Dear Obama: A Message from Victims of the LRA

Since September 2008, at least 2,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 3,000 others have been abducted during attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA, a Ugandan rebel group, operates in the border region between northern Congo, the Central African Republic and south Sudan. Many of the victims, including children, were beaten to death, had their skulls crushed or their heads sliced with machetes. Abducted children are forced to kill their family members.

On May 24, 2010, President Obama signed into law legislation committing the U.S. government to develop within 180 days a comprehensive, multilateral strategy to protect civilians in central Africa from LRA attacks, and take steps to permanently stop the violence. By November 24, 2010 the Obama administration is due to publish the options for this new strategy.

Three of the LRA's leaders - Joseph Kony, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen - are sought by the International Criminal Court under arrest warrants issued in July 2005 for war crimes committed in northern Uganda. All three remain at large and continue to commit atrocities.

Victims of this rebel group call upon US President Barack Obama for urgent and decisive action to neutralize the LRA.

View the full campaign, including photos and an appeal from photographer Marcus Bleasdale, at Human Rights Watch.

Read the Human Rights Watch press release.