A report by more than 50 charity groups says the rate of violent deaths in northern Uganda is three times higher than in Iraq. The report has been prepared by Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda (CSOPNU). It says nearly 150 northern Ugandans die every week due to the rebellion waged by the group the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).CSOPNU demands the UN Security Council add its voice to their call for peace talks to end the violence. "It should express its conviction the crisis ... can only be ended via a process of political engagement, diplomacy, and peaceful negotiation," the coalition said in a statement.
The United Nations coordinator for humanitarian affairs, Jan Egeland, says the Ugandan Government must act to stop further bloodshed. "We now need to see them realise the very encouraging statements that have been there from the Foreign Minister and also very positive signals from President Museveni that a different, renewed more systematic effort of the Ugandan Government to provide security for their own citizens will now take place," he said.
| I'd guess it's kind of hard to negotiate when your enemy consists of krazed killers led by a psychopathic nutbag. But maybe Jan knows something we don't. |