For over a decade, the government of Uganda has been denying the truth about internal displacement in the north. After years of claiming to help protect the northern community, a military officer recently admitted to placing millions of Acholi citizens in IDP camps for strategic purposes. By placing all civilians in camps, the countryside would be left “open for UPDF confrontation with the marauding remnants of the (Lord’s Resistance Army-LRA) rebels (then) terrorising innocent people.”

On September 27, 1996, President Museveni ordered the forced encampment of over 1.6 million Acholi civilians. Due to squalid living conditions, this forced migration led to the unwarranted deaths of thousands of people. In 2004, it was said that close to 1000 people were dying per week in the camps. As the government now admits to the camps playing into their military strategy, one should hope that accountability will now be discussed.

You can read more about the statement from General Aronda Nyakairima here.