NGOs suggest new ceasefire in north

A group of NGOs working in war-torn northern Uganda lobbied the government on Monday to offer a new ceasefire to the rebel movement, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), as an incentive to re-establish peace talks. In their statement, 38 national and international NGOs under the umbrella group Civil Society Organisations for Peace in Northern Uganda lamented the missed opportunity for peace late last year. "As a result of the ceasefire and resulting dialogue, northern Ugandans spent one of the most peaceful Christmases in recent memory," the statement said. "Unfortunately, the peace was shattered before Easter, as March 2005 witnessed a return to violence and a resumption of the LRA's barbaric abductions and mutilations of innocent civilians." In December, mediators - led by former government minister Betty Bigombe - arranged the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides for a decade, between a team of senior government officials and rebel commanders. The NGOs stressed that the only hope lay in a substantial ceasefire, which they said would enable negotiators to build confidence and work together to plan a process for long-term peace. They added that such a ceasefire should cover internally displaced person (IDP) camps, where more then 1.5 million people, mainly children and women, lived in appalling conditions. "Despite their efforts, neither the UPDF [Uganda People's Defence Force - government army] nor the LRA can win this war by military means," the NGOs stated. However, Maj Shaban Bantariza, the army spokesman, said the NGOs' appeal was ill considered as previous ceasefires initiated by the government had proved fruitless. "The suggestion by the NGOs will perpetuate the conflict, rather than solving it. "Last time, the LRA instead used the [ceasefire] period to re-establish their network and started attacking, killing and maiming civilians - a thing they had long been unable to do," Bantariza told IRIN on Monday. He added, "We have halted that now, and they are suggesting another breather for the rebels. In the army we were disadvantaged by the ceasefire." Clashes between government troops and the LRA have intensified in recent weeks, with rebels attacking civilians, abducting dozens of children and severely mutilating several IDP women. The NGOs called on the rebels to cease these attacks and respond positively to any new government ceasefire offer, saying the LRA could not expect talks and truce negotiations to go on forever. They called on the international community to provide active and sustained support for the process, stating: "Donors and other international actors must be firm in their public support for the peace process. We believe that a peace process is the only way to end fighting in northern Uganda and to bring about justice that is recognised by the victims. We must make this peace process work." The 19-year-old conflict in northern Uganda has seen tens of thousands killed and more than 20,000 children abducted to become soldiers or sex slaves of LRA commanders. The war has displaced an estimated 1.6 million people.