Uganda: Remarks of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold at ‘How It Ends’ Advocacy Days for Peace in Northern Uganda

Russ Feingold 23 June 2009

Remarks of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (Democrat – Wisconsin) at “How It Ends” Advocacy Days for Peace in Northern Uganda June 23, 2009:

Thank you, Michael, for that kind introduction. And I want to thank you and Resolve Uganda for the important work you have done over the years to connect Americans who care about this conflict with the political process. I also want to thank the other organizations that helped organize this event: the Enough Project and Invisible Children.

We have come a long way from just a few years ago when 1,000 people were dying each week in squalid displacement camps and the situation in northern Uganda was called the “worst neglected humanitarian crisis in the world.” All of you here today are testament that those dark days of neglect are behind us, and for that I thank you. I especially want to recognize the delegation that is here from my home state of Wisconsin. We have a proud tradition of social justice in our state, and you are continuing that tradition by being here today.

Your advocacy has already made a difference. Over the last few years, we have seen the United States significantly scale up our efforts to help end this – one of Africa’s most gruesome and longest running conflicts. Our humanitarian and development assistance to northern Uganda has drastically increased.

Furthermore, in 2007, because of your activism and at the urging of Congress, the State Department appointed a senior diplomat to support the peace negotiations between the Ugandan government and LRA – negotiations that were not perfect, but did offer, for quite some time, a path forward and provided a framework to address the grievances of northern Ugandans. Unfortunately, as we all know, Kony repeatedly refused to sign the agreement and the LRA launched new attacks in Congo and Sudan.

Then, last December, regional militaries launched a joint offensive against the LRA’s primary bases in northeastern Congo. The U.S. provided some non-operational support for the offensive at the request of those regional governments, but that effort failed to apprehend Kony and I think we all know what has happened since. It is tragically clear that not enough attention or resources were devoted to ensuring the protection of civilians.

Now the twin failure of the peace talks and military operations does not mean we should give up. It does mean, however, that we need a strategic and comprehensive approach to guide our efforts going forward. We need an approach that coordinates all elements of U.S. policy – economic, political, intelligence and military – and coordinates it across the four countries now affected by this situation.

This is why I authored the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. As you know, this legislation charges the Obama administration to develop such a strategy to deal with the LRA. It leaves it up to the administration to determine the most effective way forward, but it helps ensure that this conflict will not get put on the back burner and that we will not continue to wait for others to lead.

The legislation also attempts to bring about a more strategic approach to our humanitarian and development assistance to northern Uganda. This bill encourages the United States to increase that assistance with the condition that the Ugandan government demonstrates leadership and takes measures to prevent corruption. Our assistance to help survivors rebuild their lives has been critical and will continue to be so over the coming years. But we must make sure the Ugandan government is taking responsibility for this process, especially to establish mechanisms that can address the original causes of the war and promote reconciliation and justice.

I was pleased to join with another great champion on this issue, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, to introduce this bill. This issue has never suffered because of partisanship; it has suffered because of low prioritization. The challenge now will be seeing this bill through to passage and getting the administration to take it seriously. We have many major foreign policy issues facing our country and some that must take higher priority, but it is unacceptable that this rebel war and the mass abduction of children by the LRA have continued – and even expanded – after 23 years. We have a moral responsibility to do what we can to help end it.

That is the message you take with you as you come to the Hill today and I know that there is no more determined group to deliver that message. Your presence here – traveling from different parts of the country and taking time off from work and school – sends a loud and clear signal that the American people want this to be a priority.

In closing, I want to thank you again. I also want to challenge you, especially the young people here. When the guns finally fall silent and the LRA is no more – and that day will come as it did for Liberia and Sierra Leone and Mozambique – I challenge you to consider it a beginning, not an end. We need your help to prevent future LRA-like situations of mass atrocities from emerging. We need your help to study and understand how these situations emerge, what drives them and what stops them. We need your help and your support for the development of mechanisms within our government to better anticipate mass atrocities and take action to stop the bloodshed before it happens.

None of this will be easy or quick, but nothing could give greater honor to the millions who have died over the years at the hands of the LRA and in other mass killings. And nothing could give greater promise for future generations. So I ask you to join me in this work and together we can make a real difference.

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