Tough rhetoric over LRA child soldier recruitment
30/06/2008
Uganda's notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been sharply censured for its ongoing recruitment of child soldiers.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon issued a scathing attack on the brutal militia, which has been blamed for countless civilian massacres during its 20-year-long insurgency.
An estimated 25,000 children are believed by have been kidnapped by the group since 1988, many of whom were forced to kill their own parents so as to sever all links with their communities.
Despite numerous arrest warrants for self-proclaimed prophet leader Joseph Kony, the LRA remains a force to be reckoned with in the country - and Mr Ki-Moon warned it is expanding its reach.
"There are reports alleging that LRA has been recruiting children from southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic," the secretary general noted.
"These allegations are being reported while the peace talks between LRA and the government of Uganda are stalled, notably because of the refusal by the LRA leader, Joseph Kony, to sign the final peace agreement on April 10th, 2008."
He called on the rebel group to "provide a complete list of names and ages of the women and children remaining in its ranks for verification and to effect their immediate release".
Making his first public appearance in August 2006, Mr Kony famously denied that his group conscripts children for use as soldiers or sexual slaves - an assertion which local governments, the UN and the International Criminal Court (ICC) flatly reject.
Peace talks between the LRA and Ugandan officials stalled earlier this year after the ICC declined to overturn arrest warrants for him and several senior commanders.
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