An end is in sight to one of the worst humanitarian crises in history. Late yesterday, President Obama signed the landmark Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (S.1067) into law, marking what will hopefully be the beginning of the end to the atrocities that have plagued civilians Central Africa for more than two decades.
This law is the result of 5 years of grass-roots efforts: home viewing parties, benefit concerts by local bands, and individuals sharing the story with their friends to make sure that these children are no longer used as weapons and that Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, is brought to justice.
At the request of Invisible Children, they were allowed to join the President in the Oval Office as he signed the bill into law.
While the law does not sanction any specific military action it doesn't rule it out, though diplomatic and humanitarian components will likely be the most crucial part of the comprehensive approach.
With the law now in place, Obama has 180 days to come up with a plan of action. Resolve Uganda, an organization that works closely with Invisible Children, had this to say:
- "You can be sure that we’ll be releasing details of our opinion on what specifically the President should do very shortly, as well as campaigns to help make it happen. It is only the vigilance of activists and Members of Congress that can be sure to hold the President accountable to doing what’s most needed."
From Obama’s official statement:
- “The Lord’s Resistance Army preys on civilians – killing, raping, and mutilating the people of central Africa; stealing and brutalizing their children; and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Its leadership, indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, has no agenda and no purpose other than its own survival. It fills its ranks of fighters with the young boys and girls it abducts. By any measure, its actions are an affront to human dignity.”
The end cannot come soon enough.
Read President Obama's entire statement here.
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