UN says 55 civilians killed in Uganda army sweeps
Source: Reuters
GENEVA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Ugandan armed forces used "indiscriminate and excessive" force in recent sweeps in lawless northeastern villages in which at least 55 civilians, including women and children, were killed, the U.N. said on Friday. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called on the government to halt its six-month campaign to disarm warriers and bandits until it could ensure that the operation could be carried out without risk to civilians. "The accounts in this report demonstrate the indiscriminate and excessive use of force by the UPDF during the disarmament exercise and the failure of the government of Uganda to provide adequate protection to individuals, resulting in grave human rights violations," her office said in a report. The report, based on a fact-finding mission, said most of the 48 killed in one incident in late October had died in shooting between soldiers and armed villagers, but six of the villagers had been summarily executed by soldiers. In two other cordon and search operations, also in the lawless northeast Karamoja region during the period of Oct. 29-Nov. 15, the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) shot dead seven people, it said. "The UPDF was responsible for extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions in violation of international law," Arbour's office said. The report also accused the army of 68 arbitrary arrests, 14 cases of torture, rape of an elderly woman and the burning or destruction of over 200 homesteads. The violence had resulted in 500 persons fleeing in Kotido district, Karamoja. The region has long suffered banditry, cattle rustling and inter-clan fighting, but Arbour said that allegations of human rights violations had persisted since the government initiated a forced disarmament exercise last May. "The ongoing forced disarmament exercise in Karamoja must stop until adequate measures have been put in place to ensure the safety, security and full human rights protection of civilians, including women and children," she said. Armed Karimojong warriors, who are in illegal possession of weapons and have increasingly engaged in criminal activities according to the report, had also killed an unknown number of UPDF soldiers. Ruth Nankabirwa, minister of state for defence, said earlier this month that the armed conflict had escalated beyond traditional tit-for-tat killing and cattle rustling to a war against government soldiers.
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