Brownback Calls for U.S. Pressure to End Ugandan Conflict

Brownback Calls for U.S. Pressure to End Ugandan Conflict
Civil war has forced thousands of children into rebel army

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today called for greater U.S. and international action to address the civil war and child soldier crisis in Uganda.

"The practices of Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army are deplorable," said Brownback. "For almost two decades Kony has fought a civil war with the Ugandan government using tactics that are beyond the pale. Kony forces children to join his army under the threat that they must kill others or be killed themselves, and his army ravages civilian villages as part of a systematic campaign of terror."

On Saturday, April 29th, Brownback will participate in the Global Night Commute, where thousands of Americans will leave their homes and walk miles at night to sleep in different cities. These individual actions symbolize the journey thousands of children in Northern Uganda are forced to undertake each night to city centers to avoid being abducted into the Lord's Resistance Army. Once the night passes, the children walk back to their home villages.

Brownback continued, "While the State Department's designation of the Lord's Resistance Army as a terrorist organization is an appropriate first step, the United States should bring more pressure on the international community to apprehend Kony and bring him to justice. The Ugandan government has an important role to play in ending this conflict by allowing increased assistance and human rights monitors to secure the peace. The U.S. and international donor community should continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the two million displaced civilians in Northern Uganda."

In November of 2004 Brownback traveled to Uganda to learn firsthand about the atrocities against civilians committed by the Lord's Resistance Army. He also observed World AIDS Day with the First Lady of Uganda.

"I appreciate the work of relief organizations such as World Vision for highlighting the needs of the innocent civilians who suffer from violence and neglect," stated Brownback. "This terrible war has gone on too long, and too many children have suffered the cruel and awful fate of being forced to kill others or be killed themselves."

http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=254730&&days=365&