1.This Act may be cited as
the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament
and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009
.
2.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)For over 2
decades, the Government of Uganda engaged in an armed conflict with the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda that led to the internal displacement
of more than 2,000,000 Ugandans from their homes.
(2)The members of
the Lord’s Resistance Army used brutal tactics in northern Uganda, including
mutilating, abducting, and forcing individuals into sexual servitude and
forcing a large number of children and youth in Uganda, estimated by the Survey
for War Affected Youth to be over 66,000, to fight as part of the rebel
force.
(3)The Secretary of
State has designated the Lord's Resistance Army as a terrorist organization and
placed the Lord's Resistance Army on the Terrorist Exclusion list pursuant to
section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(3)).
(4)In late 2005,
according to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, the Lord’s Resistance Army shifted their primary base of operations
from southern Sudan to northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the
rebels have since withdrawn from northern Uganda.
(5)Representatives
of the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army began peace
negotiations in 2006, mediated by the Government of Southern Sudan in Juba,
Sudan, and signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement on August 20, 2006,
which provided for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people to
return home in safety.
(6)After nearly 2
years of negotiations, representatives from the parties reached the Final Peace
Agreement in April 2008, but Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance
Army, refused to sign the Final Peace Agreement in May 2008 and his forces
launched new attacks in northeastern Congo.
(7)According to the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Relief, the new
activity of the Lord's Resistance Army in northeastern Congo and southern Sudan
since September 2008 has led to the abduction of at least 711 civilians,
including 540 children, and the displacement of more than 160,000
people.
(8)In December 2008,
the military forces of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and southern
Sudan launched a joint operation against the Lord’s Resistance Army’s bases in
northeastern Congo, but the operation failed to apprehend Joseph Kony, and his
forces retaliated with a series of new attacks and massacres in Congo and
southern Sudan, killing an estimated 900 people in 2 months.
(9)The escalated
activity of the Lord’s Resistance Army over recent months and the inability of
military operations to stop them or protect civilians has perpetuated fears
amongst communities in northern Uganda that the rebels could cross back into
Uganda in the future, which complicates ongoing recovery efforts.
(10)Despite the
refusal of Joseph Kony to sign the Final Peace Agreement, the Government of
Uganda has committed to continue reconstruction plans for northern Uganda, and
to implement those mechanisms of the Final Peace Agreement not conditional on
the compliance of the Lord’s Resistance Army.
(11)Since April
2008, recovery efforts in northern Uganda have moved forward with the financial
support of the United States and other donors, but have been hampered by a lack
of strategic coordination, logistical delays, and limited capacity of the
Government of Uganda.
(12)Continued
economic disparities between northern Uganda and the rest of the country and a
failure to take meaningful steps toward reconciliation and accountability, if
unchanged, risk perpetuating longstanding political grievances and fueling new
conflicts.
3.It is the policy of the
United States to work vigorously for a lasting resolution to the conflict in
northern and eastern Uganda and other affected areas by—
(1)eliminating the
threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army to civilians and regional stability
through political, economic, military, and intelligence support for a
comprehensive multilateral effort to protect civilians in affected areas, to
apprehend or otherwise remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the
battlefield, and to disarm and demobilize Lord's Resistance Army fighters;
and
(2)further
supporting comprehensive reconstruction, transitional justice, and
reconciliation efforts as affirmed in the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act
of 2004 (Public Law 108–283) and subsequent resolutions, including Senate
Resolution 366, 109th Congress, agreed to February 2, 2006, Senate Resolution
573, 109th Congress, agreed to September 19, 2006, Senate Concurrent Resolution
16, 110th Congress, agreed to in the Senate March 1, 2007, and House Concurrent
Resolution 80, 110th Congress, agreed to in the House of Representatives June
18, 2007.
4.Requirement of a
regional strategy for disarming the Lord's Resistance Army
(a)Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the President shall develop and submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a regional strategy to guide United States support for
multilateral efforts to protect civilians from attacks by the Lord’s Resistance
Army, to eliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability posed by the
Lord’s Resistance Army, and to enforce the rule of law and ensure full
humanitarian access in LRA-affected areas.
(b)The strategy should include the following:
(1)A viable plan to
protect civilians from attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army and eliminate the
threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army, while building institutions in the
affected areas that can help to maintain the rule of law and prevent conflict
in the long term.
(2)An interagency
framework to plan, coordinate, and execute all diplomatic economic,
intelligence, and military elements of United States policy across the region
regarding the Lord’s Resistance Army.
(3)A description of
the type and form of diplomatic engagement to work with regional mechanisms,
including the Tripartite Plus Commission and the Great Lakes Pact, and to
coordinate the implementation of United States policy toward the Lord’s
Resistance Army across the region.
(4)A description of
how this engagement will fit within the context of broader efforts and policy
objectives in the Great Lakes Region.
(5)A framework to
evaluate the progress and effectiveness of the United States strategy toward
eliminating the threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
(c)The
strategy under this section shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may
include a classified annex.
