When was kony

A video, which features the producer and his son, his trips to northern Uganda and the need for an urgent action, however has not received the applause that it saw in western countries. In Uganda many have seen it as a misrepresentation of conflict and attempt to bring down the conflict just to American action, ignoring other actors. Victor Ochen, the Director of African Youth Initiative Network AYInet based in Lira which was the site of one Kony's worst massacres in Uganda said that though the campaigners have good intentions they don't seem to seek a lasting solution.

They are advocating for a mechanism to end war with more attention to a perpetrator not victims. Campaigning on killing one man and that's the end is not enough. Javie Ssozi a digital media consultant in Kampala commented on his facebook wall "They are responding to the right cause with a wrong approach! It's a good thing to raise awareness and let the world know what is happening but its a bad thing to start fromvery far away from where "what" is happening!

He added this video is very fit for the Western world but we must not forget that there is another side of the story. Action cannot be based on one-sided-facts or thoughts. The people of this country can speak for themselves.

Can we at least hear from the victims? Barbara Among, a Ugandan journalist at the independent Daily Monitor said the video simplifies the war against Kony and downplays realities on the ground. Among who also hails from the north says there's a lot of ego in the video and he ignores the past initiatives of people like Betty Bigombe, the Jub peace process which is wrong. Among also points out that it is not first time that celebrities have been brought on board for the cause of ending war in northern Uganda.

In after Kony's rebels attacked Aboke girl's school and abducted many girls, the then deputy head rallied around the world and made calls for peace. In fact the late Pope John Paul sent a message to Kony which is inscribed on a stone in the school in northern Uganda.

Among says the whole approach doesn't respect victims of this war. Even if you are trying to help just imagine parents whose children have been killed, mutilated or abducted and the emotional pain the name brings to them. The other criticism has been that the video heavily relies on images shot in Uganda more than 6 years ago and presents it as the current situation.

Yet northern Uganda is dealing a whole lot of fresh challenges of resettlement and dealing with broken systems. Ochen adds that "To me even a bullet alone isn't good enough for Kony, killing him alone will not be enough. There are many people who are caught up in this war. Invisible Children has good access to international media but they have no connection with the community they claim to represent. Many thanks for all your contributions today.

Wolfgang Zeller of the Centre of African Studies in Edinburgh refers us to a report his colleagues published on northern Uganda in Foreign Affairs that has been widely cited in the current debate. Here's an excerpt of his email:. I am a researcher based at the Centre of African Studies, Edinburgh University and have been working on northern Uganda since Your blog already cites other experts pointing out that the LRA has been outside Uganda for several years, is far smaller than Invisible Children try to make believe, and that the Ugandan government and army are a deeply problematic ally in their campaign.

I second all these points, based on my own research and that of my colleagues. The Guardian has widely reported recent electoral violence and the persecution of opposition leader, homosexuals and journalists in Uganda. This is clearly sanctioned, even driven by the country's leadership. The persecution of homosexuals is also strongly driven and funded by American-based Christian fundamentalist groups, who also see Uganda as a frontline in the cultural war against Islam, thanks to the Museveni regimie's outspoken and military-strategis support of the US 'War on Terror'.

While the extreme atrocities committed by the LRA cannot be justified by any 'political cause', the LRA did originally emerge as a direct reaction to extreme atrocities committed since the late s by the government and armed forces of Uganda against the Acholi people in northern Uganda.

The person in charge since until today is Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, who is himself a former rebel army leader and came to power by force. The Ugandan army and military, including members of the family of the president, are known to have cashed in on the country's sending of troops to participate in the civil war of Congo DRC in the s.

The enrichment schemes involve the plundering of timber and high-value minerals like gold, diamonds and coltan in eastern DRC and the creation of false payment and pension schemes for army sections that do not exist 'ghost soldiers'. The DRC case led to a high-profile investigation by the UN and in the final report from Uganda was singled out for its involvement.

She criticizes the Invisible Children video as propagating sterotypes about Africa. Izama writes: "For many in the conflict prevention community including those who worry about the militarization of it in Central Africa, [the KONY] campaign is just another nightmare that will end soon. If six years ago children in Uganda would have feared the hell of being part of the LRA, a well documented reality already, today the real invisible children are those suffering from "Nodding Disease".

Over children are victims of this incurable debilitating condition. It's a neurological disease that has baffled world scientists and attacks mainly children from the most war affected districts of Kitgum, Pader and Gulu. Jacob Acaye, the Ugandan former child abductee at the heart of the film Kony , has defended the video and its makers. He rejected widespread criticism in Uganda and abroad that the American-made film calling for Kony's arrest is out-of-date or irrelevant, my colleague Julian Borger writes.

