Press Release

    Francisca Mbikabele Thelin, the founder and president of Friends of Minzoto, a non-government organization that supports local community efforts in Africa to recover from LRA violence, testified about the horrors she has experienced

    “Since 2008, 28 members of my family have been murdered by the LRA,” Thelin said. “Most were chopped with machetes; many in front of their own loved ones. Six children in my family were abducted and forced to become LRA sex slaves or child soldiers. Although one eventually escaped, he came home so psychologically damaged that he is a danger to our other children and cannot live at home.” Click here to read her powerful testimony.

    Congressman Smith, who has held previous hearings on the LRA as the chair of the House subcommittee on Africa and global human rights, noted recent successes against the group’s leader, Joseph Kony, and likened the LRA to a wounded animal—less capable but still dangerous.

    “The LRA is like a fire that is tamped down but not extinguished and can re-ignite at any time,” Smith said. “However, the danger posed by the LRA is not metaphorical; it is very real to those who still live in fear in eastern and central Africa.  The LRA is a vivid example of how ethnic strife can provide a cover for wanton viciousness. In the name of protecting the rights of northern Uganda’s Acholi tribe, LRA founder Joseph Kony has brought only wretchedness to his people and their neighbors, as well as to people living in surrounding countries.” Click here to read Smith’s opening statement.

    Paul Ronan, Co-Founder and Project Director of The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative, testified that since counter-LRA legislation was passed in the U.S. Congress in 2010, mass child abductions have dropped dramatically and more than 350 women and children have escaped long-term captivity at the hands of the LRA. He noted that the LRA murdered 13 civilians in 2014, compared to 776 in 2010. A number of LRA commanders have either defected or been killed, and the total number of fighters at Kony’s disposal has dropped from about 400 in 2010 to some 190 today.

      “The LRA has long preyed on communities that are marginalized by their govern­ments and vulnerable to violence from other armed groups,” Ronan said. “These challenges will remain long after Kony is finally brought to justice, but a decisive defeat of the LRA and boosted assistance to LRA returnees and affected communities would have a stabilizing effect and allow hundreds of thousands of people to return home.” Click here to read his testimony.

    Sasha Lezhnev, Associate Director of Policy of the Enough Project, said the U.S. government deserves “tremendous credit” for sapping Kony’s LRA of most of its strength and helping allow 1.6 million people to return to their homes, but cautioned the U.S. not to let up the pressure.

    “The LRA has a history of regrouping, and I am deeply concerned that its trade in ivory and other commodities could allow it to do so again. Now is not the time to pull back, but instead to finish the job and bring Kony to justice,” Lezhnev said. “Now is the time to double down on the U.S. counter-LRA mission and help end the LRA’s horrific reign of atrocities against civilians once and for all.”

    Lezhnev said the U.S. should continue to authorize the U.S. advisors beyond October with the primary goal of bringing Joseph Kony to justice. The U.S. assistance mission should also provide additional airlift capacity to the African Union forces, he said, and increase its efforts to persuade LRA fighters to defect. He also said the United States needs to take the leading role in addressing Sudan’s complicity in aiding the LRA, and should help stop the blood ivory trade. Click here to read his testimony.

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