WUNRN
The Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA),[3]
formed in 1987, is a
rebel self-proclaimed Christian guerrilla army operating mainly in northern Uganda and parts of
Sudan.[4]
The group is engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government in what is now one of Africa's longest-running
conflicts.
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Direct Link to Full Document:
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Via Eldis:
Authors: K. Carlson; D. Mazurana
Publisher: Feinstein International
Center, USA, 2008
This paper focuses on the experiences of those women and girls forcibly
married within the Lords Resistence Army (LRA) in Uganda, and their attempts to
reintegrate in civilian life after captivity. It documents and describes how
females were often beaten, raped, impregnated, and forced to assume the role of
‘wife’ to the fighters or commanders to whom they were given. The authors argue
that the responsibility for the crimes committed against these females clearly
lies with the top LRA leadership which played the central role in orchestrating
the systematic and widespread abduction of females for the purpose of forced
marriages.
The paper highlights how none of these forced marriages are recognised or
binding as formal marriages by any legal standard in Uganda or within northern
Ugandan customary law. To the contrary, both Ugandan and international law
criminalise elements that comprise forced marriage. The document contextualises
the discussion for forced marriage with the LRA then offers a brief overview of
the conflict itself and its effects on the civilian population. The authors
finish with a conversation about forced marriage as a crime against humanity,
distinct from other crimes such as rape, sexual slavery, and enslavement.
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