Stories that the world over information they provide opinions they want to express t. W. On facebook and twitter up to date and in touch follow us. Of coney and the Lords Resistance Army destroyed my life in zero seven years i was in the bush i could have done many things with my life. That wouldnt happen and thats a good thing. To understand that. The. Theres a celebration underway today in the town of antioch in northern uganda but the memory of the past is never far behind the rebels of the Resistance Army left the region some ten years ago the suffering they caused still hasnt healed. The people here are celebrating the anniversary of evelyn and his mothers death margaret a callow died three years after evelyn was liberated from the hands of christian militia moderates health had suffered under years of worry for her daughter the years that evelyn spent as a captive of joseph koni head of the n. R. A. Everyone here young and old is a victim of the terror waged by the. Some also perpetrators the n. R. A. Killed their families their children parents grandparents many were kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers given no choice but to plunder and kill. Young women had to bear the children of that kidnapped us. You know my mind when i returned home from captivity from the bush i had two children with my mother took in my children and love them when my mother died she left a big hole in my life. So many people here in the village lost family members to the massacre. I saw they werent pleased that my children were here i couldnt raise my children here and i cant trust people. I only come here for short visits and then i leave. Evelyn and his ordeal began here in the bush near the road that leads to attack on august twenty fifth one thousand nine hundred ninety four at about five p. M. Evelyn lived with her mother and her grandparents on the nearby farm. She was just eleven years old when. She shows us the place where the family. The circle where the walls used to be is still visible evelyn was on her way home from school when she was suddenly confronted by a group of rebels. The rebels asked me whats her name i didnt reply they took sticks and beat me. Evelyn money they asked me and i said no my name is betty im just visiting. But they took me with them we walked to the next farm where the village teacher lived when he saw us he reached for his rubber boots the rebels thought he was reaching for a weapon and they shot him on the spot. Then we continued i had no idea that i would have to spend many years marching with the l r a i spent eleven years in the bush with the rebels i had no contact with my family and. Northern uganda has suffered from civil unrest for generations the region is home to the actually ethnic group who have farmed and raise livestock in the isolated region for many years under the nearly seventy years of British Colonial rule the rift between the north and the south deepened. The north remained poor and undeveloped. After uganda or achieved independence in one thousand nine hundred sixty two various armed groups trying to seize power under the dictator in political opponents were brutally persecuted. Actually who opposed our men were arrested in the tens of thousands tortured and murdered. In one thousand nine hundred six gallery most of amy was sworn in as president. His policies continued to exacerbate ethnic conflict in uganda and he also regarded the actually as a Security Risk time and again most of any dispatch the military into actually land in northern uganda. Nine hundred eighty seven word began to spread of a man named Joseph County who claimed he had been called by god to free the actually people he formed a rebel group in the north calling his militia the Lords Resistance Army. Under counties can mount the began to wage armed rebellion against ugandas army crony and his militia took brutal vengeance against anyone they suspected of collaboration. He and his militia inflicted atrocities on the local population maiming civilians and killing without mercy thousands of children were abducted into slavery iser could be a heads an organization in the provincial capital of gulu that helps victims of the l r a return to civilian life. Its a very very unique. That is to me that is why they were. Fighting for so long because. If you are dotted. Brainwash you are made to commit crime. And once and this crime you commit them right in your village at home sometimes you have made to kill your parents now you fail of coming up to committing a crime and definitely you will feel that i made it home trust it is committed at home now and is going to receive me so this is a home for me i better be loyal to the people in the bush i should fight should find a level of staying here and that is where. Quite a long time through the government held numerous peace talks with the l r i time and again the negotiations failed. In the mid one nine hundred ninety s. Kone and his militia moved their base to sudan where they served as mercenaries for the Sudanese Government over and over again d l r a crossed back into uganda to kidnap more children whenever they needed to replenish their fighting force let me thank you you know it you know. In two thousand and two the ugandan Army Launched a major offensive in sudan and forced the rebels to take part in