PUBLISHED LETTERS
[Letter to the Editor by Okot Nyoromoi, New Vision, 6.26.06]
Ochola has always spoken his mind
SIR —I would like to comment on the editorial entitled, "War in the north is not genocide" published on June 22. First of all, Bishop Ochola has been very clear and consistent in calling a spade a spade.
The war in the north is genocide. It is the New Vision and the Government of Uganda who have been playing it down.
Right from President Museveni down to NRM functionaries, the debate has always been whether to call the tragedy a war, conflict or genocide. There is a deliberate attempt to misinform the world about what has been going on for the last 20 years. What is critical is not the name but what must be done to end the tragedy.
It does not matter whether the people in the camps were forced by the LRA, UPDF or relocated on their own because they are suffering tragically in the camps.
Okot Nyormoi
[Letter to the Editor by Carolyn Edson, The Monitor, 6.28.06]
'War in the north is a genocide¹
The Retired Bishop of Kitgum, Macleod Ochola, presented a very balanced view
of what has been taking place in northern Uganda for the past 20 years,
contrary to the views expressed in The New Vision.
The dictionary definition given is not in use today. It has the connotation
to most people that a genocide takes place in a matter of days, months or a
few years as in Nazi Germany.
I would refer readers to the definition that is used by the ICC. Genocide is
defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as "any of the following acts committed with
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or
religious group.
For 20 years, the government has refused to classify the catastrophe in the
north as a "disaster".
I do not need to quote the statistics of the numbers of innocent civilians
who have died, the number of children who were allowed to be abducted even
when the army was notified in advance of an impending attack and the numbers
of people forced into what has been called "protected villages".
People in the villages were hardly protected and the conditions of the camps
are so poor that one would think they were designed to cause death.
The structures of society have been destroyed, women and men have been
exploited as they have been reduced to such a hideous level of poverty. The
very basics of human existence have hardly been provided while elites in the
army and political regime have become wealthy through corruption like in the
ghost soldiers on the army payroll cases.
Soldiers supposed to be on guard but who are absent make their bosses grow
rich.
Bishop Ochola gave a balanced view of what is taking place in the north. He
attributed the genocide in the north to the LRA, the UPDF and the conditions
in the IDP camps.
The ICC has failed in its international obligations.
It would appear that sections of the media are more concerned about the
reputation of Uganda than reality of what has been on the ground for the
last 20 years.
What a shame!
Carolyn Edson
Canada
[Letter to the Editor by Carolyn Edson]
'War in the north is a genocide¹
The Retired Bishop of Kitgum, Macleod Ochola, presented a very balanced view
of what has been taking place in northern Uganda for the past 20 years,
contrary to the views expressed in The New Vision.
The dictionary definition given is not in use today. It has the connotation
to most people that a genocide takes place in a matter of days, months or a
few years as in Nazi Germany.
I would refer readers to the definition that is used by the ICC. Genocide is
defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as "any of the following acts committed with
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or
religious group.
For 20 years, the government has refused to classify the catastrophe in the
north as a "disaster".
I do not need to quote the statistics of the numbers of innocent civilians
who have died, the number of children who were allowed to be abducted even
when the army was notified in advance of an impending attack and the numbers
of people forced into what has been called "protected villages".
People in the villages were hardly protected and the conditions of the camps
are so poor that one would think they were designed to cause death.
The structures of society have been destroyed, women and men have been
exploited as they have been reduced to such a hideous level of poverty. The
very basics of human existence have hardly been provided while elites in the
army and political regime have become wealthy through corruption like in the
ghost soldiers on the army payroll cases.
Soldiers supposed to be on guard but who are absent make their bosses grow
rich.
Bishop Ochola gave a balanced view of what is taking place in the north. He
attributed the genocide in the north to the LRA, the UPDF and the conditions
in the IDP camps.
The ICC has failed in its international obligations.
It would appear that sections of the media are more concerned about the
reputation of Uganda than reality of what has been on the ground for the
last 20 years.
What a shame!
Carolyn Edson
Canada
FULL TEXT VERSION
[Letter to the Editor by Okot Nyormoi]
[Letter to the Editor by Okot Nyormoi]
Dear Editor,
New Vision
Kampala
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New Vision
Kampala
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I would like to comment on the editorial entitled, "War in the north is not genocide" that appeared in the Thursday, June 22, 2006 New Vision. First of all, Retired Bishop Ochola has been very clear and consistent in calling a spade a spade. The war in the north is genocide. It is the New Vision and the Government of Uganda who have been waffling or flip flopping about it. Right from President Museveni all the way down to NRM functionaries, always debate whether to call the tragedy a war, conflict, genocide or what. This is not because they do not know what it is, but because of a deliberate attempt to misinform the world and therefore cover up what has been going on for the last 20 years. Second, what is critical is not the name but what must be done to end the tragedy. Third, it does not matter whether the people in the camps were forced by the LRA, UPDF or relocated on their own because they are suffering tragically in the camps. Instead of wasting time and energy arguing about how they got there, we should focus on restoring peace.
