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AU Chair lauds UN for tough sanctions on LRA and its leader Joseph Kony

Uganda

Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU) has said in a statement that imposing travel bans and assets freeze on Joseph Kony and his terror group, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), will hasten its elimination.

Zuma commended the United Nations (UN) Security Council for designating the LRA and its leader, Kony, as subject to sanctions imposed by UN Resolution 2262 (2016).

Press Release:#AUC commends #UN’s listing of #LRA and its leader, Joseph #Kony, as subject to sanctions See more at:https://t.co/zt7j6PM7O9

— African Union Peace (@AU_PSD) March 11, 2016

She also lauded the steps taken by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), on 8 March 2016, to complement the UN listing of Joseph Kony and the LRA for sanctions by imposing a freeze on any LRA assets within U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting US persons from engaging in transactions with the group.

“From murdering innocent civilians to pillaging villages, the Lord’s Resistance Army is responsible for notorious acts of violence,” said John E. Smith, OFAC Acting Director. “Today’s action supports Treasury’s broader effort to dismantle this militia group and seek a more stable and secure future for the people of the Central African Republic and region.”

OFAC sanctions Lord’s Resistance Army & Joseph Kony for notorious acts of violence against CAR civilians. For more → https://t.co/iWzSWS0PKq

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) March 8, 2016

Zuma remains optimistic that UN sanctions will contribute to dismantling the LRA’s network through which the group has been resupplying itself by trafficking minerals looted from the eastern part of the Central African Republic and ivory poached from the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to exchange for weapons and other essential supplies.

She called upon all AU Member States to ensure that funds, financial assets or economic resources are prevented from being made available for the benefit of Kony and LRA, by their nationals, any individuals or entities within their territories.

#Obama's image big boost to #Uganda regime as the US open new battle front against #Museveni's elusive enemy https://t.co/HkiTArGGLB #Kony

— SAM (@The_Optics) March 9, 2016

Founded by Kony in 1987 in Northern Uganda, the LRA has engaged in the abduction and mutilation of thousands of civilians across Central Africa. Under increasing military pressure, Kony ordered the LRA to withdraw from Uganda in 2005 and 2006.

Since then, the LRA has been concentrated in eastern CAR and Kafia Kingi, a territory on the border of Sudan and South Sudan whose final status has yet to be determined, while also operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan.

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