new peace negotiations. The talks continued for four years but also failed. The hatred and mistrust was an obstacle as was cohen is unpredictable behavior. Those are closest to. Your god i was. Gonna government or your god i dont use. Good communication and if there was. A good thing which was there was not. Bad government. That is. What would. Happen. After the talks collapsed kone vanished from the area he and his remaining followers first hid in the democratic republic of the congo and later in the Central African republic. After twenty years of terror and death and fragile peace returned to northern uganda. This comparative calm was disturbed when the n. R. A. Made headlines around the world as part of the coney twenty twelve internet campaign. Because the truth is coney a dogs kids just like. Us human rights activists drew on all the tools of social media to publicize the hunt for the ugandan warlord for twenty six the atrocities committed by county and the and went viral the u. S. Government capitulated to the pressure sending one hundred special forces to the Central African republic to hunt for county but the fear all vanished as suddenly as it had appeared meanwhile for the people of northern uganda old wounds were reopened Joseph County and his band of followers remain in hiding. Its been over thirty thousand of them. And. When evelyn was adopted in one thousand nine hundred four her brother oscar was just eighty years old one day in two thousand and four he suffered the same fate as his sister oscar was eighteen and a High School Student he was in the field harvesting mangoes when he was abducted by rebels. That theyre living about from. Forget about your family forget about anything that you left at home from gruber on why you are now our members. That there were over just you in our military when we were moving the route that we used then live like below people behind the birth of a. Two or three thing it does away from the bigger group with intention that when one tried to as it were to follow that the road. Behind. What was it you should be asking them. That we had. For him movie he never wanted killing people but getting people by day young showed us for them they just do it because sometimes theyre bored hes a better for. Us when they see killies when you kill and throw him out with so do both. And he enjoyed it you know other people. And there. Are you know youre also a villain and. There are. People like you. And that happen regularly yeah. And if i want something i dont just ask i got to do what i want. My duty i would soon get there that are my age. They were manpower when fighting there they send People Like Us young people aged guys theyre the one who was in the front so those who stay for a long time now for them day their work is to guide us what to do. Oscar was assigned to dominic on gwens brigade a young commander on gwen was also a doctor does a boy and grew up with the rebels he has been charged with war crimes before the International Criminal court. There was a political issue but instead going valving politicians involved children. So when wearing their boys they were accepting when and using mind that they were expecting that that is why we are using these kids kids can forget quickly they can feel very quickly when you tell when you tell him. If you. Put it to example when you take it you. Dont fire then you tell them that is not good and. They. Take. So when you use the. Better. They have death said you. Dont know what is good or bad but. Making that decision that is very day use the. I will not. Forget i will never. Jackson a charmer is returning from a long day in his fields his leg is painful he has an amputation but a jamma has many mouths to feed them so he spends his days working the land that once belonged to his ancestors the trauma lives here with two y. M. C. A. Brought with him from the bush and their sixteen children a charmer spent seventeen years with the l r a he was abducted himself a victim who became one of jozy of counties loyal followers even today many years after his return to civilian life he Still Believes in the sects murky ideology and insists that Joseph Carney was called upon by kong. Thirty years ago a charm i was a young teacher in a local village the rebels ambushed his school in broad daylight. And a few of his students were taken captive. You can i quickly not have any chance of escaping going there. So i decided to spare my life and stay with the. School and i went i had no end of craning. As i was a bus you know to go to see you know for i was included in the quoted as saying that they commissioned diggnation does with a year. And a year to deploy as well. Expresses as well. In the whole mission because the first thing is that what sizes comes to pass. That is no lie in what i have a concious the a lot it does not do in this ng on that one accord everything is a done on disposition of the spirit when disobedience why doesnt the killing it is done when disputed stops killing it is done when the spirit of stops fighting even the enemies come that it will be no fighting. During one skirmish his right leg was injured later in saddam it was amputated now disabled a charmer became an administrator and rebel headquarters by then he was an officer so several women were given to him the trauma Still Believes