“Vi vil forhindre et nyt (folkemord som i) Rwanda”, siger en talsmand for Ugandas hær, men analytikere og kritikere mener, at den militære indgriben alene gavner den vaklende regering i Sydsudan, som er Ugandas naboland mod nord.
KAMPALA, 17 January 2014 (IRIN) : The Ugandan parliament’s retroactive authorization (go ahead med tilbagevirkende kraft) of a military intervention in neighbouring South Sudan has elicited considerable criticism from activists and analysts.
“A stable and prosperous South Sudan is vital for regional peace, security and stability… There was and still is need to prevent potential genocidal and other atrocities against humanity,” read part of a motion passed in the Ugandan Parliament on 14 January.
This was almost a month after President Yoweri Museveni deployed troops to evacuate Ugandan nationals and help protect the airport, State House and other key locations in Juba.
The “government had to look at the interest of over 200.000 Ugandans caught up in South Sudan,” Defence Minister Chrispus Kiyonga, who drafted the motion, told parliament.
“Africa must learn to defend itself. We saw what happened in Rwanda. Millions of people were killed as African states and [the] UN looked on. We must not allow a repeat,” he added.
At least 1.000 people have been killed since the fight erupted on 15 December 2013 between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of former vice-president Riek Machar.
An estimated 468.000 people have been displaced within the country and almost 84.000 people have sought refuge in neighbouring states, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“This is a noble cause”
Lt-Col Paddy Ankunda, Uganda’s army and defence spokesperson, told IRIN the army is set to launch combat and offensive operations in rebel-held areas, especially in Jonglei State’s main town of Bor.
(Shortly after Ankunda spoke, the first aid flight for several weeks landed in Bor, delivering humanitarian personnel, food and sanitation supplies for displaced people there.)
“We are concerned. We have hundreds of people trapped in Bor. The international community and humanitarian agencies can’t deliver humanitarian aid to Bor due to insecurity. We need to create an avenue to make humanitarian agencies access the area and provide assistance to the people,” he told IRIN.
“This is a noble cause”, added he.
In a speech Thursday in Angola, President Museveni noted that on 13 January, with the help of Ugandan forces, the government of South Sudan had “inflicted a big defeat” on rebel groups outside of Juba.
He said that a large number of rebels had been killed in the incursion, as well as members from the South Sudanese and Ugandan armies.
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http://www.irinnews.org/report/99494/doubts-over-uganda-s-military-intervention-in-south-sudan
