The lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, is described as a new religious movement or cult with militant capabilities. The LRA operates out of Northern Uganda and South Sudan, as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. The LRA has been accused of widespread human rights violations which include but are not limited to; murder, abduction, mutilation, child-sex slavery, and forcing children to participate in hostilities. There are many myth's and many facts about the LRA that are very popular around the internet, thanks to Jason Russell who was the film director who created the film Kony 2012. This film went viral in March of 2012 and in the first 2 weeks gained over 83 million views. This caused mass media scrutiny and criticism, and a movement to bring the LRA's leader Joseph Kony to justice, in the International Criminal Court. This paper will try to address many of these myths and explain the truth behind the LRA and its followers. It is true that the group which had been operating for 26 years, and is also extremely well known for its abductions, amputations, rape, and murders, but many things such as the group's presence in Uganda has been greatly exaggerated. While the reputation of the rebel group has been shrouded in myths and rumors, the truth is that the LRA has not been active, and their leader Joseph Kony has been missing and in many cases even reported dead for over 10 years. This paper will cover the extensive history of the Lord Resistance Army, as well as the history of Joseph Kony and how he created such a savage following in Africa, as well as the groups rise and fall. It will also cover some brief information on the Invisible Children organization and attempt to ... ... middle of paper ... ...ople. If it were not for the downfall of the Acholi people, and the rise of President Museveni to power, which created prime conditions for an uprising, the insurgency may never have happened in the first place. The rise and fall of the Lord’s Resistance Army can be seen only in light of the emergence and downfall of the Holy Spirit Movement, which was led by Alice Lakwena. As quickly as the LRA rose to power, it began to create its own demise, forgetting its actual purpose acting only out of interests in oneself. As the amount of kidnappings and terror rose, support for the LRA quickly dropped and the result was the organization was trapped in a cycle of contradictions that it tried to justify with religious context. Today, the LRA remains a small threat to the people living in the Congo and the rest of Central Africa, but is no where near its strength 20 years ago.
Rebel Without a Cause is an unconventional story with a conventional, classical approach to storytelling. The film follows the seven traits of Classical Hollywood Cinema and is adapted to the hybridization of film noir, which was primarily a style of B movies, and teen drama films, which was newly emerging in the 50s.
In 1996 the war in Sierra Leone was becoming a horrific catastrophe. Children were recruited to be soldiers, families were murdered, death came easily, and staying alive was a privilege. Torture became the favorite pastime of the Revolutionary United Front rebel movement, which was against the citizens who supported Sierra Leone’s president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. I was in the grips of genocide and there was nothing I could do. Operation No Living Thing was put into full effect (Savage 33).
The United States of America has come a long way in getting to the status it holds today in the world in terms of its military muscle. One of the major milestones in this journey was the establishment of the First Special Service, otherwise called the Devil’s Brigade or the Black Devils’ Brigade. The special unit among the United States forces was formed in the course of the World War II. Initially, the plan was to incorporate Canada and Norway in establishing a special elite force that would help in the activities of the war. However, Norwegian forces withdrew leading to collaboration between the United States Forces and Canada .
“Child Soldiers Global Report 2001- Sierra Leone.” refworld. Child Soldiers International, 2001. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Since the end of the Cold War, the recruitment of child soldiers has been recognized as an increasingly global phenomenon. Although the majority of the relatively recent child soldier recruitment cases have developed from armed conflicts in Africa, by the beginning of the new millennium the trend increased globally, appearing on nearly every continent, including Asia, Europe and the Americas. The prevalence of this practice has turned it into a much talked about international issue. The aim of this paper is to look at how this issue is influenced and even aggravated by globalization. More specifically, it will be argued that globalization, expressed through the existence of international organizations, such as the United Nations, have been ineffective in putting a stop to child soldiery and that globalization, defined by the interconnectedness of world economies has lead to underdevelopment and therefore exasperated conflict and as a result child soldiery.
For decades, Uganda’s economy has suffered through disappointing economic policies and instabilities. These setbacks have been put forth by a chronically unreliable government, leaving it as one of the world’s poorest countries. Uganda’s weak infrastructure and corrupt government are two of the primary constraints against a continuation of economic growth. Uganda has ongoing military involvement in the War on Congo, wrongly taking money from the already deprived country and into the war. Many villages in Uganda also have to waste their precious money and time in pursuit of hiding places. They are faced with a group known as, The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). LRA is infamous for their twenty years of massacre and slaughter in Uganda, causing an estimated 1.5 million internally displayed persons. Several people are questioning why the LRA is still terrorizing the country and criticizing the government’s commitment to putting an end this horrific group. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) ...