in count his twisted interpretation of the bible which he says justifies the kidnapping of children. During the mazas norwood was reputed willingly mothers come to find out and said i want all of this is girl is to go and all that is this all went away as soon as abdul good is sicily so he ducks anybody that is able to fight as much as was fighting with the israelis in the same way it was. Actually it was because of about six. Years the women were actually supposed to stay with. The relation it bends if. The woman is already a machine woman sees a lot it commanded to be a wife so actually all of one must all of them were machine enough where wives actually. Go and age but if a woman begins the ministry then this say that the woman is my shoe. Because if your mind was. Given you may give be given one. Because. You might be given a woman is. A good thing for you when that. Jackson a charmer feels no remorse no pangs of conscience he says he did nothing wrong and neither did Joseph County they just followed gods orders charm has nothing to fear from punishment in two thousand uganda passed an amnesty act to help encourage abducted chan fighters to defect from the n. R. A. Jackson a charmer was able to return home without repercussions like many other commanders and older soldiers. Good evening ladies and gentlemen this is radio. I dont know what Radio Program this afternoon and tonight which i dont have our retirees from the jungle. In nineteen ninety eight came back home and its a very big program to welcome him we used to in such a way that japans west set waiting for his coming back home. With. Those of you out there know my name. We spent a long time together in the bush. I said you my greetings wherever you are why be some of you are dead. So you your desk was in line. And i gathered my courage and surrendered to the army. Many civilians out here take care of us they returned me to my family who greeted me warmly and i i know that my Little Brothers and i are sitting next to the radio and listening to me. Please come home that is all i have to say my name is okuda balla you know the kind of people left in the jungle there you see most of them are people that i need to get it if i do get it at a very low level very low level primary one two three four and thats so the best thing was to use traditional music and introduce the music we made it in such a way that the fields where there. Was to entertain says tell us educate convinced that the comeback. We were told that the people here will really own killed by Government Forces that is what they were told so that they could continue fighting fighting for their party and rule really came and yet these particular here only suffered. There wasnt really life going on home production. Medication for people who are sick. So some of these things even mean. In the mid one nine hundred ninety s. Game became a star in northern uganda the rebels only knew him and his show which he called come back home the officers usually dont allow the fighters to listen to the radio but many do it anyhow in secret. As an intermediary for the government they sent him into the bush to deliver messages to Joseph County to gain his trust and to prepare meetings. He would call me because i was mandated by the state given i was given a. Satellite phone with. Air time a lot of heat. Talking by the government. To help communicate. The communication was with a purpose. For. All time. To me. Because at least when someone could hear someone from talking. That would be something else. Hearing it was. Telling the children. At school so and so. So and so is doing well and. I would even say lets use the. It was even thought of. The program used. In the summer of one nine hundred ninety four after evelyn had been abducted from her mothers farm she was forced to march for many days the rebels showed the children how to use twigs as camouflage and hide from attacks from ugandan military helicopters. The children were told to make sure their foreheads and fingernails were covered since they reflected light eleven year old evelyn was forced to march on until the group reached the camp in south sudan that evelyn was assigned to Joseph County as a ting ting a housemaid she had to tend to the household and counties wives and many children. Shortly after her fourteenth birthday he took her as his wife. I had no choice. We went to the bush in the morning to search for food came to me and said today is the day you will become my wife whether you want to or not. I resisted and said no i dont want that. Then he took out his pistol and held it to my forehead but he said if you refuse i will kill you. So i gave up i said do with me what you will. And i just had my first period when he slept with i waited for the second one but it didnt come instead i had pain thats when i realized i was pregnant. A woman from congo lived with us in the camp they told me she could help me get rid of the child. She made a juice out of red chili peppers i drank it and had terrible pain. The pain kept getting worse and i bled. But i knew i wanted to abort the child and i had no idea how i would be able to care for it we were constantly on the march fleeing. I knew i was too young to be pregnant. Three times i tried to get rid of the child but it didnt work and i gave up and said ok then i will