The Equatorian News Online

Uganda's army is denying allegations from a parliament member that soldiers in a remote region are torturing and killing civilians.

Army spokesman Felix Kulaigye told VOA Wednesday the army has arrested some soldiers deployed there for extortion, but it is "absolutely" not true any officers have been involved in killings.

Kulaigye was responding to an accusation made by the parliament representative from Karamoja, Francis Adamson Kiyonga, in northeastern Uganda, where soldiers are conducting a disarmament campaign.

The representative said soldiers are torturing residents by severely beating and burning them to get them to admit to having weapons.  He said at least 15 people have been killed.

A human rights activist, Mohammed Ndifuna, said his organization (Human Rights Network) is investigating the accusations, which echo a similar report three years ago by Human Rights Watch. But he said the timing of the announcement, just months before Ugandans vote for president, suggests a possible political motive.

The implicated army unit is commanded by the son of president Yoweri Museveni.

The Karamoja region is home to nomadic herders, who traditionally use weapons to defend their cattle and their access to water sources.

But the high number of weapons has also led to insecurity and increased banditry. The government has made several attempts to collect illegal weapons in the region, confiscating tens of thousands of weapons since 2001.

Locals say the government takes their weapons without providing police to maintain security.

Investigators in Uganda say they have arrested the masterminds behind the twin bomb attacks last month that killed 76 people in Kampala. 

The four Ugandan men admitted their involvement in the attacks during a news conference Thursday.  The bombings targeted a restaurant and a club where people had gathered to watch the World Cup football final.

The leader of the attackers said he wanted to kill Americans out of religious conviction.  He said he was a member of al-Shabab, the AL-Qaida linked militant group which claimed responsibility for the double suicide blasts.  

Authorities in Uganda and Kenya have already detained a number of other people they believe were connected to the bombings.  Late last month, a Ugandan court charged three people after arresting about 20 others in connection with the attacks.   

Somali militant group al-Shabab had never mounted a major terrorist attack outside Somalia.  

The group said it was avenging the deaths of Somali civilians at the hands of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.  Ugandan troops make up the bulk of that force, which supports the Somali government.  Al-Shabab has warned that more attacks will follow.

It's been almost two decades since U.S troops were forced out of Somalia after the "Black Hawk Down" battle. Troops from neighboring Ethiopia spent more than two years trying to restore order before withdrawing last year. Now, the U.S. is backing a push by African states to add troops to combat Somali militants.

Ugandan police are holding as many as 20 Somalis and several Pakistanis in connection with the bomb blasts that killed 76 World Cup football fans last week. Uganda's ethnic Somali community is on edge as security services go on maximum alert ahead of this week's African Union summit.

Community leaders say a joint police task force has detained Somalis living in several Kampala neighborhoods in recent days.  Others have been taken into custody at a refugee camp outside the city.

A police official, however, says there has been no breakthrough in the investigation into the July 11 suicide bombings.

The Somali insurgent group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the twin bombings and has threatened to carry out more to retaliate against Uganda.  Uganda is the main troop contributor to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia.  Kampala is on highest alert with more than 25 heads of state due to arrive for an A.U. summit, starting on Sunday.

Hassan Roble, deputy chairman of the Somali Community Association in Uganda, says his organization supports efforts to round up al-Shabab suspects.  He notes at least one published report saying that police believe more suicide bombers are in hiding in the country.  But Roble says the job is complicated because al-Shabab is a multi-national group. "Al-Shabab [members] are many types, not only Somalis.  There's even Pakistan, Afghanistan, Muslim community [members].  So you cannot easily discover these people," he said.

Most of Uganda's ethnic Somali community is considered fiercely anti-al-Shabab.

Prominent journalist Ahmed Omar Hashi fled to Kampala after he was the target of four al-Shabab assassination attempts in Mogadishu.  In one attack, he was badly wounded and a colleague was killed.  He says the bombings have renewed his fear that an assassin is lurking in Uganda's refugee community.

"That person can hide [among] the people.  And I don't know who he is; no one can be sure.  But I know the one who did that [suicide] mission is a danger to all the people.  He is a danger to Ugandans, to everybody in Uganda because the Somalis, they fled from Shabab," he said.

Ethnic Somalis say they have felt a double sting from the July 11 bomb attacks.

