senate letter to secretary of state hilary clinton regarding lra violence

8/8/2019 Senate Letter to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton Regarding LRA Violence

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tlnitrd~tatrs ~rnatrWASHINGTON, DC20510

June 30, 2009The Honorable Hillary ClintonSecretary of StateU.S. Department of State2201 C Street NWWashington, DC 20520Dear Madam Secretary,We write to express our concern about the continuing massacres and abductionsbeing carried out by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Central Africa. As youare well aware, regional militaries, with some support from the United States,launched an offensive against the LRA's bases in northeastern Congo inDecember 2008. This operation failed to apprehend LRA leader Joseph Kony.Tragically, the LRA retaliated against civilians over the following two months,leaving over 900 people dead. In one coordinated attack, the LRA brutallymassacred more than 200 Congolese civilians gathered for celebrations onChristmas day.Given that the U.S. provided assistance and support for this previous militaryoperation at the request of the regional governments, we believe we have aresponsibility to help see this rebel war to its end. Last month, a bipartisan groupof Senators and Representatives introduced the Lord's Resistance ArmyDisarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act 0[2009 (S.1067, H.R. 2478).This bill urges the administration to develop a regional strategy to guide U.S.support for multilateral efforts to protect civilians from attacks by the LRA, toeliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability posed by the LRA, and toenforce the rule of law and ensure humanitarian access in LRA-affected areas.To that end, we write to ask you about the administration's plan for addressing thethreat posed by the LRA. Is there currently an interagency process under way toensure that all diplomatic, economic, intelligence and military elements of U.S.policy regarding the LRA are well coordinated? To what extent is the UnitedStates engaging with the United Nations, our international partners and affectedcountries to address the LRA's continued violence? Finally, what precautions arebeing made to ensure that any future military operations and activities do notrepeat past failures and prioritize civilian protection?U.S. leadership on this issue has the potential to help protect hundreds ofthousands of civilians from further violence and to advance our country's coreinterests in stability and development for this troubled region of Africa. We thank


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you for your attention to this matter and look forward to working together withyou to help see this-one of Africa's longest running and most gruesome rebelwars-to its finish.Sincerely,

7~Sam BrownbackUnited States Senator

es M. Inhofenited States Senator

~ Jf, t;United States Senator

~~~-~United States SenatorJlS~

~dhristopher S.BondUnited States Senator

~~ussell D. FeingoldUnited States Senator- ~~

Barbara BoxerUnited States Senator

~t-United States Senator

~~~-~aria CantwellUnited States Senator~

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~-~-Ron \VydenUnited States Senator~~_-1-~a~

B~jamin L. CardinUnited States Senator

~ Bl .- h .L 'l~~ne e . m 0 nUnited States Senator

~.Barbara MikulskiUnited States Senator

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~S2----Roland W. BurrisUnited States Senator~~~\1ark Udall

United States Senator

~I?Frank R. LautenbergUnited States Senator~gan~ ~-United States Senator

Sheldon WhitehouseUnited States Senator

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senate letter to secretary of state hilary clinton regarding lra violence

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