Update on LRA Commander Dominic Ongwen from our Director of International Programs and Policy Advisor Lisa Dougan: The U.S. military in Obo, Central African Republic (CAR), have handed Ongwen over the the African Union forces in Obo (aka the Ugandan military). It has been reported that Ongwen will be taken to the ICC for trial, with the help of the CAR government. Details on how Ongwen left the battlefield are still being clarified. We have contacts who were closely involved with the whole process, and were working hard to put the pieces together and decipher how things played out. As we can confirm details, well let you know. We are constantly receiving lots of information from our national staff and community partners in central Africa, and were sifting through all of it. At the same time, our Invisible Children teams in the US, Uganda, and CAR are working round-the-clock with our partners in the region to prepare a strong Come Home defection campaign with FM and shortwave radio messages, fliers, and helicopter speaker messages, to help capitalize on this huge development by encouraging more peaceful defections by LRA fighters. Our team is CAR is also doing a phenomenal job ensuring that local communities are kept informed of this whole situation though community meetings, radio announcements, etc, and that local partners and communities are prepared to help facilitate a potential new wave of LRA defectors that may come out of the bush after learning (through Come Home messages) that Ongwen is safe and off the battlefield. Lastly, as the world watches and waits to see how Dominic Ongwens situation plays out, we strongly encourage Invisible Children activists to read the article below from LRA expert Ledio Cajak. Its incredibly informative, balanced, and insightful. As activists on the LRA issue, its really important for us to learn and engage in the complexities of this crisis and the people it has affected. Dominic Ongwens story is a complicated and tragic one. We owe it to ourselves, to him (as someone who has been at the center of our advocacy efforts), and the people whose lives he has affected, to better understand his story.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 20:24:50 +0000
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