VZCZCXRO3832
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #1224/01 2080515
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270515Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9142
INFO RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0625
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHTO/AMEMBASSY MAPUTO 0420
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 3305
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 001224 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID AND OFDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF PREL MOPS ASEC CASC EAID UG SU
SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (July 15-28, 2007) 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: The following Northern Uganda Notes provides 
information on the situation on the ground and USG activities aimed 
at meeting Mission's objectives in northern Uganda.  These 
objectives include promoting regional stability through peace and 
security, good governance, access to social services, economic 
growth, and humanitarian assistance.  Post appreciates feedback from 
consumers on the utility of this product and any gaps in information 
that need to be filled.  End Summary. 
 
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PEACE AND RECONCILIATION PROCESSES 
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¶2.  (SBU) The Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army 
(LRA) want to extend the one month recess to provide more time for 
consultations with stakeholders.  The LRA may request an additional 
month to undertake consultations.  It has been waiting for Riek 
Machar, the southern Sudanese mediator, to approve its budget for 
consultations.  The GOU also would like additional time, but is wary 
of too long of a delay. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Uganda Human Rights Commission Commissioner Veronica 
Bichertero met with Vincent Otti on June 22 at Rikwangba to discuss 
the issue of women and children.  For the first time, Otti appeared 
to accept that there were civilian women and children with the LRA. 
He agreed to allow women and children to attend a UNICEF site by day 
to receive medical, psycho-social, and recreational services, but 
not schooling.  The written agreement would go into effect with the 
signing of a peace deal.  Otti had previously stated that the women 
and children with the LRA were "their people." 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Government of Norway is establishing a video 
teleconferencing link for the LRA between Juba and Garamba National 
Park.  This will facilitate more direct involvement of the LRA 
leadership in the talks. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) USG Activities: The agreement between the Government and 
the LRA sets out the principles for holding accountable those 
responsible for committing war crimes, and for achieving 
reconciliation.  The GOU and the LRA plan to undertake consultations 
with stakeholders and legal experts on how to implement the 
agreement.  The GOU has asked development partners to assist with 
this process while the LRA has submitted a proposal to the Riek 
Machar. USAID, in partnership with the Netherlands, Norway and 
Sweden, has offered to provide support to the GOU to undertake its 
part of the accountability and reconciliation consultations. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The GOU's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Amnesty 
Commission are planning four consultation conferences in Northern 
Uganda in Gulu, Adjumani, Lira, and Soroti. Consultations in the 
region are meant for hearing the "voices of the people" - these 
include district and local leaders, women, youth, children and other 
victims in the LRA affected districts. There will be a meeting in 
Kampala for consulting the formal justice system. The consultations 
are planned for early to mid-August and will also involve civil 
society organizations that have researched transitional justice 
concepts in the context of northern Uganda. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) P/E Chief met with Matthew Brubacher, Associate Situation 
Analyst with the International Criminal Court on July 19.  Over the 
past two years, Brubacher traveled frequently to northern Uganda, 
Sudan, and Congo to assess the ground situation.  He is in Uganda to 
participate in sensitization meetings with the public on ICC 
processes, the warrants for the LRA leadership, and international 
standards of justice.  The ICC office in Kampala has 15 full-time 
staff.  Brubacher said that the available evidence to the ICC 
indicates that the LRA leadership is using the peace process to 
regroup, rearm, resupply, and rebrand its image.  Nonetheless, the 
ICC would continue to urge the Government and local leaders to 
ensure that the accountability and reconciliation mechanism contain 
adequate justice for the victims of the conflict. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) P/E Chief and Economic/Commercial Officer met with 
Uganda's High Commissioner to The Hague, Miriam Blaack on July 24. 
She is participating in discussions among Government officials on 
the potential outcomes of the peace talks.  The Government is 
concerned that the LRA may sign a peace deal it never intends to 
honor.  Nonetheless, the GOU is committed to the peace process and 
is exploring ways in which to encourage the LRA to negotiate 
seriously on the accountability and reconciliation mechanisms. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) P/E Chief and USAID Peace Support Advisor met with Adam 
O'Brien from the International Crisis Group on July 25.  O'Brien is 
 
