Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/1236

 124 STAT. 1210 PUBLIC LAW 111–172—MAY 24, 2010 2008, but Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, refused to sign the Final Peace Agreement in May 2008 and his forces launched new attacks in northeastern Congo. (7) According to the United Nations Office for the Coordina- tion of Humanitarian Relief and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the new activity of the Lord’s Resistance Army in northeastern Congo and southern Sudan since September 2008 has led to the abduction of at least 1,500 civilians, including hundreds of children, and the displace- ment of more than 540,000 people. (8) In December 2008, the military forces of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and southern Sudan launched a joint operation against the Lord’s Resistance Army’s bases in northeastern Congo, but the operation failed to apprehend Joseph Kony, and his forces retaliated with a series of new attacks and massacres in Congo and southern Sudan, killing an estimated 900 people in 2 months alone. (9) Despite the refusal of Joseph Kony to sign the Final Peace Agreement, the Government of Uganda has committed to continue reconstruction plans for northern Uganda, and to implement those mechanisms of the Final Peace Agreement not conditional on the compliance of the Lord’s Resistance Army. (10) Since 2008, recovery efforts in northern Uganda have moved forward with the financial support of the United States and other donors, but have been hampered by a lack of strategic coordination, logistical delays, and limited leadership from the Government of Uganda. SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. It is the policy of the United States to work with regional governments toward a comprehensive and lasting resolution to the conflict in northern Uganda and other affected areas by— (1) providing political, economic, military, and intelligence support for viable multilateral efforts to protect civilians from the Lord’s Resistance Army, to apprehend or remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield in the contin- ued absence of a negotiated solution, and to disarm and demobi- lize the remaining Lord’s Resistance Army fighters; (2) targeting assistance to respond to the humanitarian needs of populations in northeastern Congo, southern Sudan, and Central African Republic currently affected by the activity of the Lord’s Resistance Army; and (3) further supporting and encouraging efforts of the Government of Uganda and civil society to promote comprehen- sive reconstruction, transitional justice, and reconciliation in northern Uganda as affirmed in the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–283) and subsequent resolutions, including Senate Resolution 366, 109th Congress, agreed to February 2, 2006, Senate Resolution 573, 109th Con- gress, agreed to September 19, 2006, Senate Concurrent Resolu- tion 16, 110th Congress, agreed to in the Senate March 1, 2007, and House Concurrent Resolution 80, 110th Congress, agreed to in the House of Representatives June 18, 2007. 22 USC 2151 note.