People did not really know about it. What about the people who are suffering over there? They are going through what we went through. You can read the full interview here. Surely any exposure of such a man is positive, no matter how much money is spent on the medium in which the message is contained?

The fact that the Invisible Children group is doing anything is better than doing nothing. I believe that, living in an age where media and social-media are engrained from the youngest to the oldest, the best way in getting a message across is by using them as a tool to do good. This is nothing new in political circles - why should it be any different when it comes to charities?

He is currently based in Goma. Van Damme said his organization is concerned about potentially violent consequences for the local population from the Kony campaign. Here is Ryan's report:.

According to Van Damme, military operations targeting Kony would present a host of risks. There is very limited infrastructure, very limited amount of roads, schools, hospitals, very limited communications. The state authority is very weak and is absent. There's a lack of political acknowledgment of the presence of the LRA in the area. Van Damme said the challenge of helping people impacted by Joseph Kony and his LRA forces requires focus on issues that are bigger than one man.

It doesn't ask people to understand much more than 'There is good, and there is bad. He specializes in security issues in Central Africa, and argues for a more nuanced and complex look at the region than the picture painted by Invisible Children.

Here's the latest from Ryan:. Izama says there's a crucial natural resource angle that's being overlooked, pointing out that Uganda recently discovered "significant deposits of oil" near its border with the DRC. He said joint military operations are increasingly concentrated in the oil-rich area. Izama pointed out that the Ugandan military — which the Obama administration legally committed itself to assisting one year after the oil discovery — has been increasing its oil-related security operations.

Part of that includes securing the border against rebels groups including the LRA, the Allied Democratic Forces, Congolese militias and several other Sudanese and Congolese groups that are all operating in that area," he said.

I think that Invisible Children really lost that wonderful opportunity," Izama added. Izama believes Invisible Children was mistaken in "going back into history and casting this in terms of what happened five, six years ago, which is no longer the case. Those are resource wars. Bussman said Invisible Children did what it had to do to draw attention to an important issue.

Here's Ryan's report:. People need to realize, Bussman said, that "it's really bloody difficult to get the media to give a damn about stories with black people in the middle. The fact that they managed to make it an issue took some real some real brains. Bussman takes issue with those who criticize the film for oversimplifying the situation in Central Africa.

The exchange is below. The Lord's Revolutionary sic Army that these troops will be helping to remove their leaders from the battlefield, they are known for using child soldiers, and I'm wondering — the process of agreeing to deploy troops in a situation like this where you know that these special forces might have to return fire and they might be firing upon child soldiers — how difficult is that as a decision to make?

Obama: Well none of these decisions are easy, but those who are familiar with the Lord's Resistance Army and their leader, Mr. Kony, know that these are some of the most vicious killers. They terrorize villages, they take children into custody and turn them into child soldiers, they engage in rape and slaughter in villages they go through. They have been a scourge on the Uganda and that entire region, eastern Africa.

So there has been strong bi-partisan support and a coalition, everything from evangelical Christians to folks on the left and human rights organizations who have said it is an international obligation for us to try to take them on and so given that bipartisan support across the board belief that we have to do something about this, what we've done is we've provided these advisors, they are not going to be in a situation where they are called upon to hunt down the Lord's Resistance Army or actively fire on them, but they will be in a position to protect themselves.

What they can do is provide the logistical support that is needed, the advice, the training and the logistical support that hopefully will allow this kind of stuff to stop.

Thanks for reading — and thanks especially to all those who wrote in with valuable context and ideas. Check out the Guardian tomorrow for more, including an interview with Buzzfeed founder Jonah Peretti on why this video, of all activist videos, went viral.

Reality check: Kony index. Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on. Jump to content [s] Jump to comments [c] Jump to site navigation [0] Jump to search [4] Terms and conditions [8]. Series: Reality check: Kony Next Index. Kony what's the real story? A minute film about the plight of children in Africa has been watched more than 21m times on YouTube.

But the charity behind it is facing criticism for its Hollywood-style campaigning on the issue. Are the criticisms fair? Polly Curtis and Tom McCarthy. The Lord's Resistance army leader, Joseph Kony, pictured in We've reported on the video here : Kony stands accused of overseeing the systematic kidnapping of countless African children, brainwashing the boys into fighting for him, turning the girls into sex slaves and killing those who don't comply.

He writes: It would be great to get rid of Kony. But let's get two things straight: 1 Joseph Kony is not in Uganda and hasn't been for six years; 2 The LRA now numbers at most in the hundreds, and while it is still causing immense suffering, it is unclear how millions of well-meaning but misinformed people are going to help deal with the more complicated reality.