KAMPALA 00001224  002 OF 003 
 
 
preparing the ICG's next update on northern Uganda, which will be 
published in late August.  O'Brien said that from ICG's perspective, 
the LRA delegation's demands at the peace negotiations do not match 
the security interests of LRA leaders Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, and 
the other two ICC indictees.  In his view, the regional dimensions 
of the LRA issue need to be addressed, i.e. Khartoum's alleged 
support for the LRA and Congo's inaction against the LRA.  He 
concluded that the LRA is using the talks to re-invent itself and to 
be available to destabilize southern Sudan, which has upcoming 
elections in 2009 and the referendum in 2011. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  P/E Chief and USAID Peace Support Advisor met with Santa 
Okot, a former Member of Parliament from Lango, who is now a member 
of the LRA negotiating team on July 25.  Okot confirmed that Otti 
was allowing women and children to receive medical attention.  She 
received permission from Otti to organize the women and children in 
the camp into groups with designated group leaders.  Okot said that 
some of these women leaders will attend the consultations at 
Rikwangba.  There, other Ugandan women and local government leaders 
could have access to them.  Okot provided a copy of the LRA 
consultation proposal, which calls for 500 delegates to go to 
Rikwangba for USD 2.1 million, subsequently revised to USD 1.8 
million.  The LRA request is based on the need for facilities to be 
built to host large numbers of people.  The first stage of the LRA 
consultations is direct discussions between Kony and the northern 
Ugandans assembled.  The second part will be for experts to assist 
the LRA in writing the implementing protocol for Agenda Item 2: 
Comprehensive Solutions and for Agenda Item 3: Accountability and 
Reconciliation Mechanisms. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) According to Okot, LRA leaders Kony and Otti took the 
U.S. press statement in February as a sign of U.S. interest in the 
talks.  Kony and Otti thought that the U.S. was silent on the peace 
process because they had heard that President Bush was told by 
President Museveni that the "LRA was not serious."  Okot said that 
the LRA leadership is listening to what the U.S. says.  Silence is 
easily manipulated by others, according to Okot.  She also said that 
Kony would want to sign the final peace deal in Gulu, northern 
Uganda, but will need security guarantees if he comes to Uganda.  He 
fears that the GOU will hand him over to the ICC like Nigeria handed 
over Charles Taylor to the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  P/E 
Chief clarified the circumstances of Taylor's hand-over.  Okot said 
that the LRA believes a final agreement would not be ready before 
July 2008. 
 
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HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY 
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¶12.  (SBU)  Efforts to improve the coordination of humanitarian 
assistance within Uganda are moving forward.  Theophane Nikyema, 
United Nations Development Program Resident Representative, has been 
named the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator.  To further strengthen the 
coordination, U.N. Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs, John 
Holmes, created a new Senior Adviser position to help support, 
prioritize humanitarian aid, enhance system-wide coherence, and aid 
effectiveness through strategic and operational guidance of 
humanitarian and early recovery programming.   The Senior Adviser 
will work closely with the head of OCHA, and receive support from 
the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Activities 
(UNOCHA) to carry out these responsibilities. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) UNDP appointed a new Early Recovery Officer in response 
to heavy criticism over lack of leadership and response in the 
sector.  In an interesting first move, UNDP offered to fill the gap 
in Gender-Based Violence (GBV).  Currently, UNICEF is the lead for 
GBV, but would like to scale back its sector and coordination 
responsibilities to a few core areas.  The change will require 
agreement by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and UN 
Country Team; it is not imminent. 
 
¶14.  (SBU)  Recruitment and retention of teachers and health workers 
in return areas continues to be a challenge for early recovery. 
Absenteeism at schools and functioning health posts in return areas 
is high.  Increased supervision and mentoring support of staff is 
needed, and performance or hardship incentives could also be 
considered to help meet this growing gap. 
 
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IN THE MEDIA AND THE WEB 
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¶15.  (U)  Michael Gerson's opinion piece in the Washington Post 
 
KAMPALA 00001224  003 OF 003 
 
 
entitled "The Price of Peace in Uganda" appeared on July 25.  Gerson 
stated that "some in Congress are calling for the appointment of an 
American Special Envoy to push for a final agreement.  Such 
appointments have been useful in other cases.  Here, African 
mediators from Mozambique, southern Sudan, and the African Union 
want to take the lead - and they have more urgent needs than getting 
an envoy."  Gerson argues that a peace settlement requires resourses 
to assist demobilized ex-combatants and abductees.  He also stated 
that military pressure must continue because "the more secure and 
confident the LRA becomes, the less likely it is to disband." 
Gerson advocates for more action by MONUC against the LRA and the 
sharing of intelligence between the U.S. and MONUC.  He also states 
that the treatment for Kony might become an obstacle to a peace 
agreement.  Gerson states that many of Kony's victims "seem to 
prefer peace to a grand reckoning" for the LRA leader. 
 
¶16.  (U)  USG Activities: Three production members from "Dan Rather 
Reports," a news program hosted by Dan Rather on HDNetwork, arrived 
in Uganda on July 22 and are filming at Camp Kasenyi July 23-27. 
The purpose of filming is to cover/interview U.S. service members 
training of Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) soldiers in 
antiterrorism tactics, techniques and procedures.  This coverage has 
been approved by CJTF-HOA commanders, U.S. Embassy in Kampala 
officials, Ugandan military, and U.S. European Command (UECOM) 
public affairs. 
 
¶17.  (U) The first journalism training workshop organized by 
Internews Network for Ugandan journalists is taking place July 23-29 
in Gulu.  Fourteen Ugandan journalists from Gulu, Koboko, Kitgum, 
Apac, Lira, and Kampala are participating in the training.  The 
workshop is entitled: "THE JUBA PEACE TALKS:  FROM THE CONFERENCE 
HALL TO THE COMMUNITY."  The training program is the first one of a 
series taking place with USAID funding. 
BROWNING