VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKM #0489 1321246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121246Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1411
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KAMPALA 000489 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP PHUM PGOV KWMN UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA DE-LISTED FOR RECRUITMENT OF CHILD SOLDIERS 
 
¶1.  Summary: The United Nations has removed Uganda from its list of 
countries that actively recruit children into armed forces.  The 
Ugandan Government initially brushed off the UN listing as 
politically-motivated, but recently allowed a formal verification 
team to inspect all of its military facilities and recruitment 
exercises.  The team, which had been working closely with the 
government on child rights and protection issues since 2006, found 
no child soldiers within the military and noted its sustained 
performance on child protection issues.  End Summary. 
¶2.  On April 29, UN Special Representative for Children and Armed 
Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy announced that Uganda had been removed 
from the "list of shame" which named countries accused of recruiting 
child soldiers.  Coomaraswamy said Uganda's de-listing was the 
result of its successful execution of an action plan for the 
demobilization of children and their reintegration into society.  In 
previous UN reports, Uganda had been accused of using children in 
local defense units, primarily in northern Uganda, and in the 
Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF).  The Government largely 
ignored the listing because at the time, it viewed the allegations 
as politically-motivated because they came from former UN Special 
Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, who is 
a Ugandan exile and an avowed political foe of President Museveni. 
¶3.  Last November, Uganda's former UN Deputy Permanent 
Representative Adonia Ayebare persuaded Museveni that the listing 
was hurting Uganda's image unnecessarily.  He argued that Uganda had 
nothing to hide and that the UPDF should immediately sign off on an 
action plan that had been agreed to at the working level.  He also 
argued that as a member of the UN Security Council, Uganda needed to 
follow through on its international obligations.  Museveni agreed, 
and in January, the verification team began its work. 
¶4.  The Ugandan Government's delays in signing the action plan 
frustrated the national task force, which viewed the government's 
reluctance to cooperate as irrational, according to UNICEF's 
Protection Officer, Cornelius Williams.  The task force, consisting 
of UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Office of 
the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Save the Children 
Uganda, the Uganda Human Rights Commission, and the Uganda 
Children's Rights Network, had been monitoring and reporting 
quarterly on Uganda's compliance with UN Resolution 1612 on Children 
and Armed Conflict since 2006 and had only found one case of a 
17-year old that forged documents to join the UPDF.  He was 
dismissed. 
¶5.  Over the past five years, UNICEF and Save the Children have 
forged a close working relationship with the UPDF.  The UPDF 
receives regular training from UNICEF, Save the Children, the 
International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Ugandan Child 
Rights Network, among others.  The UPDF has developed a code of 
conduct for soldiers dealing with children and a memorandum of 
understanding between UNICEF and Save the Children and the UPDF's 
Child Protection Units (CPU).  There is regular interaction between 
the UPDF's human rights desk, the CPUs, and the international 
organizations.  UNICEF has been particularly complimentary of the 
UPDF's openness and willingness to cooperate on issues involving 
children. 
¶6.  Comment:  The UPDF and the task force are pleased with the 
recognition of its efforts, even if it believed it had been unfairly 
singled out in the first place.  The international organizations 
agree that Uganda's de-listing was appropriate and they hope that 
the UPDF's progress on children's issues can be emulated in 
neighboring countries. 
HOOVER