By Milton Allimadi, Black Star News
The United States is concerned about possible Uganda army war crimes in its fight against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), while using U.S.-provided intelligence. Remarkably, the U.S. ambassador even warned Uganda to let American officials know in advance when it intended to commit war crimes while battling the LRA, according to revelations in memos provided by WikiLeaks.
The U.S. has been providing Uganda with intelligence and about $4.4 million in equipment to fight the LRA. Nevertheless, Washington is now disillusioned with Yoweri Museveni and is hoping that the February vote will restore the shine that the country has lost, a memo by the U.S. ambassador to Uganda, Jerry Lanier, states.
The explosive revelations comes in several memos sent to Washington by ambassador Lanier; they were provided to media by WikiLeaks.
The United States now seems so concerned with human rights abuses under the Museveni government including in fighting the LRA that embassy officials are even investigating killings going back eight years ago. A December 17 memo by Lanier discusses a notorious 2002 execution of a prisoner, Peter Oloya, on alleged orders by Col. Charles Otema Awany, the head of Uganda's military intelligence in northern Uganda. "On November 3, 2009, Gulu District Chairman Walter Ochora told PolOff that he, Lt. Col. Otema, and President Museveni discussed an intercepted message on September 16, 2002, revealing plans by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to liberate prisoners from Gulu central prison," states the Lanier memo. "Ochora said President Museveni ordered Lt. Col. Otema to go to the prison, secure the prisoners, and bring them back to the military barracks."
The reference to PolOff is to the political officer in the U.S. embassy in Uganda, Aaron B. Sampson. The prisoner, Oloya, was reportedly shot in the back and later buried after being beheaded, which is probably why the U.S. is now keenly interested in exploring the full nature of the government it supports in Uganda. What's more, Otema Awany was subsequently promoted and is now a Brigadier in the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF). The investigation of the Oloya killing by the United States officials and it's time frame is critical. Oloya was killed after July 1, 2002, when the Rome Statute, the instrument that created the International Court of Justice (ICC) came into effect. Uganda is a signatory to the statute.
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