{ "id": "R42094", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R42094", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 445921, "date": "2015-09-28", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T18:18:07.346549", "title": "The Lord\u2019s Resistance Army: The U.S. Response", "summary": "The Lord\u2019s Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony, is a small, dispersed armed group active in remote areas of Central Africa. The LRA\u2019s infliction of widespread human suffering and its potential threat to regional stability have drawn significant attention in recent years, including in Congress. Campaigns by U.S.-based advocacy groups have contributed to policymakers\u2019 interest. \nSince 2008, the United States has provided support to Ugandan-led military operations to capture or kill LRA commanders, which since 2012 have been integrated into an African Union (AU) \u201cRegional Task Force\u201d against the LRA. The Obama Administration expanded U.S. support for these operations in 2011 by deploying U.S. military advisors to the field. In 2014, the Administration notified Congress of the deployment of U.S. military aircraft and more personnel to provide episodic \u201cenhanced air mobility support\u201d to African forces. The United States has also provided humanitarian aid, pursued regional diplomacy, helped to fund \u201cearly-warning\u201d systems, and supported multilateral programs to demobilize and reintegrate ex-LRA combatants. The Administration has referred to these efforts as part of its broader commitment to preventing and mitigating mass atrocities. Growing U.S. involvement may also be viewed in the context of Uganda\u2019s role as a key U.S. security partner in East and Central Africa. U.S. security assistance to Uganda, including for counter-LRA efforts, has continued despite U.S. officials\u2019 criticism of Ugandan efforts to enact laws that would make homosexuality punishable by life in prison. \nThe Administration\u2019s current strategy toward the LRA was formulated in response to the Lord\u2019s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (P.L. 111-172), enacted by Congress in 2010. Congress has since supported the Administration\u2019s approach through legislation providing the executive branch with new funding and authorities to counter the LRA. Since the U.S. military advisors first deployed in 2011, LRA attacks have significantly decreased, as have population displacements related to LRA activity. Several senior LRA figures have been captured or killed by U.S.-supported Ugandan troops. Dominic Ongwen, one of five LRA commanders against whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in 2005, surrendered in January 2015 and was transferred to The Hague, where his trial is expected to begin in 2016. Kony, however, appears to remain at large, and the LRA has demonstrated a high degree of resilience. The LRA has been increasingly linked to poaching and illicit wildlife trafficking in recent years, and some observers fear that the group is exploiting insecurity in the region, including in the Central African Republic, to rebound.\nThe U.S. approach to the LRA raises a number of policy issues, some of which have implications far beyond Central Africa. Some observers view the U.S. response to the LRA as a possible model for addressing mass atrocities, and decisions on this issue could potentially be viewed as a precedent for U.S. responses to similar situations in the future. At the same time, a key question for some is whether the response is commensurate with the degree to which the LRA impacts U.S. national interests. Other potential issues for Congress include funding levels for counter-LRA efforts; the prospects and benchmarks for \u201csuccess\u201d and the withdrawal of U.S. forces; and the relative priority of counter-LRA activities compared to other foreign policy and budgetary goals. Possible policy challenges include regional militaries\u2019 capacity and will to conduct U.S.-supported operations and these militaries\u2019 relative level of respect for human rights. President Obama has waived in part the application of the Child Soldiers Protection Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-457) to facilitate the participation of troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan in counter-LRA operations. The FY2015 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 113-235) and National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 113-291), and other recent authorization and appropriations measures, include relevant provisions. See also CRS Report R43377, Crisis in the Central African Republic.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42094", "sha1": "37c4ad5b06242495aaf794ba95e3225912243b88", "filename": "files/20150928_R42094_37c4ad5b06242495aaf794ba95e3225912243b88.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42094", "sha1": "8c371459db1de051d0a638603fc1403ea94b62da", "filename": "files/20150928_R42094_8c371459db1de051d0a638603fc1403ea94b62da.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 276, "name": "Sub-Saharan Africa" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810209/", "id": "R42094_2014May15", "date": "2014-05-15", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "The Lord\u2019s Resistance Army: The U.S. Response", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140515_R42094_21f5552d22cc5abaaa4c08f6aa16641d56a06e93.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140515_R42094_21f5552d22cc5abaaa4c08f6aa16641d56a06e93.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc84005/", "id": "R42094_2012Apr11", "date": "2012-04-11", "retrieved": "2012-04-27T15:49:45", "title": "The Lord's Resistance Army: The U.S. Response", "summary": "A history of the Lord's Resistance Army, which is led by Joseph Kony, and the U.S.A. policies regarding it.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20120411_R42094_d34db7fafe2f03ed491336fc2431d01b21e4b066.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20120411_R42094_d34db7fafe2f03ed491336fc2431d01b21e4b066.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations--U.S.--Uganda", "name": "Foreign relations--U.S.--Uganda" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations--Uganda--U.S.", "name": "Foreign relations--Uganda--U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Diplomacy", "name": "Diplomacy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc84004/", "id": "R42094_2011Nov21", "date": "2011-11-21", "retrieved": "2012-04-27T15:49:45", "title": "The Lord's Resistance Army: The U.S. Response", "summary": "This report discusses the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and United States policy, strategic and humanitarian response. LRA is an armed group that originated in northern Uganda 24 years ago but has operated since 2006 in the remote border areas between the Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and South Sudan. Led by Joseph Kony, its numbers are tiny, but its actions, which include massacres, mass abductions, sexual assault, and looting, have caused significant human suffering and instability.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20111121_R42094_e6ce29982b36ffc5bf53d0cb8bfb87f4269308f9.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20111121_R42094_e6ce29982b36ffc5bf53d0cb8bfb87f4269308f9.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Uganda", "name": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Uganda" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- Uganda -- U.S.", "name": "Foreign relations -- Uganda -- U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Guerrilla warfare", "name": "Guerrilla warfare" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Terrorism", "name": "Terrorism" } ] } ], "topics": [ "African Affairs", "Appropriations", "Foreign Affairs", "Intelligence and National Security", "National Defense" ] }