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NRA war: Sodomized men say ‘silently nursing injuries’
Gulu District War survivors perform the traditional Acholi war dance (Otole) during the commemoration of Lukodi Massacre in Bungatira Sub-County in May 2022. PHOTO/ DANIEL OJARA
What you need to know:
- Commanded by incumbent President Museveni, NRA was a guerilla army that eventually captured power in 1986.
More than 40 male survivors of sexual violence in northern Uganda have said they “continue to struggle with raptured anuses, mental distress and poverty amid limited access to medical services in the aftermath of the National Resistance Army (NRA) war between 1987 and 1992 in the region.”
The survivors who are mostly aged 50 and above say they were sexually molested and gang-raped during the period -although- it is not clear whether by the government soldiers or the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.
However, victims believe they were subjected to sexual violence upon accusations that they were allies of ousted President Tito Lutwa Okello who hailed from Kitgum District in Northern Uganda.
Commanded by incumbent President Museveni, NRA was a guerilla army that eventually captured power in 1986.
One 50-year-old victim who asked not to be named claimed he is suffering from a raptured anus after militiamen stormed his home in Nwoya District and sodomized him, accusing him of backing Okello.
“The soldiers were many but 3 of them took on my seven months old pregnant wife, raped her in front of me, one after the other, before turning to me. Together with the unborn child, she later succumbed to injuries resulting from the rape and brutal kicking,” he said on June 3.
“The soldiers repeatedly raped me until I became unconscious,” he told the War Victims and Children Networking, an advocacy group.
Stella Lanam Angel, the chairperson of the Gulu City-based advocacy group disclosed that they have recorded at least ten men with almost similar stories included in their group.
“Most of these men are living in dire conditions. They say they have been forgotten. They demand reparation and medical assistance,” she added.
For Tonny Olanya Olenge, a human rights advocate who has worked closely with the male survivors of sexual violence in the war, “majority are sickly, frail, traumatized, and stigmatized with some dead already.”
On Friday, Acholi Paramount Chief Rwot Onen David Acana II asked Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja and State Minister for Northern Uganda Kenneth Omona to address the plight of the war survivors.
“They told me that because of their raptured anuses, they have spent most of the time lying down instead of sitting. I met over 40 and I believe there are so many others,” he noted.
She responded saying: “Northern Uganda endured the ravages of war, and scars are still very visible, as explained by the Paramount Chief. However, we are in the process of introducing Northern Uganda Social Action Fund 4 (NUSAF 4). The president guided us, and he told us only to focus on the livelihood of the people.”
He noted; ‘’these services should be sensitive to the unique experiences and challenges faced by male survivors of sexual violence.
