CEGUN: Campaign to End Genocide in Uganda Now!

For Immediate Release | October 9, 2008

Contact: Hellen Abak | Email: voteforhumanity@gmail.com

A Questionable Choice: United Nations May Give Uganda Seat on UN Security Council

The United Nations may soon elect a country convicted of war crimes onto its most powerful organ, the UN Security Council.

The vote, which takes place on October 17, 2008, will likely be in favor of granting Uganda a seat on the Council.

Rewarding a country which has violated the very same ideals of: peace, respect for human rights and adherence to international law—all of which the UN has pledged its responsibility to protect, puts all world citizens in harm’s way.

The world has turned a blind eye to the indictment of Uganda by the International Court of Justice for war crimes in the Congo where an estimated 7 million have died. Also ignored has been the forced displacement in Northern Uganda of over 2 million mainly ethnic Acholis for over 20 years into concentration camps called “protected villages” by the Ugandan government.

In these “protected villages” the World Health Organization recorded an excess rate of 1,000 deaths per week, (which is higher than both Iraq and Darfur) and ordered the government to close them in 2005. The camps are still open to this day, and people continue to die from treatable diseases caused by the deadly conditions in the crowded camps. Jan Egeland, a former UN official, described the crisis as the “world’s worst, forgotten humanitarian crisis.”

A lesser-known fact is Uganda’s involvement in the 1995 genocide in Rwanda—troops invaded Rwanda in 1990, re-igniting deep-seated tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis, eventually sparking the civil war.

The U.S. Congress passed a bill last week that criminalizes the use of child soldiers, making it a triable offense in U.S. courts. Uganda was one of the countries listed in the bill. Recent investigations by the UN itself and the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers found the continued recruitment and use of children in the Ugandan government‘s army.

In the past the human rights record of countries has not been taken into consideration when evaluating non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. However, in today’s world where genocides and conflicts within nations are rampant, the makeup of the Security Council is more important than ever.

Rewarding Uganda with a seat on the UN Security Council despite its human rights record and conviction for war crimes threatens to destroy the authority and credibility of the United Nations as an enforcer and protector of international law.