Ali Mohammed, who has lived in Uganda for 20 of his 28 years, says first he shared the nation's grief, then he suffered the suspicion of many Ugandans who blamed Somalis for the massacre. "I feel sad when my brothers of Uganda were devastated, and for somebody to blame me again.  These ordinary Ugandans, sometimes they can just bring these motorcycles close to you and can call you, 'You're al-Qaida.  Why are you walking along the road?'   We feel like we are called killers," he said.

Ali Mohammed says the suicide bombings have permanently changed the way Somalis in Uganda see themselves and the way others see them.

Several people interviewed for this report noted that, in much the same way as the 2001 terrorist attacks transformed the United States, the July 11 bombings have shaken Uganda to its roots.

On July 5, the leader of Somalia insurgent group, Al shabaab, Mohammed Abdi Godane warned that they would hit Uganda and Burundi. The security agencies took the warning like any other previous threats by the same militant group. However, this time, the al shabaab were not threatening but promising a real attack.

The Ugandan government will compensate about 10,000 people in the country’s northern region, who were maimed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels over two decades, ahead of elections next year.

One of the most ruthless rebel groups, the LRA waged a brutal but futile insurgency from their bases in northern Ugandan and southern Sudan to dislodge President Yoweri Museveni and establish a theocracy in the east African country.

The military ejected the rebels from the area in 2005. The rebel leader, Joseph Kony, wanted by the ICC over charges of war crimes, is now believed to be roaming the jungles of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic (CAR).

Richard Todwong, Museveni’s special adviser on northern Uganda, told Reuters yesterday that the government had begun to register everyone who had suffered crippling physical harm to prepare a register of victims to collect compensation.

“All people in northern Uganda, of course, suffered personal and collective loss in some way,” he said. “But we are looking (for) and registering those that were maimed or suffered some form of deformation from the war.”

In February the government launched a $100mn rehabilitation programme to restore the region’s economic and social infrastructure destroyed by the war, ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in February next year.

LRA rebels are known for killing civilians, abducting women and children to use as sex slaves and child soldiers and slicing lips off victims to wring support from the local population or as punishment to perceived enemies.

So far, 5,000 people who are qualified for compensation have been recorded in the Acholi sub region, the epicentre of the LRA’s brutalities.

In total, he said, they expected an estimated 10,000 victims to qualify for payouts to begin by October.

The amount individuals will receive has yet to be agreed upon however. Todwong did not say how much the government has set aside to finance the programme.

“You know it’s not easy to determine how much you can compensate someone who has, for instance, lost a lip or a hand but we’re looking at those details,” he said.

Hiding space for indicted Ugandan LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony, his commanders and Sudan President Omar El Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity is growing smaller by the day. The International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, said yesterday that new strategies are being employed to apprehend all suspects indicted by the Hague-based court.

WASHINGTON, The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$130 million International Development Association (IDA) credit* to strengthen Uganda’s public health systems through improved human resources; provision of physical infrastructure; and greater accountability for service delivery.

The Uganda Health Systems Strengthening Project (UHSSP) will support the Government to renovate hospitals, improve management of health workers, strengthen leadership in the sector and provide reproductive healthcare, including family planning services.

“This project addresses some of the major bottlenecks impacting the provision of efficient health services to the Ugandan people. We hope that through this project the Bank will contribute toward improving service delivery at the frontline, and support the Government in making providers accountable for services delivered to clients,” said Kundhavi Kadiresan, World Bank Country Manager for Uganda.

Uganda has registered improvements in health outcomes, though at a much slower pace than other countries in the region. The maternal mortality rate is estimated at 435 deaths per 100,000 live births, while the infant mortality rate is estimated at 76 deaths per 1,000 live births; while stunting in children under five is estimated at 32 percent. Without significant investments, Uganda is unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goal targets related to reducing child mortality and improving maternal mortality.

“Maternal and child mortality remain high in Uganda, yet many of the causes are avoidable. The project will therefore also help to strengthen and improve Uganda’s delivery of maternal and child health services,” said Dr. Peter Okwero, the Project’s Task Team Leader.

The World Bank has provided close to US$6.5 billion in loans and grants to Uganda since 1963, and has already committed US$1.2 billion to finance various programs and projects between 2009 and 2011. The Bank’s current portfolio in Uganda consists of 17 projects with a commitment of US$1.43 billion.