Human Rights Watch writes to urge the Ugandan government to honor its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict by ensuring the rehabilitation and reintegration of Bushobozi Irumba, who was abducted at nine years of age by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

Amid reports that the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is again brutalizing civilians and in advance of the anticipated December 17 Security Council briefing by the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy for the LRA-affected areas, we write to urge your government to take steps toward helping to end LRA abuses and paving the way for apprehension of LRA leaders wanted by the International Criminal Court.

As a regional attack on the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) unfolds, all parties should respect international humanitarian law and LRA leaders accused of war crimes who surrender or are captured should be brought to trial.

Under legislation adopted by the US Congress on December 10, 2008, governments involved in the use of children as soldiers may no longer be eligible for US military assistance. The legislation, passed unanimously by both the Senate and the House, could affect six countries currently receiving US military training, financing, and other defense-related assistance: Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda.

International Criminal Court (ICC) member countries should speak up to support the court's independence and mandate during their annual meeting beginning November 14, 2008.

Under a new law signed today by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States.

This briefing paper includes four memoranda produced by Human Rights Watch on justice issues and the Juba peace talks between May 2007 and February 2008. These memoranda explain the importance of fair, credible prosecutions for serious crimes to both accountability and a durable peace for northern Uganda. They also detail requirements of the International Criminal Court's Rome Statute and of other international standards for any domestic trials of serious crimes in Uganda, which the parties in the peace negotiations agreed to pursue in lieu of ICC trials of Lord's Resistance Army leaders.
Download PDF of the memoranda with cover

The abduction and torture of a Ugandan HIV/AIDS activist who faces trial for holding a peaceful protest reveals the danger to those who challenge the government’s policies, Human Rights Watch, and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders said today. The three human rights organizations (the Observatory is a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture and the International Federation of Human Rights), called on the Ugandan authorities to investigate the abduction and torture and sanction those responsible. They also urged that the charges against all three human rights defenders on trial for the protest be dropped