Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa with a population of about 33.4 million. It's hard to imagine that thousands of them have suffered from acts of genocidal massacre. Since their independence in 1962 Ugandans have suffered many violations of human rights including government sponsored violence, forced exiles, imprisonment without trial and genocide. They've had massacres directly against certain ethnic groups. Over 1,000 people die each week of starvation and preventable diseases and on top of that more than two million people have been killed, maimed, imprisoned or forced into exile. "Northern Uganda is the worst place on earth to be a child today," says a former United Nations Under Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflicts. That's definitely right!
There are many causes for the killings in Uganda but the main reason is the regimes of the power hungry Milton Obote and the infamous Idi Amin. They have both caused violence and a lot of bloodshed. Obote became prime minister in 1962 and in 1966 he suspended the constitution, removed the ceremonial and vice president and maintained all government powers. Uganda became a republic in 1967 which gave the president even more power. Obote's government also had a military led by Commander Idi Amin. Amin declared himself president, got rid of the parliament and altered the constitution to give him absolute power. Amin's rule caused economic decline, social disintegration and human rights violations. The Acholi and Langi tribes were especially targeted of his political persecution because they had supported Obote and were in his army. It's estimated that more than 100,000 Ugandans had been murdered and more than 80,000 were forced to leave the country. By 1984 about a quarter of a million Ugandans were living in exile as refugees. After Amin's removal, Obote ruled until July 27, 1985. Under his rule, the security forces had one of the world's worst human rights record. After Obote fled to Zambia, massive human rights violations continued as the Okello government murdered civilians in order to destroy the National Resistance Army's (NRA) support. The entire society was being destroyed physically, culturally, socially and economically.
Lord's Resistance Army
Between 1986 and 2006 the vicious LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) killed tens of thousands of people in northern Uganda. They also abducted thousands of children to serve as soldiers and slaves. Over 25,000 children were abducted and forced to kill their friends and relatives. Every night 40,000 kids would flee their homes in the rural areas to escape abduction, torture or murder by LRA. Also, approximately 1.8 million Ugandans were displaced. Since 1996, the government has herded more than 1.6 million people into the internal displaced persons (IPD) camps. In the last 10 years, residents of northern Uganda have been forcibly moved by the government from their homes and into "displacement" camps - referred to as "death camps" or "concentration camps". Fortunately there haven't been any LRA attacks since August 2006 so the former internally displaced persons have been able to return.