This week we released our newest LRA Crisis Tracker report together with our partners at The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative. The Midyear 2016 Security Brief highlights key trends in the movements and tactics of Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) so far this year.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE MIDYEAR 2016 SECURITY BRIEF
From the LRA Crisis Tracker – Map showing all LRA attacks Jan-June 2016
The report analyzes information collected via the LRA Crisis Tracker, an online data collection and analysis platform that aggregates credible reports of LRA activity (sightings, attacks, defections, etc) provided primarily by the brave community volunteers who are part of Invisible Children’s Early Warning Network, as well as information provided by international organizations, local and international NGOs, and firsthand accounts from LRA victims and defectors. The unprecedented ability to expose Kony’s violence in such remote areas of central Africa thanks to community reporting, and the alarming trends that these reports reveal, profoundly underscores the continued need for systems like Invisible Children’s Early Warning Network. Consider donating today to strengthen and expand this lifesaving program.
WHAT THE REPORT SAYS:
Despite his proven capability to withstand and overcome internal rivals and external threats for nearly three decades, Joseph Kony’s once firm control of the Lord’s Resistance Army’s (LRA) command structure is weakening. LRA groups are scattered over a wide area, Ugandan fighters are defecting at a slow but steady rate, and at least one LRA group, led by a commander named Achaye Doctor, has begun operating independently of Kony’s command.
However, the LRA remains a persistent, and even resurgent, threat to civilians, particularly in eastern Central African Republic (CAR). In the first six months of 2016, the LRA has abducted 344 people, more than the same period (Jan-June) of any year since 2010. Most of those abducted during this period were adults, forced to carry goods then soon released. However, LRA defectors report that in December of 2015, Kony ordered LRA commanders in CAR to abduct dozens of children and integrate them into fighter ranks. 65 of those abducted so far this year have been Central African children — 39 of whom remain in captivity or are otherwise unaccounted for.
LRA abductions at midyear point, 2009–2016
It is unclear as to whether the overall total number of child soldiers in the LRA is rising or falling due to the defection of at least 15 teenage boys so far this year.
LRA attacks and abductions in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) more than doubled in Quarter 2 (April–May), in part due to the arrival of an LRA group in Garamba National Park tasked with poaching elephants.
In total, the LRA abducted 498 civilians and killed 17 others during 122 attacks from January–June 2016, with nearly all attacks in eastern CAR and northern DRC. The exceptions were two attacks in Sudanese-controlled areas of the Kafia Kingi enclave, the first credibly reported LRA attacks on civilians there since the group established a presence in the area in 2010.
WHAT IT MEANS:
The 2016 Midyear Security Brief reveals trends in LRA activity that underscore two urgent needs in LRA-affected communities that must be addressed to successfully end LRA violence.
First, we must strengthen and expand the Early Warning Network to include remote communities that are not currently able to access or share information on LRA activity but who remain affected by LRA violence.
The Early Warning Network continues to be a critical, life-saving system that enables communities at extraordinary risk from LRA attack to communicate with one another and with international organizations and security forces who can respond to insecurity. These communities are some of the most remote and impoverished communities in the whole of Africa and, for many of them, this is the very first time that they have had a connection to one another and to the rest of the world. As a result, these historically isolated communities are able to better protect themselves from violence, and together with them, we are able to ensure that the international community hears their voices and cannot deny their suffering.
Using the information and analysis provided by the Early Warning Network and the LRA Crisis Tracker, policymakers are able to make more informed decisions about how to protect communities and address LRA violence, and local community members are able to be central agents in exposing Kony’s crimes and in actively keeping their communities, families, and themselves safer.
Of course, our work isn’t done. There are many communities targeted by the LRA that are not yet part of the Early Warning network. With your help, we’re working to change that.
Secondly, we must continue recording and broadcasting ‘Come Home’ messages that encourage LRA fighters to peacefully surrender.
Kony’s apparent intention to replenish his ranks by ordering his forces to return to abduction and integration of children into the main fighting force is extremely concerning. However, higher numbers of LRA defections indicates a strong desire among long-term members of the LRA to escape. Continuous, far-reaching ‘Come Home’ messages throughout central Africa are more important now than ever.
Invisible Children’s ‘Come Home’ FM radio broadcasts have been proven to effectively and peacefully dismantle the LRA from within by combatting Kony’s lies and the misinformation that prevent LRA fighters from escaping. With your support, we can reach even more of Kony’s captives with the encouragement and information they need to leave the battlefield once and for all.
HELP PROTECT COMMUNITIES AND BRING CHILD SOLDIERS HOME. DONATE TO INVISIBLE CHILDREN TODAY.
Media Coverage of the Midyear 2016 Security Brief:
BBC Afrique (July 20, 2016): RCA : plus de 300 personnes enlevées en 2016 par la LRA
Voice of America (July 20, 2016): Ugandan-led Rebel Group Steps Up Attacks in Central Africa
Reuters Africa (July 20, 2016): Lord’s Resistance Army kidnappings hit six-year high: monitors
Associated Press (July 20, 2016): Ugandan-led rebel group steps up attacks in Central Africa
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