Cablegate: Great Lakes: Talking Points for December 17

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DE RUEHC #1979 3521340
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O P 171332Z DEC 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA PRIORITY 0000
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 0000
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 131979

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: UNSC PREL PHUM CG CT CD SU RW XA XW ZF
SUBJECT: GREAT LAKES: TALKING POINTS FOR DECEMBER 17
BRIEFING

1. (U) This is an action request. USUN may draw from the
points in para 2 and 3 during the UN Security Council
consultations on the Great Lakes December 17.

2. Begin points:

-- I would like to thank UN Special Envoy Chissano for his
briefing on the state of the Juba Peace Process and the
current activity of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and for
his dedication to the peace process.

-- First, the LRA must immediately end the war against
innocent civilians it has waged for 22 years in four
countries -- the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the
Central African Republic (CAR), Uganda, and Sudan. This
conflict has left 60,000 dead, up to 2 million displaced, and
lead to thousands of abducted children across the region.

--The LRA continues to foment regional instability by
committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, including
gender-based violence, especially rape and other forms of
sexual abuse; torture; mutilation; and the abduction and
recruitment of children for use as soldiers and porters.

-- The United States demands that the LRA immediately put an
end to its long history of war crimes and crimes against
humanity. We also demand the LRA abide by provisions
outlined in the Final Peace Agreement, including assembly in
Ri-kwangba, Southern Sudan.

-- During the 22-year conflict, LRA rebels have killed over
60,000, up to two million have been displaced from their
homes, and thousands of children have been abducted in the
DRC, Central African Republic, Southern Sudan, and Uganda. In
February and March of this year (2008) and while Kony
requested a resumption of the peace talks, the LRA abducted
155 people in Central African Republic, including 55
children; and 97 were abducted in southern Sudan. These
atrocities, combined with LRA leader Joseph Kony,s failure
to participate in Juba Peace Process -related meetings,
clearly demonstrates to the international community his
refusal to support the Juba process. The LRA must stop
committing these atrocities and release all children in their
custody immediately.

-- The Juba process ended in late February, and LRA leader
Joseph Kony,s refusal to participate in Juba-related
meetings have clearly demonstrated he is not interested in
peace. Joseph Kony has used the peace process to stall,
regroup, and rearm the LRA. Given this lack of progress, we
would welcome the UN Secretariat,s views on the long-term
viability of the Envoy position.

-- We note the government of Uganda,s two year commitment to
the Juba process through dialogue and negotiation, despite
Kony,s repeated efforts to undermine this process.

-- The U.S. understands the ICC,s desire to arrest and
capture Kony.

-- We support justice and accountability in the face of such
heinous crimes.

-- The international community must make it very clear to the
LRA that they must disarm and demobilize immediately.

-- The US Government will continue to encourage the region to
cooperate to address the LRA regional threat.

-- Separate from the menace of the LRA is the critical issue
of fostering genuine closure and reconciliation in Northern
Uganda. The Government of Uganda must continue to capitalize
upon the progress the Juba Process made in closing this
chapter on the conflict and bringing relative peace to the
north. The Government of Uganda and the international
community must continue to support the Ugandan Government's
Peace, Recovery, and Development Plan (PRDP) to rebuild the
war-torn north. Support is also needed from the
international community to improve northern infrastructure.
We note for this fiscal year, the USG will provide $163
million in PRDP support to open roads, provide health
services, rebuild the agriculture sector, increases access to
clean water, improve education, increase local government
capacity, and reintegrate former combatants.

-- Northern Uganda,s communities need to feel their
grievances are being addressed and that they are not being
marginalized. The Northern Uganda Reconstruction Program
needs a careful review to ensure it is accomplishing what it
was intended to address.

3. (U) Contingency Guidance on Recent Military Action

In over twenty years, Kony and the LRA have terrorized
the civilian populations of these three nations resulting in
the deaths of more than 65,000, the displacement of more than
2.5 million people, and the abduction of more than 22,000
children.

We agree with other expert assessments that Kony and
the LRA represented a real and growing threat to regional
stability and to the internal stability of all three
participating nations.

Like many other nations, the United States has been
troubled by increasing reports that the LRA was
reconstituting and strengthening its forces with the intent
of further terrorizing innocent civilian populations.

As recently as last month the LRA attacked civilians in
Congo, burning two villages and abducting more than 20 new
child recruits.

The United States shares the view of the states in the
region that the current peace process had failed.

Kony was given five opportunities to sign a final peace
agreement with the Government of Uganda and he failed at each
occasion to sign.

Kony has been using the peace process to rest, re-arm,
and re-supply his army with the intention of expanding his
reach.

The United State welcomes the cooperative efforts by
regional states to take action against Joseph Kony and the
Lord,s Resistance Army.

The LRA must now realize that there is no safe haven
for its activities.

The only recourse open to the LRA is to accept
immediately and without conditions the Ugandan government,s
most recent peace offer.
RICE

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