Gulu. Hundreds of locals who have for the last one month camped at the UN premises in Gulu Municipality seeking its intervention over the ongoing evictions in Apaa Village, Itirikwa Sub-county, Adjumani District have accused UN officials of neglect.

The locals say since July 11 when they issued a letter to Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Uganda, no response has been given on their predicament.

At least 234 Apaa land evictees are demanding that the UN stops government from using the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to evict locals from Apaa land.

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Civil society organisations in northern Uganda issued a statement last week, saying a total of 844 huts have been burnt down and more than 2,700 people have since been displaced as a result of the evictions.

Ms Jospin Ayet, 53, one of the victims, says for four weeks now, they have been left unattended to by UN officials who are also demanding that they leave their premises.

“When we first came at the UN offices, the officials were nice and promised to help us. But they have now changed. They do not talk to us, they even want us to leave their compound, saying we are inconveniencing their work,” Ms Ayet says.

She adds that their living conditions have since deteriorated because they are faced with water shortage and poor sanitation.

She notes that the pit-latrine they have been using has filled up and efforts to have it emptied have been frustrated by UN officials.

“A truck was hired by good Samaritans to empty the pit-latrine but police officers guarding the UN compound refused to let them in; the officials have too refused to help us. We are worried of an outbreak of cholera and other hygiene related diseases,” she says.

The Amuru District chairperson, Mr Michael Lakony, alleges that the UN officials are purposely keeping quiet on issuing their response.

“How can one explain the behaviour of UN officials who have neglected responding to our people? They have not outlined what they will do for the people who are facing threats and injustices from the government,” Mr Lakony says.

The State Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugee, Mr Musa Ecweru, says the residents chose to camp at the UN offices yet the government has an open arm to host them in case they felt displaced from their homes.

“It is not the duty of UN to host the people especially within their country. This is the responsibility of the government,” he says.

He notes that the government is always ready and willing to help the people who are genuinely displaced with the relief items.

Apaa land, measuring about 40 square kilometres, is at the centre of dispute between residents and leaders in Amuru and Adjumani districts.

UN RESPONDS

Mr Bernard Amwine, the communications officer for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, says the concerns of Apaa community were transmitted through the UN Resident coordinator to the highest levels of authority in Uganda.

He says as part of its efforts to support, their office has expressed its view to all relevant stakeholders that the situation of Apaa should be resolved through dialogue, without resorting to the use of force.

“As the petitioners have used a peaceful stance, our office has accepted that the group temporarily stays at the premises, but we have repeatedly asked that they leave voluntarily,” Mr Amwine says.

Original source

GULU. An alliance of civil society organisations have piled pressure on the United Nations (UN) officials and the government to respond to the plight of the Apaa land evictees, who have camped at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Gulu Municipality. More than 200 residents of Apaa village in Mungula Parish, Itirikwa Sub-county, Adjumani District, have pitched camp at the UN compound since July 11, protesting ongoing evictions by government security forces. The residents demand that the UN human rights body intervenes and stop government security agencies from forcefully evicting them from the contentious land.

But for more than two weeks since they camped at the UN compounds, the residents have not got any feedback from the UN officials on their demand. Mr Francis Odongyoo, the executive director of Human Rights Focus, while addressing journalists in Gulu Town on Tuesday, said the residents had failed to get justice from government and their camping at the UN offices should have been responded to. “It is now 13 days since the residents of Apaa have been seeking an answer from the UN on their plight but no response has been made. As CSOs, we feel the displaced locals should get fair justice from the UN on the matters they presented,” Mr Odongyoo said.

He noted that despite the residents calling for a halt in the evictions, the government forces comprising of the UPDF and Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers are continuing to torch huts and displace those settled on the disputed land. According to Mr Odongyoo, investigations carried by CSOs indicate a total of 844 huts were destroyed and more than 2,700 people have since been displaced in the forceful evictions that began early this year. Mr David Moses Okello, the local rights programme cluster coordinator at Action Aid, noted that government should address the plight of the locals whose lives are being torn apart by the forceful evictions.

According to Mr Okello, CSOs are firmly behind the locals’ occupation of the UN offices until they get justice. In a joint communiqué read by Mr Geoffrey Okello, the coordinator NGO Forum, the CSOs condemned the abuses being committed in Apaa since 2011, including “mass destruction of property, torture, extrajudicial arrests, murders and attempts to seize land”. They also called on government to publicly guarantee the security of the Apaa community from further attacks, ensure removal of road blocks and intimidating security forces and invest in durable solutions, including degazetting the Apaa land.

When contacted on the issue yesterday, Gulu Resident District Commissioner, Maj Santos Okot Lapolo, said the locals had chosen to “embarrass” the government by camping at the UN offices even when President Museveni promised to visit them. “As government, we cannot issue any statement concerning the plight of people who came without our notice and camped at the UN offices. Let them get the help they want from there, President Museveni has promised to meet them from Apaa, not the UN offices,” he said. When this reporter tried to access the UN offices to get a comment from the officials, he was denied access by the police at the gate, claiming journalists are not allowed in the premises.

Background Apaa land, measuring approximately 40 square kilometres, is at the centre of dispute between residents and leaders in Amuru and Adjumani districts. Uganda Wildlife Authority and National Forestry Authority [UWA] claim the land is a protected East Madi Wildlife game reserve and Zoka Central Forest, respectively.

Original source

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