“Panda Gari” security operations criticised

The LRA, notorious for abductions of children, is now protesting “abductions” by the government during the Gulu security sweep. A recent commentary by Charles Onyango-Obbo, editor of the independent ‘Monitor’, said that 1,500 people were held in a “Panda Gari” operation in Kampala on 20 November, while about 4,000 ethnic Acholi people were rounded up in a similar operation at the Gulu stadium. In a strongly-worded commentary, Onyango-Obbo wrote: “Panda Gari is either what governments resort to when they lose hope that they can bring about a change of heart among specific populations, or when the apathy or hostility of a community are so high that its intelligence networks are rendered ineffective.” A 1996 US State Department report described similar “Panda Gari” operations in Gulu as “unconstitutional”.