Uganda Democratic Christian Army (UDCA) -- Founding Group

<a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=CG">Congo, Democratic Republic of the</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=SU">Sudan</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=UG">Uganda</a>

Based in Northern Uganda and Sudan, the Lord's Resistance Army seeks to destabilize and overthrow the government of Uganda.  Formed in 1992 in an attempt to unify a resistance movement fractured by the marginalization of the Uganda Democratic Christian Army, the group promotes a radical form of Christianity which it wants to make the foundation of a new Ugandan government.  The group, led by Joseph Kony, has sought to achieve these objectives primarily through unbridled brutality.  Rape, torture, and murder have become the group's hallmarks in the almost fifteen years that they have terrorized the citizens of Northern Uganda.  The ranks of the LRA are filled in large part (approximately 80%) by children, who are kidnapped and brainwashed into service with the group.  Human rights NGOs place the number of children currently fighting with LRA at around 3,000.  LRA members also kidnap children, particularly girls, to serve as sex slaves; some have even been given as "gifts" to arms dealers in Sudan.<br /><br /><P>  LRA attacks have been notable for both their brutality and their pointlessness. Two popular nightspots have been bombed, a bus full of people was attacked by club-wielding LRA soldiers who caused 22 fatalities, and an Italian priest was murdered. Other victims include World Food Program volunteers, the former President of Uganda, and mourners at a funeral, who were forced to cook and eat the body of the deceased. No discernible political program underlies these attacks aside from Kony's desire to cause extreme pain and suffering to all Acholi tribes that do not support the LRA.  <P><br />In 2002, the Sudanese government reversed its longstanding policy of support for the LRA and began cooperating in efforts to eliminate the group's sanctuaries. Despite this declaration, the LRA continued to perpetrate its brutal attacks within Uganda, both in its longstanding operational area in the north, as well as on targets to the east.