Europe’s silence is endangering the survival of the civilian population in northern Uganda

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) accused the European Union (EU) on Friday of endangering the peace negotiations for northern Uganda with its silence and inactivity.

"Europe’s lack of interest is irresponsible since it will lead to the failure of the peace process and to new terror and severe breaches of human rights”, warned the Gfbv Africa expert, Ulrich Delius. "It is pure cynicism for the international community to declare the situation of the children in northern Uganda as "the worst humanitarian tragedy in the world”, but on the other hand to do nothing concrete to put an end to this suffering and to support the very promising peace process.”

Since the beginning of the peace negotiations three months ago no EU foreign minister has taken even a few hours time to emphasise in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, Europe’s interest in peace, criticised the GfbV. In the Near-east however there are sometimes several foreign ministers working for peace every day. The Finnish EU President has also been disappointing in statements on this subject. On the occasion of the signing of the truce for northern Uganda on 28th August a statement of only five sentences was published.

"After the abduction and the misuse of at least 20,000 children as child soldiers, after crimes against humanity of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the expulsion and refusal of protection and proper feeding of two million Acholi by the Ugandan army the EU is failing in the stopping of the conflict in northern Uganda” (from the letter of the GfbV to Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier). It is not enough merely to provide humanitarian aid.

Since 14th July 2006 representatives of the Ugandan government and the rebel LRA have been negotiating with the mediation of the south Sudanese autonomous government on the ending of the war in northern Uganda, which has lasted for twenty years already. It is true that the conflict parties agreed to a truce on 28th August, but now the peace process is faced with the prospect of failure, since the LRA and the Ugandan government are accusing each other of violating the truce.

"It is a matter of urgency that Europe make clear its interest in a permanent peace for northern Uganda and that it signalise to the conflict parties that there is no alternative to the negotiations for peace” (from the letter of the GfbV). The EU must also press the conflict parties with financial incentives to agree on a permanent peace.