The Red Guard strove to remove and destroy the Four Olds, foreign influence, enemies of the Party and the current societal structure by persecuting those who supposedly perpetuated them. All vestiges of outdated customs, habits, culture and ideas were to be destroyed, since the movement represented “a triumph of youth over age, of ‘the new’ over ‘the old.’” To do so, the Red Guard wrecked thousands of art collections and the contents of libraries, and changed “reactionary” street signs. They persecuted members of the public who attempted to stop them or refused to give up the Four Olds. Those who had foreign ties, like businessmen, missionaries, or who had western education were also persecuted to prevent backwards or rightist ideologies from spreading into the new Chinese society. Chinese intellectuals were also hounded for the same reason: to prevent free thought. The messages of the movement were “negative—against the established authority, against the Party, against the military” and the outdated structures of the older generation. To destroy the established order, the Red Guards attacked educational and political institutions that were enemies of Mao and the party, and created general havoc within China. The Red Guard targeted teachers, education policies, and universities to change the core of education and the qualities that it had extolled. Members of the general public and even party officials themselves were attacked, to remove the “capitalist roaders” with bourgeois tendencies from society. Mao hoped that in this chaos a new communist China would emerge.
Child soldier is a worldwide issue, but it became most critical in the Africa. Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by some rebel groups and used as fighters, cooks, messengers, human shields and suicide bombers, some of them even under the aged 10 when they are forced to serve. Physically vulnerable and easily intimidated, children typically make obedient soldiers. Most of them are abducted or recruited by force, and often compelled to follow orders under threat of death. As society breaks down during conflict, leaving children no access to school, driving them from their homes, or separating them from family members, many children feel that rebel groups become their best chance for survival. Others seek escape from poverty or join military forces to avenge family members who have been killed by the war. Sometimes they even forced to commit atrocities against their own family (britjob p 4 ). The horrible and tragic fate of many unfortunate children is set on path of war murders and suffering, more nations should help to prevent these tragedies and to help stop the suffering of these poor, unfortunate an innocent children.
During the author’s life in New York and Oberlin College, he understood that people who have not experienced being in a war do not understand what the chaos of a war does to a human being. And once the western media started sensationalizing the violence in Sierra Leone without any human context, people started relating Sierra Leone to civil war, madness and amputations only as that was all that was spoken about. So he wrote this book out o...
“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults” (“Child Soldiers” 1). This quotation by Olara Otunnu explains that children are forced into becoming weapons of war. Children under 18 years old are being recruited into the army because of poverty issues, multiple economic problems, and the qualities of children, however, many organizations are trying to implement ways to stop the human rights violation.
The Irish Republican Army was a well-known terrorist organization originating in Dublin, Ireland. The IRA (Irish republican Army) used irregular military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, and petty warfare against the United Kingdom. The IRA raged Guerilla warfare against the British, creating the Irish War of Independence. Even though the Irish Republic Army is no longer active, in their time they wreaked havoc any many different people. In this essay, the description of the group, historical and past events of the group and recent activities will be discussed.
Despite the many obstacles that Uganda’s people must overcome, this extraordinary country has a rich history filled with remarkable traditions and devastating conflicts that give it the distinct character it has developed over time.
One can easily note the physical and sexual violence brought upon the people (black and white) of Congo after independence, but we must locate the other forms of violence in order to bring the entire story of Patrice Lumumba to light. The director’s attempt at bringing the story of Patrice Lumumba to the “silver screen” had political intentions.
The war was worsened by the wealthy minerals in the ground and the influence of the mineral was strengthened by the fear and displacement the war caused. The intertwining of these two destructive forces is seen in the story Salima is told by a man who bought her. In this he tells of a man who stuffed”...the coltan into his mouth to keep the soldiers from stealing his hard work, and they split his belly open with a machete”(31). Not only does this story show the harsh conditions the men are exposed to in war, but also it further demonstrates the hold coltan has on the minds of those who live in the Congo. The want for coltan leads to the destruction of the community and individual identities of those involved as it perpetuates a cycle of war that damages men, induces violence against women, and ultimately creates a cycle of lost identity.
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.