February
Abia Massacre, 4 February 2004
The Lord’s Resistance Army’s (LRA) massacre on Abia in Lira district claimed at least 50 civilians who were living in an internally displaced person’s camp. The attack was just weeks before the Barlonyo massacre.
Further reading:
- https://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg11643.html
- Victor Ochen, Enough Project, accessed at http://www.enoughproject.org/content/victor-ochen
- UGANDA: Rebels massacre more than 200 in Lira IDPs camp. IRIN News. Accessed at http://www.irinnews.org/report/48689/uganda-rebels-massacre-more-than-200-in-lira-idps-camp
Barlonyo Massacre, 21 February 2004
The LRA’s massacre on Barlonyo IDP camp in Lira District claimed the lives of over 300 people in the space of three hours, with an unknown number being abducted. According to the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s 2009 Field Note on the massacre, camp residents were burned alive inside their homes, hacked, stabbed, clubbed and shot. The bellies of pregnant women were slit open, with their babies thrown into the fires. Those who were not killed were abducted and marched north into Acholi land where many died in captivity. LRA Commander Okot Dhiambo allegedly ordered his soldiers to “kill every living thing”.
Further reading:
- https://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg11643.html
- Kill Every Living Thing: The Barlonyo Massacre. Justice and Reconciliation Project. 2009.
April
Burcuro Massacre, 18 April 1991
Burcoro is located 16 kilometers northeast of Gulu town, in the sub-county of Awach, Gulu District. From the 14th to the 18th of April 1991, Burcoro went through a brutal operation carried out by the 22nd Battalion of the National Resistance Army (NRA) known as the ‘Gung’ (‘bend for me’) battalion in reference to their acts of male rape in which several hundred people were detained at Burcoro Primary School. The government soldiers interrogated, murdered and raped civilians, other crimes like sexual violence, torture, cruel treatment, and deprivation of liberty, outrages upon personal dignity, attacking civilians, pillaging and other inhumane acts were inflicted upon the civilians throughout the four days of the operation.
Further reading:
- The Beasts at Burcoro – Recounting Atrocities by the NRA’s 22nd Battalion in Burcoro Village in April 1991, JRP Field Note XVIII, July 2013.
Atiak Massacre, 20 April 1995
On 20 April 1995, the LRA entered the trading center of Atiak and after an intense offensive, defeated the Ugandan army stationed there. Hundreds of men, women, students and young children were then rounded up by the LRA and marched a short distance into the bush until they reached a river. After being lectured for their alleged collaboration with the Government, the LRA commander in charge ordered his soldiers to open fire three times on a group of about 300 civilian men and boys as women and young children witnessed the horror.
The LRA commander reportedly in charge – the now indicted second in command Vincent Otti – then turned to the women and children and told them to applaud the LRA’s work. Before leaving, youth were selectively rounded up and forced to join the LRA to serve as the next generation of combatants and sexual slaves.
Further reading:
- Remembering the Atiak Massacre of April 20th 1995. Justice and Reconciliation Project. 2007.
Odek Massacre of 2004, 29 April 2004
29 April 2004 marked a drastic change in the lives of the people of Odek. It was 5 pm and most people were going about their normal day or waiting for the children to finish their school day when a group of 200 to 300 LRA fighters from the Sinia Brigade, led by Dominic Ongwen, attacked Odek camp and massacred 93 men and women including school children from Odek Primary school.
Further reading:
- Forgotten Victims: Recounting Atrocities Committed in Odek Sub-County by the LRA and NRA, JRP Field Note 21, November 2014.
May
Lukodi Massacre, 19 May 2004
On the 19th of May 2004, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) raided the village of Lukodi, and carried out a massacre that led to the death of over sixty people. Lukodi village is located seventeen kilometers north of Gulu town, in Gulu district. It is one of the many villages in northern Uganda that suffered from persistent LRA attacks, leading to the death of several people. The rebels divided themselves into three groups. The first group came and engaged the soldiers in combat and with time, overpowered them. The second group targeted the civilians and started killing them. The third group was taking cattle and other things that they needed to help them in the bush such as food, clothing and other valuables. The group that was killing the civilians was also burning houses and at the same time looking for valuable items to take along. Meanwhile, the fighting was going on.
Further reading.
- Remembering the Lukodi massacre of 19th May 2004 Gulu. JRP Field Note XIII, April 2011
Day of Remembrance for Victims of Conflict in West Nile, 20 May
June
Obalanga Massacre, 16 June 2003
In June 2003, the LRA infiltrated Teso sub-region in eastern Uganda for the first time. The civilian population and the government army were caught unaware, a factor which had disastrous humanitarian implications. In line with their trademark pattern of atrocities, the rebel soldiers carried out killings, abductions, maiming, looting, rape burning and pillaging. By the time the UPDF repulsed them almost 8 months later, approximately 90% of the population in Teso sub-region had been displaced into internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, several thousand children had been abducted and thousands of people had lost their lives and property.
Obalanga sub ‐ county is located 27 kilometers north of Amuria town and is one of the sub ‐ counties that was arguably most affected by the LRA incursion. Given its location on the border with Lango sub ‐ region, it was used as strategic point of entry for the LRA. The sub-county headquarters later became the largest IDP camp in Teso sub‐ region, sheltering over 40,000 internally displaced persons. Obalanga is also home to one of the largest mass graves in Teso, with approximately 365 remains of victims buried in it.
