Uganda: Update to Response to Information Request UGA30520.E of 17 November 1998 on the treatment by the authorities of supporters and perceived supporters of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) (November 1997 - November 1998)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 December 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | UGA30647.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Uganda: Update to Response to Information Request UGA30520.E of 17 November 1998 on the treatment by the authorities of supporters and perceived supporters of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) (November 1997 - November 1998), 1 December 1998, UGA30647.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abf734.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A 17 November 1998 letter sent to the Research Directorate by a professor of government at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, states:
Uganda is engaged in a civil war with the LRA. It is a vicious war in which the LRA troops have committed atrocities against the civilian population and have abducted children as well as youths and forced them to join the LRA as soldiers. The LRA is based in Southern Sudan and most probably financed by the Sudanese Government as one of its foreign policy instruments. Virtually none of the people in the LRA's target area( identified as Acholi(support the LRA, even though the group's membership is exclusively Acholi.
Supporters and perceived supporters of the LRA would be regarded as supporting treason against Uganda and would be put in prison or executed with or without trial, indeed, summarily in most instances. There are cases where perceived supporters of the LRA were lynched by local residents of Gulu while Ugandan army officials watched. This incident was criticized by the Ugandan media and even by government officials, but no one perceived as an LRA supporter would be safe in northern Uganda. I'm less certain, but I think perceived supporters would probably be arrested in Kampala as well, but they would probably not be lynched by civilians.
In a 19 November 1998 letter sent to the Research Directorate, the professor states:
1) for my area of expertise - I am Professor of Government at Dartmouth College. I specialize in East African politics, particularly Uganda and Sudan. I visit Uganda frequently, about once a year. My most recent visit to Uganda was for one week in March 1998.
2) for the manner of deriving the information I provided you [the 17 November 1998 letter](I have spoken to Ugandans, embassy officials and academics about the situation in Acholi on each of my visits during the late 1980s and 1990s.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Professor of Government, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. 19 November 1998. Letter sent to the Research Directorate.
_____. 17 November 1998. Letter sent to the Research Directorate.