have this baby and if i die in childbirth then thats what was meant to be. The birth was terrible it was a girl i was afraid to nurse the baby when other people were watching i wanted to go play with the other children any time i went to spring to get water i stayed there to play with the other children. And my baby stayed at home and cried. This isnt Marys Residential School for girls and as well known in northern uganda girls who when i spoke to attend school here know they have an opportunity to make something of themselves. Big. Was one of the fortunate ones she was a very good student the girls werent permitted to leave the School Grounds the militia often crossed the border from sudan to carry out rights. Its their first day back kind of affected me i was trying to recall in ten everything out there that weve come to acknowledge this situation and how everything up in. A tricky no more. Memories than a scramble when i was in the us. That were not remains a mystery was one in three yeah they have the commemoration prayer for what happened on the name commemoration prayers take place and then the hope to buy every year then another thing is you had been there and then theyre talking about some of us spent day in captivity its something that the staff can only down main street. Was. Her son was. Was. Well you know. There. The events of october the nine nine hundred ninety six made headlines around the world until that point few outside the region had heard of the atrocities being committed in uganda that changed with the abduction of one hundred thirty nine young girls from the Residential School of a boca. Yes. The rebels came under cover of darkness eleven armed militia members stormed the dormitory and took the girls hostage. Today there is a memorial to the girls in the courtyard. So when we moved down in their money around nine ten there we started seeing snow stay when she kept on a good shape do you negotiate with them to have elements one and two there they first started in one place so i think they had a plan maybe two and of a few of the guys to her sister did not choose what to do you may know would we come back well have a chose the them skills. And hes so how did that the of us on one side one hundred nine on one side they insist that got them to come and talk to us to where i remain mean we only knew that when she was. First class and started talking to us we couldnt help ourselves i started learning and we screamed but that is so that was an issue started. Making me spend they didnt eight years in captivity at that time i didnt know what my fate would be. With her so when i was abducted i take i didnt know a birthday man hears me today being given to a man marries old i didnt know where i was given to he may thirtieth yesterday nice woman they had been staying in another place but their group being turned out around when you called me. And then you saying im use wife so its like you and me. And that. Marked the beginning ok you. Now have a very insular dance was not a good one. But it is still out there its me up to you today. I dont know way had to out then to know one people have only as look at myself what comes in life of one individual at our home we have many. Coming to the school thinking alice thank you she is my future. I need to end up in their bush and really why did you feel like id never heard. It hurts me when i think oh. But at the end of the day. I have to accept their situation and us and well all. Four years later victoria had her first child at the age of seventeen or eighteen and then she had another child during an attack by government soldiers she managed to flee after eight years in captivity her children were very young victoria decided not to tell them who their father is and how they came to be born so i have a plan of standing with them this year but im a country late. One i dont need to delegate is that thing whereby she will go and asking friends are we allowed school that when they say this what you mean i dont i want them when they can appreciate that they were sure. Theres always be there your guy and if somebody told you they have no stigma that. I get this big in my big mouth that. Evelyn and her oldest daughter bucky to have experienced that stigma. Back home and people said that back looks like tony. Thats when evelyn decided to send her daughter to a Residential School in the capital camp almost four hundred kilometers away. When bakita was small i couldnt help remembering how i was forced to have this child. I saw coney hold the pistol to my head i couldnt feel love for her. Today i can i do what i can to make sure she is cared for. I know im the only person who can help her. Today i love. And i feel a terrible burden of guilt because i treated her so badly when she was little. But was born in one thousand nine hundred ninety seven in a mud heart in an hour a camp in south sudan. Was head. But. I do know that there is better life you understand i just knew that was how life was. To us. But that. Is when i lost my sister my father i remember everything that happened that night when i was two. And then i was home with my sister i met my. Mad that was and then we saw airplanes coming Something Like that and people too cool i was in macys that bag just didnt know how she she took another direction irene and i had this