5.Humanitarian
assistance for areas outside Uganda affected by the Lord’s Resistance
Army
(a)In
accordance with section 491 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2292) and section 2 of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (22
U.S.C. 2601), the President is authorized to provide assistance to respond to
the humanitarian needs of populations in northeastern Congo, southern Sudan,
and Central African Republic affected by the activity of the Lord’s Resistance
Army.
(b)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 to carry out this section.
6.Assistance for
recovery and reconstruction in Northern Uganda
(a)It
is the sense of Congress that the President should support efforts by the
people of northern Uganda and the Government of Uganda—
(1)to assist
internally displaced people in transition and returnees to secure durable
solutions by spurring economic revitalization, supporting livelihoods, helping
to alleviate poverty, and advancing access to basic services at return sites,
specifically clean water, health care, and schools;
(2)to enhance the
accountability and administrative competency of local governance institutions
and public agencies in northern Uganda with regard to budget management,
provision of public goods and services, and related oversight functions;
(3)to strengthen the
operational capacity of the civilian police in northern Uganda to enhance
public safety, prevent crime, and deal sensitively with gender-based violence,
while strengthening accountability measures to prevent corruption and
abuses;
(4)to rebuild and
improve the capacity of the justice system in northern Uganda, including the
courts and penal systems, with particular sensitivity to the needs and rights
of women and children;
(5)to establish
mechanisms for the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former
combatants, including vocational education and employment opportunities;
and
(6)to promote
programs to address psychosocial trauma, particularly post-traumatic stress
disorder.
(b)It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State
and Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
should work with the appropriate committees of Congress to increase assistance
in future fiscal years to support activities described in this section if the
Government of Uganda demonstrates a commitment to transparent and accountable
reconstruction in war-affected areas of northern and eastern Uganda,
specifically by—
(1)finalizing the
establishment of mechanisms within the Office of the Prime Minister to
sufficiently manage and coordinate the programs under the framework of the
Peace Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda (PRDP);
(2)increasing
oversight activities and reporting to ensure funds under the Peace Recovery and
Development Plan for Northern Uganda framework are used efficiently and with
minimal waste; and
(3)committing
substantial funds of its own, above and beyond standard budget allocations to
local governments, to the task of implementing the Peace Recovery and
Development Plan for Northern Uganda such that communities affected by the war
can recover.
(c)Coordination
with other donor nationsThe United States should work with other
donor nations, on a bilateral and multilateral basis, to increase contributions
for recovery efforts in northern Uganda and strengthen accountability
mechanisms to ensure the transparent and timely use of those funds.
(d)Termination of
assistanceIt is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of
State should withhold bilateral assistance to the Republic of Uganda for the
purposes described under this section if the Secretary determines that the
Government of Uganda is not committed to transparent and accountable
reconstruction and reconciliation in the war-affected areas of northern and
eastern Uganda.
7.Assistance for
reconciliation and transitional justice in northern Uganda
(a)It is the sense of Congress that the President should
support efforts by the people of northern Uganda and the Government of Uganda
to advance efforts to promote transitional justice and reconciliation on both
local and national levels, including to implement the following mechanisms
outlined in the Annexure to the Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation
between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army/Movement,
signed at Juba February 19, 2008, namely—
(1)a body to
investigate the history of the conflict, inquire into human rights violations
committed during the conflict by all sides, promote truth-telling in
communities, and encourage the preservation of the memory of events and victims
of the conflict through memorials, archives, commemorations, and other forms of
preservation;
(2)a special
division of the High Court of Uganda to try individuals alleged to have
committed serious crimes during the conflict, and a special unit to carry out
investigations and prosecutions in support of trials;
(3)a system for
making reparations to victims of the conflict; and
(4)a review and
strategy for supporting transitional justice mechanisms in affected areas to
promote reconciliation and encourage individuals to take personal
responsibility for their conduct during the war.
(b)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2012 to carry out this
section.
8.
(a)Not later than 1 year after the submission of the
strategy required under section 4, the Secretary of State shall prepare and
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the progress made
toward the implementation of the strategy required under section 4 and a
description and evaluation of the assistance provided under this Act toward the
policy objectives described in section 3.
(b)The
report required under section (a) shall include—
(1)a description and
evaluation of actions taken toward the implementation of the strategy required
under section 4;
(2)a description of
assistance provided under section 5 and section 6;
(3)an evaluation of
bilateral assistance provided to the Republic of Uganda and associated programs
in light of stated policy objectives;
(4)a description of
the status of the Peace Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda and
the progress of the Government of Uganda to take the steps outlined in section
6(b); and
(5)a description of
amounts of assistance committed, and amounts provided, to northern Uganda
during the reporting period by the Government of Uganda, each donor country,
and all relevant organizations.
9.Of the total amount appropriated to purchase
excess secondary inventory for the Department of the Air Force, the amount
available for obligation and expenditure shall be reduced by
$40,000,000.
10.In this Act:
(1)Appropriate
committees of CongressThe term appropriate committees of
Congress means the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations and the
Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.
(2)The term Great Lakes Region means the region
comprising Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, southern Sudan, and
Uganda.
(3)The term LRA-affected areas means the
territory affected by the activity of the Lord’s Resistance Army in the past
and as of the date of the enactment of this Act, comprising all or parts of
northern Uganda, southern Sudan, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and
southeastern Central African Republic.