The U.S. military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) has just wrapped up an exercise in Uganda, where new military technology was tested and health care services offered to poverty-stricken northern Ugandans. Uganda is being used by the U.S. to funnel weapons into Somalia, prompting Somali militants to target Ugandans.
The legislation calls for increased protection of civilians -- ignoring the reality of the recent carnage U.S. involvement has produced in Congo.
The bill was approved unanimously by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and calls for the U.S. to use all means to arrest or kill top leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army.
The International Criminal Court
While the Ugandan government has decided it will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court, the U.S. appears to be close to re-activating Bill Clinton's signature on the Rome Statute in 2000. In August, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she regretted the U.S. was not a signatory, but stressed the U.S. has "supported the court" and "would continue to do so."
And in Kenya, U.S. ambassador Stephen Rapp has given an even stronger indication the U.S. is moving closing to re-joining the ICC. "Our government has now made the decision that Americans will return to engagement at the ICC.”
Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committe
- John Kerry, Massachusetts, Chairman
- Christopher Dodd, Connecticut
- Russ Feingold, Wisconsin
- Barbara Boxer, California
- Bob Menendez, New Jersey
- Ben Cardin, Maryland
- Bob Casey, Jr., Pennsylvania
- Jim Webb, Virginia
- Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire
- Ted Kaufman, Delaware
- Kirsten Gillibrand, New York
- Richard Lugar, Indiana, Ranking Member
- Bob Corker, Tennessee
- Johnny Isakson, Georgia
- Jim Risch, Idaho
- Jim DeMint, South Carolina
- John Barrasso, Wyoming
- Roger Wicker, Mississippi
- James Inhofe, Oklahoma
Senator Feingold's Statement on the legislation:
SENATE COMMITTEE PASSES FEINGOLD BILL REQUIRING NEW STRATEGY TO CONFRONT THE LRA
Feingold's Bipartisan Legislation Would Bring New Attention and Support to Ending Africa's Longest Running Rebel War
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Washington, D.C. - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed bipartisan legislation today authored by U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and cosponsored by Sam Brownback (R-KS) requiring the Obama administration to develop a new multifaceted strategy to confront one of Africa's longest running rebel groups, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). For more than two decades, under the leadership of Joseph Kony, the LRA has kidnapped more than 66,000 children and forced them to fight as child soldiers, wreaking havoc in northern Uganda and southern Sudan, and more recently, northeastern Congo and Central African Republic. Feingold's bipartisan Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act requires the United States to work with multilateral partners to develop a viable path to disarm the LRA, while ensuring the protection of civilians.
"For too long, Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army have terrorized innocent civilians across four countries of central Africa, kidnapping thousands of children and forcing them to become child soldiers and commit horrific acts," said Feingold, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, who visited Uganda in 2007. "My bill will commit the United States to develop a proactive strategy to work with regional governments to stop the LRA, while better targeting our assistance to address the conditions in northern Uganda that enabled the LRA to emerge in the first place. I will work with my colleagues to move this important piece of legislation through the Senate."
"The LRA's 30-year campaign of violence has scarred communities across central Africa, who have in turn been let down by their governments, the UN and the international donor community," said Jon Elliott, Africa Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch. "This Bill offers an opportunity to put civilian protection where it should be, at the top of the agenda, and much-needed American leadership to finally bring Joseph Kony and his co-accused to justice. And it will hopefully ensure that victims receive the support and redress they need to rebuild their lives."
Feingold's bill authorizes $10 million in additional funding for humanitarian assistance for those areas outside of Uganda now directly affected by the LRA's brutality. In this year alone, the UN reports that the LRA has killed more than 1,500 people, abducted over 1,800, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Central African Republic, Congo and southern Sudan. Feingold's bill also authorizes $30 million over three years for transitional justice and reconciliation to encourage and help the Ugandan government to address the grievances and regional divisions that the LRA exploited for nearly two decades. The Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act is cosponsored by Sam Brownback (R-KS) and 25 other senators, including several members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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