We're contacting Michael to ask him to write more about the background to this for us. It was quite a bad line from Nairobi airport, but this is what he told me: From what I know about Invisible Children, it's an international NGO, and it documents the lives of children living in conflict for international campaigning to draw attention to the lives of children in the north.

Invisible Children stats He's been talking to our foreign desk and has just sent this as an addition: One salient issue the film totally misses is that the actual geography of today's LRA operations is related to a potentially troubling "resource war". It documents child abductions happening there as recently as He writes: They call themselves "a movement" seeking to end the conflict in Uganda and stop the abduction of children for use as child soldiers, but behind the slick website and the touchy-feely talk about "changing the course of human history", there's a hard-nosed money-making operation led by US filmmakers and accountants, commuication experts, lobbyists and salespeople.

This would seem to be a vote of no confidence, but it is explained by Noelle Jouglet, communication director of Invisible Children, like this: "Our score is currently at 2 stars due to the fact that Invisible Children currently does not have five independent voting members on our board of directors.

Does anyone know any more about this? Do get in touch. This is Simon's take on the Invisible Children campaign: I felt a little nauseous watching the film. Screengrab of Kony merchandise on Ebay. This from Save the Children's director of policy and advocacy, Brendan Cox : Anything which continues to pressurise world leaders to bring Joseph Kony to justice is to be welcomed.

She said: Invisible Children have had a huge impact on the area. He said: What I'd really like is for organisations like this to have a little bit more respect for individuals like ourselves you have the capability to speak for ourselves. He writes: He wore tattered trousers, muddy wellington boots, a grubby anorak and avoided eye contact.

Full story to follow on the website shortly. Here's an excerpt of his email: I am a researcher based at the Centre of African Studies, Edinburgh University and have been working on northern Uganda since There is also wide consensus in the scholarly community on the following facts: While the extreme atrocities committed by the LRA cannot be justified by any 'political cause', the LRA did originally emerge as a direct reaction to extreme atrocities committed since the late s by the government and armed forces of Uganda against the Acholi people in northern Uganda.

A still from the so-called Kony initiative, launched by the non-profit group Invisible Children which demands the removal of Ugandan guerrilla leader Joseph Rao Kony. Pic shows Jacob Achaye Photograph:. Here is Ryan's report: "In general, we're concerned [about] the catastrophic consequences for the local population," Van Damme said.

Here's the latest from Ryan: Izama says there's a crucial natural resource angle that's being overlooked, pointing out that Uganda recently discovered "significant deposits of oil" near its border with the DRC. Here's Ryan's report: "I think they really sat down and worked out the best way to get attention to what should be the biggest news story in the world but never is because the children involved are black," Bussman said.

It was viewed tens of millions of times around the world. Those who clicked on Kony learned how Kony and the LRA had become a scourge on both Uganda and surrounding countries, committing mass rape and torture, disfiguring people it had captured, taking young people away from their families and villages and turning them into child soldiers.

It was the creation of a small non-profit group in San Diego called Invisible Children. Staffed by people largely in their 20s, Invisible Children said it produced Kony and created a wider social media campaign to bring greater global attention to Kony's crimes, especially among young people. Invisible Chidren hoped that attention would eventually lead to the capture and trial of Kony and his followers.

The group was praised for the video. War reporting and analysis often focuses on the spectacular: on violence, suffering, and horror. Conflicts also constitute a time of intense bonding between members of armed groups, as dangers and sorrows are shared, protection is sought, and friendships are made.

When discussing the photographs with the former rebels, I would often get surprising reactions: some of the former rebels spoke of their time in the army with a certain melancholy. They spoke about friendships they nourished, spiritual miracles they witnessed and the power they felt. They would speak of the nice clothes they had, and the celebrations they organized.

At first sight, the photographs mirror practices in wider Ugandan society, and are not very different from ordinary family photos. They show people posing as friends, in pairs, suggesting a familial bond. In the words of a former rebel:. That day is a good day: you eat well, and you look smart. We put our nice clothes on, and we have our photo snapped. The bigger commanders, some of them would dress very nicely! Yet, at the same time, the photographs reflect the violence and coercion of which they are part.

For example, the photographs show the pleasure of certain individuals, but not of everyone: not all fighters had nice clothes to pose in, or the opportunity of posing in front of a camera. The clothes worn show the inequality, particularly among the women: the clothes were looted by the men, and not equally distributed among the women. In the bush, we had very nice clothes. A nice dress means that the husband loves you.

They come to Uganda, and they get all these clothes, and they take it to the bush. The choice to do so is out of love. Sometimes a man has eight wives; he only gives to his favorites. This often provokes jealousy: the other wives could not get any of the nice clothes, and they also could not pose for the photo.