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Essay The Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda and South Sudan

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Introduction In the African countries of Uganda and South Sudan, thousands of men, women and children are being brutally murdered and mutilated in their own villages. Children are being kidnapped by the thousands. Women are being brutally raped. Shockingly, the assailants in these heinous crimes are children, armed under the leadership of a military madman named Joseph Kony. Calling themselves the Lord’s Resistance Army, they are considered one of the most vicious terrorist groups in the world.

Beginning of the LRA The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was originally founded in 1986 by Alice Lakwena in northern Uganda under the name the Holy Spirit Movement Forces. Subsequently, the group was taken over in 1987 by Joseph Kony after the …show more content…

State Department as a terrorist group since 2001. Likewise, the group’s leader Joseph Kony has also been listed as global terrorist by the State Department since 2008. Subsequently, the LRA was officially listed as a terrorist organization by the African Union in 2011.

Kony Under the leadership of Joseph Kony, the LRA has become increasingly violent, often towards the Acholi people, who they claim to protect. Kony uses scriptures taken from the Pentateuch to convince his followers that they are doing the will of God by murdering and mutilating innocent people. Moreover, while declaring he follows both Christianity and Islam, he also maintains that he receives guidance from the spirits of the dead through black magic rituals. A warrant was issued for Kony along with four of his commanders by the International Criminal Court in 2005, for crimes against humanity and related war crimes. According to the U.S. State Department, two of the commanders are assumed dead, while the whereabouts of Kony and the two others remain unknown. Currently, the United States has offered a reward of five million dollars for information leading to Kony’s arrest and capture. In 2006, the government of Uganda arranged for peace talks with Kony and the LRA. However, although Kony originally agreed to the negotiations, he repeatedly refused to come out of hiding to sign the agreements. It has been reported that in 2007, he murdered his second-in-command Vincent Otti during

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