The conflict in Uganda presented on Nightline

Actor Don Cheadle and Crisis Group's John Prendergast call attention to the ongoing conflict in Uganda on ABC's television news program Nightline, broadcast  23 August 2005 throughout the United States. "This is a slow burning emergency," states Prendergast, "two decades worth of slow death and rapid displacement. So, nearly everyone in the entire northern part of Uganda has been displaced from their homes.  And they suffer a quiet emergency."

For nearly 20 years, the Ugandan government has been involved in armed conflict with the rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).  The LRA's extreme brutality has displaced 1.6 million people, and its attacks on civilians continue.  Furthermore, as Cheadle puts it, "the LRA has a particularly ugly way of replenishing its ranks, kidnapping.  Their targets are children between the ages of 8 and 14.  Rebels raid villages, stealing what they need and burning the rest.  According to UN estimates, more than 30,000 children have been forced into the service of the LRA since 1994."

To see the streaming video of the show, click here.

Photo credit: Ugandan child soldier (c) IRIN, www.irinnews.org

Crisis Group's most recent reporting on Uganda

• Building a Comprehensive Peace Strategy for Northern Uganda, Africa Briefing N°27, 23 June 2005
• Shock Therapy for Northern Uganda's Peace Process, Africa Briefing N°23, 11 April 2005
• "End This African Horror Story", opinion piece by John Prendergast in the Washington Post, 7 April 2005
• Peace in Northern Uganda: Decisive Weeks Ahead, Africa Briefing N°22, 21 February 2005

For a month-by-month report on the conflict in Uganda since September 2003, check Crisis Group's CrisisWatch database.