Further reading.
- THE DAY THEY CAME: RECOUNTING THE LRA’S INVASION OF TESO SUB-REGION THROUGH OBALANGA SUB-COUNTY IN 2003, FN XIV
Ombaci Massacre, 24 June 1981
On Wednesday, June 24, 1981, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) attacked civilians who had taken refuge at Ombaci Colleges, located just 4 kilometers north-west of Arua town on the Kaya Highway/Rhino Camp Road, in Arua District is Ombaci College, claiming the lives of close to 100 people and leaving countless wounded. The massacre was by all accounts extremely chaotic, with groups of soldiers entering from all sides of the school and mission and roving from room to room shooting and looting.
Further reading.
- It Was Only the Gun Speaking, With a Pool of Blood Flowing: The Ombaci Massacre, June 24, 1981 JRP Field Note 20, June 2014
July
Achol Pii Massacre, 4 July 1996
Achol-Pii refugee camp is situated in Pader, a newly created district that used to be part of Kitgum District. It has a long history of hosting refugees, starting with Sudanese refugees in the early 1960s fleeing the first stage of fighting in the Sudan war. A group of Congolese came to Achol-Pii in the mid-1960s, and the Sudanese were resettled to Karamoja following ongoing disputes with nationals. The Congolese remained until the fall of Amin in 1979 when they were attacked and forced to return to Congo having been regarded as allies of Amin.
In 1993 when brutal fighting between divided SPLA factions forced many Sudanese Acholi and Lotuko to leave their homes. Perhaps the most significant event in the history of the camp and surrounding area was a two-day rebel attack on Block 14 of the settlement and the camp administrative center, Agago, 13th—14th July 1996. On the first day, two drivers and two police officers were abducted and an estimated 22 refugees were killed. The following morning, approximately 76 refugees were rounded up and systematic ally shot, hacked or clubbed to death. An additional 21 were seriously wounded by the LRA rebels. (Source)
Further reading.
Mukura Massacre, 11 July 1989
On July 11, 1989, the 106th battalion of the National Resistance Army (NRA) allegedly rounded up 300 men from Mukura and other surrounding areas and incarcerated some of them in train wagon number C521083. These men were suspected of being rebel collaborators against the NRA regime, but there is little evidence to suggest that most of them were anything other than innocent civilians. Trapped in the crowded train wagon, trying not to trample on one another, the men struggled to breathe, and by the time they were released after more than four hours, 69 of them had suffocated to death, while 47 of them survived.
Further reading.
- The Mukura massacre of 1986 JRP Field Note XII, March 2011
World Day for International Justice, 17 July
“Governments, civil society organizations, legal associations, students and activists around the globe will celebrate World Day for International Justice on July 17th; World Day for International Justice recognizes the nascent and strengthening system of international justice that has emerged to provide justice and redress for the most unspeakable acts of inhumanity. The last century has been the bloodiest in human history with hundreds of millions of casualties of mass rape, forced expulsion, disappearances, torture, slavery and other assaults on human dignity.
A permanent deterrent to the architects of such horrific crimes was created on July 1st, 2002, when the jurisdiction of the ICC began. July 17th was chosen as the day to mark this occasion because it is the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC. The ICC is the first permanent and independent international judicial institution capable of trying individuals accused of the most serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including the crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.” (Source)
Further reading.
Mucwini Massacre, 24 July 2002
In the early morning hours of 24 July 2002, villages awoke to the bloodied corpses of 56 innocent men, women and children. The massacre was a deliberate and ruthless act of retaliation by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) after they claimed that one of our own members who had been abducted escaped with their gun. In cold blood, the rebels rounded the community and randomly selected some of civilians to be murdered by axes, hand hoes, machetes and logs. Some women were painfully forced to participate in clubbing to death their own children. After they were finished with their ‘work,’ the LRA wrote a letter to the populace, blaming them for the massacre and threatening more killings if the stolen gun was not recovered.
Further reading.
- Massacre in Mucwini, FN VIII Gulu Nov 30 2008
Parabongo Massacre (LRA), 28 July 1996
August
Namokora Massacre, 19 August 1986
On the 19th of August 1986, the 35th Battalion of the National Resistance Army (NRA) allegedly massacred up to 71 men and women from Namokora and other surrounding sub-counties in a lorry at Wiigweng in Oryang village, and Namokora sub-county. These men and women were accused of being rebel collaborators and/or having plans to oust the newly formed NRA government in Kampala. Herded into the lorry, over 89 civilians founded themselves being piled onto each other with hardly any space as they were driven to an unknown destination while being closely followed by a white pickup filled with armed NRA soldiers. After driving for about three kilometes, they were indiscriminately shot at, resulting in the death of 71 men and women and the injury of scores of others. Since burials did not happen immediately after the shooting most of the bodies were feasted on by dogs and other beasts within that area.
Further reading:
- Occupation and Carnage: Recounting Atrocities Committed by the NRA’s 35th Battalion in Namokora Sub-County in August 1986 JRP Field Note XIX, March 2014
October
Aboke Abductions, 10 October 1996
Omot Massacre, 23 October 2002
Further reading