Uganda's government must do what it can to protect children and women from violence, while the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA) must immediately and unconditionally stop abducting, killing and exploiting Uganda's children, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.
| Thank you for that little dose of moral equivalence. The Ugandan government, for all its failings, has been doing what it could to prevent its citizens from being abducted, raped and/or murdered. The LRA, on the other hand, is pretty consistently evil. |
"Children are being killed and raped in Uganda," UNICEF's resident representative Martin Mugwanja said during the national launch of the agency's State of the World's Children 2005 report, entitled "Childhood Under Threat", in the northern town of Gulu. "Childhood is being destroyed. First and foremost, I appeal to the LRA to immediately and unconditionally stop the abduction, killing and exploitation of children," he added. "These acts are not only unconscionable, but are also flagrant violations of the children's right to life."
| Appealing to them hasn't worked for 18 years. No doubt it will soon, though. All you have to do is keep repeating the same old pleas... |
The LRA has targeted children throughout the 18-year war, forcibly recruiting boys to fight amongst its ranks and forcing girls to become sex slaves for its commanders. Relief agencies estimate that up to 20,000 children have been abducted across northern Uganda. |