension in Uganda peace efforts.

=<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Where did I get my information from? =

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Joseph Kony News - The New York Times." //Times Topics - The New York Times//. 14 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/joseph_kony/index.html>.

//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Invisible Children //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.invisiblechildren.com/>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"IRT - International Refugee Trust - The Barefoot Peace Walk - LRA History." //IRT - International Refugee Trust - HOME//. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.irt.org.uk/lra-history/>.

//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">LRA Crisis Tracker | Invisible Children Resolve //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.lracrisistracker.com/>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Mackey, Robert. "Human Rights Group Welcomes Obama's Decision to Send Troops to Uganda - NYTimes.com." //Breaking News - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com//. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/human-rights-group-welcomes-obamas-decision-to-send-troops-to-uganda/?ref=lordsresistancearmy>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Uganda's Child Soldiers (Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army)." //Out of Africa - Too//. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://kabiza.com/Lira-Children-Kony-Rebels.htm>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Untitled Document." //Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts//. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~may20p/classweb/uganda/Escape.html>. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/world/africa/barack-obama-sending-100-armed-advisers-to-africa-to-help-fight-lords-resistance-army.html?_r=1&ref=lordsresistancearmy>.