Peace and Conflict Update

So, Invisible Children is going to start writing more regular updates on the conflict in northern Uganda, some I thought may be of interest to some of you. So this blog is just copied and pasted straight from their blog, so the links to the articles referenced probably won't work. (invisiblechildren.com/blog if you want to check it out).

hope you learn something!

So we were thumbing through our blog the other day and realized something. Something extremely important. If you’ve been trying to follow the progression of the peace talks on our site at all, you probably have the feeling we’ve been sort of schizophrenic - jumping from thought to thought, person to person. There’s so much going on that it’s completely crazy to try and understand what’s actually happening. It’s like sifting through chaos.But, despite how complex the issues may be, it’s incredibly essential for advocates to stay in the know about how events are unfolding in the North. If we want to continue spreading the word (and don’t we all?!?!), we have to stay educated.

So we’ve developed a solution. A layman’s version of the complex conflict. Once or twice a week, we’ll be posting a Peace and Conflict Update on the blog. They’ll always be numbered so you can look back in case you’ve missed one. Hopefully these will provide a more simple and understandable version of the current events that will be easy to follow.
So, on to it.

PEACE AND CONFLICT UPDATE #1(Events from December 9-20)

The Details on Otti: The whereabouts and status of the LRA’s Second in Command Vincent Otti have been back and forth at best over the past couple of months. Rumors of house arrest, illness, and execution have circled around the media, but hard evidence wasn’t emerging. Now in early December, one of the LRA’s commanders, Sunday Otto, confirms Otti’s execution to have taken place on October 2nd. You can read the full transcript of Otto’s interview here.Agenda

Item #3: Accountability and Reconciliation: After spending a month in Uganda, the LRA negotiating team has announced that they’ve wrapped their consultations on agenda item #3 of the peace process. While this is heartening, the people of the North are encouraging both parties to get back to the negotiating table and bring a final resolution to this war by finalizing the remaining two agenda items.

UN’s Presence at the Peace Process: With the consent of the UN Secretary-General and the UN Security Council, Joaquim Chissano (the Special Envoy for LRA-Affected Regions), will extend his role in the peace process until December 31, 2008. Thus far, Chissano has been integral in the talks. Chissano is now in Kampala meeting with heads of State for Uganda, the DRC, and Rwanda before returning to Juba to continue the peace talks. Read more about Chissano’s role here and here.

January 31st: This is huge news. After meeting with the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Museveni has determined to give the LRA until January 31, 2008 to come to a peace agreement and leave their base in the DRC. If they do not meet this date, the DRC and Uganda have threatened a joint military offensive against LRA Commander Joseph Kony. The LRA has repeatedly asked for an extension until March 15, but it has been denied. Read more about the deadline here.