I agree with the editorial that genocide means "the deliberate extermination of a people or nation". In the northern tragedy, there is evidence showing that the action of the government against the people of the north was and still is deliberate and intended to destroy Acholi as a people. First, since 1986 or even earlier, Museveni mounted a hate campaign against the people of the north; calling them biological substances and many other demeaning names, threatening to kill them like ensenene trapped in a bottle, gloating about massacring them. No less than five times, Museveni scuttled serious efforts to negotiate peace (2004, 2003, 2000, 1994, 1988 and 1985). The Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, unanimously supported by a Ugandan parliamentary resolution, called upon the Government to declare the north a disaster area, only to be rejected by the government. Furthermore, many times President Museveni declared that peace had returned to Uganda since 1996 and has similarly declared the war over in total disregard of what New Vision calls "a terrible tragedy".
It is also significant to remember that Museveni declared that he will teach the Acholi people a lesson that they will never recover from. In private conversations, it is revealed that the lesson is to teach the Acholis that they are not the only ones who know how to fight. Having failed to militarily defeat the LRA, Museveni changed to a new strategy, which is to destroy Acholis as a people. This is why so long as the LRA remains out of reach, Museveni will not be interested in ending the war in the north. Therefore, it is not surprising that the IDPs camps have come to represent the figurative ensenene bottle, a death trap.
Although the people are reluctant to move out of the camps, it does not equal to the absence of genocide in the north. The people simply feel like being between a rock and a hard place. If they stay in the camps, they will die from preventable conditions and if they go home, they may die at the hands of UPDF, LRA or common criminals. It is this untenable situation that has created a condition for genocide. The LRA exists because of Museveni and Museveni is still president today because of the LRA. The losers are the people in the IDPs camps, rightfully called concentration camps by a British MP.
It is also true that there are some senior Acholis in the Museveni government. However, they are no more than tokens. Regrettably, it is some of those Acholis whom the government uses to do its dirty job. In fact, Museveni often asserts that Acholis are killing themselves, precisely because he uses the LRA on the one hand and those who work for the government to go against each other. Even the Nazis used some Jews to execute their own people. Therefore, the fact that there are some Acholis in the Museveni government cannot be used as an argument to deny the existence of genocide in Acholiland.
When Dr. Olara Otunnu spoke against the genocide early this year, the government argued that he does not know about the situation on the ground since he had never been to Uganda in 20 years. Yet, government officials have no problem accepting facts established in the distant past or in distant countries where they don't live. Why is it so difficult for them to accept the fact that Dr. Otunnu is well informed about his home situation even if he has not physically lived there for 20 years? This time when the Retired Bishop spoke about it, they are more worried about tarnishing the image of the country abroad instead of showing concerns for the lives being lost in the camps. Such a response betrays the callousness with which the Kampala regime regards the lives of northerners trapped in th IDPs camps. How perverted it is to put priority on saving the image of a country ahead of the lives of its citizens who live in the IDPs camps.
Finally, like cancer, genocide can occur in different ways. Under the Nazis, it took months. In Rwanda, it took several days. In Kosovo, it also took days if not weeks. In northern Uganda, Museveni has orchestrated a situation in which genocide is slow and oblique. Besides, the Kampala regime has effectively used its public relations resources to cover it up from the international community. In Rwanda the world debated whether there was genocide or not until 800,000 people were killed. Then the world swore "Never again". Apparently, the swearing did not include indirect and slow acting genocide. Will the world wait till 800,000 people in the camps are dead before they will call it genocide and swear another "never again"?
Okot Nyormoi, Ph.D.
Member of the Board of Directors
Friendsforpeaceinafrica.org
Member of the Board of Directors
Friendsforpeaceinafrica.org
[Letter to the Editor by Carolyn Edson]
Re: Editorial, New Vision, June 22, 2006
Title: Uganda: War in the North is not ‘Genocide’
The Retired Bishop of Kitgum, Macleod Ochola, presented a very balanced view of what has been taking place in northern Uganda for the past 20 years, contrary to the views expressed by the Editor of ‘New Vision’.
The Editor of ‘New Vision’ has used a dictionary definition of genocide that is not in use today in international circles. It harkens to the period of the Second World War. It has the connotation to most people that a genocide takes place in a matter of days, or months, or a relatively few years as in Nazi Germany. I would refer readers to the definition that is used by the ICC:
“Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
For 20 years the Government of Uganda (GOU) has refused to classify the catastrophe in the north as even a “disaster”. I need not quote the stats of the numbers of innocent civilians who have died; the number of children who were allowed to be abducted, even when the army was notified in advance of an impending attack; the numbers of people forced into what have been called euphemistically “protected villages”. They were hardly protected, and the conditions of the camps are so abominable that they are calculated to cause maximum death from preventable diseases over time. The structures of society have been destroyed, girls and women and men have been exploited as they have been reduced to such a hideous level of poverty, the very basics of human existence have hardly been provided, while elites in the army and political regime have become wealthy through corruption. Have I mentioned the use of torture on innocent civilians in contravention of international laws, to maintain the culture of fear? These are all policies of the Museveni Government…
Rtd. Bishop Ochola gave a balanced view of what is taking place in the north. He attributed the genocide in the north to the LRA, the UPDF, and the conditions in the IDP camps. The ICC has failed in its international obligations and only investigated the LRA citing lack of resources…
It would appear that the Editor of ‘New Vision’ is more concerned with the reputation of Uganda than he is with the reality of what has been taking place over the course of 20 years in northern Uganda.
Carolyn Edson, Canada
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