| Churches silent about genocide in Uganda |
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| Written by Christian Roar Pedersen | ||||
| Sunday, 19 February 2006 | ||||
 Porto Alegre, Brazil, Feb 18 - The churches of the world are silent about a genocide that takes place in northern Uganda and has been going on for 10 years now. This was the message of Mr. Olara A. Otunnu, former UN under-secretary-general and special representative for children and armed conflicts, in his plenary address at the WCC 9th General Assembly in Porto Alegre.Both the WCC and its member churches have kept silent about a genocide that kills 1000 children each week in 200 government controlled concentration camps spread across the northern part of Uganda. According to Otunnu the child mortality rate in the camps are the highest in the world, and people live under poor conditions slowly dying out. "People are living like animals. They do not have the bare minimum," a relief officer has reported. In northern Uganda the population is trapped between the repel group LRA and the governments policy of destruction. AIDS/HIV is being “used systematically as a weapon” in the genocide. Rising from a HIV rate of almost 0 zero 30-50% of the population is currently infected as a result of the systematically rape of the local women by the government soldiers. And the churches keep silent. Otunnu has been trying to get the attention of church leaders around the world. He has spoken to Archbishop Rowan Willams and representatives from the Vatican, but until now nothing has happened. He urges the WCC and its member churches to take action and come to Uganda to witness the genocide themselves. “I must draw your attention to the worst place on earth to be a child today,” he said to the participants of the assembly during a plenary which focused on the churches Decade to Overcome Violence. The churches of the world “are part of a global conspiracy of silence”, he also stated at a press conference. “The situation in northern Uganda is far worse than that of Darfur, in terms of its duration, its magnitude, and its deep and long-term consequences for the society being destroyed.” “When faced with genocide, we have a moral, religious and political obligation to recognize it, denounce it, and stop it, regardless of the ethnicity or the political affiliation of the population being destroyed. We look particularly to you as spiritual and religious leaders to provide that prophetic voice and leadership. We look to you to denounce the genocide in northern Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto:             
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 19 February 2006 ) | ||||
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