because i was a so young i didnt know what to do but i remember i still was i can still recall what happened how she when i watch us but. I try to forget but at night i dream of winnie even today im still searching for her. If she were still with me she would be in secondary school like her sister but. When he was never found in january two thousand and four shortly after the birth of her daughter massey evelyns group came under attack. That day everything changed evelyn and her daughters were captured by government soldiers they survived im afraid. That was and i was there and as you say it was my best day. Because i remember something maybe of two days. One day my mom had given birth to my sibling and then there was that she was too she was too not feeling well with the baby as well and so on. Then. I remember she wanted to throw the baby i wanted to attend to she threw her but i peaked and i kept running with the big. Yeah and then i think it was the next day but we slept in some. Reason to live in the following day you know with kupchak. We want. To say. I remember i was his favorite child. Yeah he used to like me used to carry me the things i could remember i know so remember on that doing met when i lost my sister that will i remember what happened to us from showing Something Like that and then. The airplanes came and he was by then id gone to the bathroom i just saw him running with this tower thats all of that was the last time i saw him so i can recall that. To me he was a good father because he didnt do anything bad to me so personally i would not go again his team because he has never done anything bad to me i am not a witness of this super but he has done something bad to my mum rooney he has a future. Yes she suffered a lot although most of the suffering was before i when i became old enough like when i was too young thats when she says she went through many things yeah. For many of those kidnapped by the n. R. A. As children liberation did not bring an end to their suffering. Many victims of the abductions perform selfhelp groups like the womens Advocacy Network they make jewelry and for many the sale of the jewelry is their only source of income. It was so hard to return to normal life. Sometimes i thought it would have been better if i had died in the bush. After i escaped from the l r a i was in the Rehabilitation Center in gulu. Everyone else receive visits from their family. I waited for my family to come and get me but no one came. Finally someone informed my mother and she came. She stayed a few day as and left and never came back. I ran away from the Rehabilitation Center and followed her to avalanche. She tried to get away from me. But i kept following her. Finally yelled at me jennifer im going to tell you once and for all i have crossed your name off the list of my children. I want im no longer my daughter. Find someone else you can call mother and then she turned around and left. Dominic on gwen was a commander of an l r a brigade he was abducted is a boy forced to take up a weapon and rose in the ranks nearly thirty years later in two thousand and fifteen he turned himself in to the ugandan army today he is standing trial at the International Criminal court in the hague laws the former child soldier a victim of the l r as atrocities or a perpetrator. It is not for. The other did the government said that. It would always in the boys you have amnesty you come back theres no problem with you we know you were not there. Right now and were here again but. I dont think. Coming back home and arrest warrant has also been issued for Joseph County tony is still frame in hiding in Uganda People are trying to expand him from their memories. He destroyed my life in those eleven years i was in the bush i could have done so many other things with my life. And today im doing better and i dont need to fight for my daily survival should he be punished for what he did i forgave him a long time ago Everything Else is up to god to decide. I didnt see him do that but maybe you ask on many other people to do that so i i dont have the audacity to say hes very close to me he was group too. Its good. For everybody thing that youre doing this well you must go for it. If. And be. Its ok if me i have moved or. Whatever. I dont my. Self whether its with me will never go. Back toria wants to attend university but she doesnt have the money she hasnt decided yet whether shell tell her children who the father is. Is out of work he says he wouldnt be able to manage a degree or proper job training ever since his time in captivity hes been unable to concentrate. Evelyns daughter back into his living in camp are under a different name she wants to study law and become a lawyer evelyn hopes to find a good psychologist she says her mind is no longer works the way used to shes written a book about her life which has sold a few copies but not enough to make a living. Today evelyn lives with mubarak who was also abducted as a child by the al. They have two children together. The victims have received no compensation for the last years they spent in the bush for the loss of their families and for raising the children they were forced to ban. Joseph county is still out there somewhere an evil spirit i say who should remain where he has. 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