Weekly News Brief, Week of September 7-13
Even worse than we thought: LRA attacks in DRC and Sudan top world’s deadliest conflicts for civilians
The violence committed against Congolese and Southern Sudanese civilians by the Lord’s Resistance Army is worse than previously thought. Last Friday, GI-NET cited conservative reports of at least 620 people killed by the LRA since September. Reports issued this week indicate that over 1120 civilians have been killed, nearly doubling our original estimate.
Weekly News Brief: 01.05-01.12
In this week’s issue: Sudanese government bombs reported over north Darfur, Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement celebrates its fourth birthday, the Burmese junta continues "scorched earth" tactics in the east, and a third round of peace talks are off to a shaky start in DR Congo.
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Cross-Border Conflict – Uganda and DR Congo
One of Africa’s longest running conflicts took a turn for the worse this week. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that has been fighting the Ugandan government in an attempt to establish a theocratic state based on the 10 commandments, abducted 50 school children and killed 3 people along the Congo-Sudan border this week. South Sudan’s military also said that LRA rebels attacked one of its units, killing one soldier and setting a child on fire along the remote Sudanese border with the DR Congo.
Peace Process Broken in the Central African Republic
In a story that gets little media attention, the peace process in the Central African Republic appears to be in disarray. President Francois Bozize, who came to power in a 2003 coup, and two major rebel groups agreed to peace in June, but recent talks to finalize the agreement resulted in rebel groups and opposition parties walking out. The peace agreement was hailed as having the capability to end the seemingly endless conflict in CAR, yet now it looks like it is just another failed attempt to restore order.
In Other News at The Hague…
This week, all eyes were focused on the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, as Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, in an historic move, requested an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
However, the ICC has seen other dramatic developments in recent weeks that, while slightly below the media’s radar right now, could have serious implications for the Court’s future and for civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).