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War zone rapes need to be addressed

April 12, 2013 in Articles, Official Statements

Security Council Meeting on the situation in Sudan and South Sudan - Presidential Statement.

 

At the recent G8 meeting in London, the G8 ministers spoke out against the use of sexual violence in war-zones. Advocates for Human Dignity applauds this step forward in the recognition of the need to eradicate the use of a sexual violence as a tool in armed conflict. Under the Geneva Conventions 1949, violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture is expressly prohibited.

The problem is that in spite of this express prohibition applicable both to international armed conflicts and non-international armed conflicts, the use of sexual violence has been a serious issue facing innocent civilians caught in the path of an armed conflict. United Nations investigators recently said they had seen evidence that there were at least 126 rapes committed by Democratic Republc of Congo soldiers fleeing the M23 advance on Goma in November. According to Human Rights Watch, M23 also committed rapes against civilians during the conflict. The sad reality is that it is not uncommon in armed conflicts to see the use of sexual violence as a tool by both sides of an armed conflict.

The international community must come together to do more to curb and eradicate the use of rape as a tool during armed conflict. While the G8 statement is a positive step forward, the lack of active steps to combat this problem will surely amount to the continued victimization of civilian populations in armed conflicts. The United Nations and NGOs have taken steps to investigate and uncover evidence of violations. It is now time for the international community to come together and remove the relative impunity for which the perpetrators of war zone rapes for the most part continue to enjoy.

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Combating Child Sacrifice in Uganda

March 27, 2013 in Articles, Official Statements

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By Henok Gabisa LLM, Human Rights Analyst

Introduction

As callous and as remorseless a practice as it is, human sacrifice is one of the bizarre and absurd phenomena that is on the raise in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Children are the common target hunts for their particular body parts to perform the ritual procedure for the superstitious purposes which allegedly range from wealth accumulation to personal healing. In recent years, this preposterous practice emerged with a dramatic revival and taking place at the hiking rate in Uganda, where 200-300 cases of child sacrifice is reported every year. Many agree that this indicates a disturbingly post-modern appearance of the practice since ancient times when it was rampant in different parts of the world.

This eye-wateringly tragic cost of children’s’ lives in Uganda begs some serious criminological debates as to why the existing legal framework in Uganda is far from tackling this lingering plight faced by the innocent children on a daily basis. It also throws a conscious thinking into perspective as to why the world must aggressively continue to integrate the international human rights standards of child protections into the daily business of national governments particularly in developing nations. This short article is inspired by the predicaments of the little souls of Uganda as they always sleep at night with a knowledge that they may fall prey to their predators in the morning.

Child Sacrifice: Definition and Components

Despite no cosmopolitan instrument to rely on for an authoritative definition, the prevailing view that is being reverberated generically on the subject classifies the act as a form of human sacrifice, where children are killed with or without ritualistic reference in order to gratify and appease some supernatural beings to achieve a desired result. In revitalization to this, different studies carried out on Child Sacrifice in Uganda define the subject as the act of murdering a child by a witch-doctor or their accomplices in order to use the child‘s blood, organs and/or limbs mixed with herbs and other elements in a ritual witchcraft ceremony. The term is commonly used throughout Uganda to designate a harmful practice of removing children where body parts, blood and tissue are removed. It is the harmful practice of removing a child’s body parts, blood or tissue while the child is alive. These body parts, blood or tissue are either worn, buried or consumed by an individual in the belief they will assist with a number of issues including overcoming illness, gaining wealth, obtaining blessings from ancestors, protection, initiation, assisting with conception and dictating the gender of a child. As the practice shows in Uganda, the most parts of body found missing in majority of the attacks is tongue, genitalia, blood, legs and entire heads.  The vast majority of those attacked are children between the age of 3 and 18 years; and there are also a number of cases where mothers in the latter stages of their pregnancy have been attacked and the fetus has been removed and mutilated.

Child Sacrifice: Criminology and the Joint Criminal Enterprise

The practice of child sacrifice is attributed to a high demand from communities where people have a strong belief that when traditional medicine contains body parts, it becomes stronger.  It is a deep-rooted belief throughout Uganda that the use of body parts, blood and tissue in traditional medicine makes it stronger and more powerful. The practice poses a strong harm to the personal security and well-being of Ugandan children which needs cautious investigations as to the social behavior behind it. This brings into play the question of who the perpetrators are and their shared roles and common goals out of the activity. Answering this will enable us to legitimately examine if the current legal framework of Uganda, mainly, the law of homicide, is adequate enough to address the predicament.

Uganda is one of the African countries where traditional healing is widely practiced. Traditional healers play an important cultural and traditional role in village life, as well as serving important medicinal and conflict resolution roles. According to a young NGO in Uganda, Restoring African Culture Harmony Organization (RACHO), it is estimated that there are 650,000 registered traditional healers in Uganda but around 3 million practicing traditional healers. This indicates that there are a whole lot of “self-appointing healers” operating under the masquerade of the practice of traditional healing. This means that corrupt people can use the cover of traditional healers and can work unmonitored and exploit the belief and abuse vulnerable people. These unregulated groups who operate under the mask of the traditional healing but widely run the enterprise of child body sacrifice are commonly referred to as the “witch-doctors”. 

The witch-doctor organizes the abduction and sacrifice and the act is undertaken for payment. They convince their client that this ritual murder will make their magical rite more powerful and that it will be able to fulfill their wish of gaining wealth and prosperity. The witch-doctor exercises all power and authority in their controlling role over the process and the client relies on their knowledge and ability to enable their magical powers to bring them riches. Clients are prepared to pay whatever amount the witch-doctors demands and they become convinced that the sacrifice of a human is required by the gods in order to secure a fast track to prosperity.

The arrangements of the sacrifice vary as some witch-doctors may play a part in the abduction or they may employ an agent to identify and groom a child who is considered appropriate for the ritual; the agent may also be responsible for the disposal of the body after the ceremony has been completed. Alternatively, they could rely on a child trafficking gang who operate in a network and kidnap children for these and other illegal purposes. The witch-doctor would be expected to pay such an agent for their role in the kidnapping and this would be taken from the larger fee paid to them by their client.

As incongruous as it looks, this criminal enterprise has its own common goal and purpose commonly shared by all the participants in the activity. Notwithstanding the multiplicity of the ultimate goals of the practice, which of course varies depending on the demand of the client, all the participants who take part in the child sacrifice have a shared vision and responsibility from the soup-to-nuts of the criminal act. The criminal behavior of all the participants exhibits an independent and distinctive type of moral and legal wrong prohibited under the ordinary law of homicide. The fact that the witch-doctors secretly pose under the veneer of traditional healing practice makes this criminal activity absolutely difficult to detect at its earlier stage of preparatory acts and attempts. In other words, the prevention possibility of this specific crime is more unlikely than any other ordinary crimes of homicide. In that kind of cases, an average and reasonable criminal justice policy recommends that states would stress more on the apprehension and criminalization of the offenders such that it would completely deter future acts. It is dubious to expect to achieve this via the existing criminal framework of Uganda.

While Advocates for Human Dignity commends the advancements in legislation for the protection of children in Uganda, we feel compelled to compel further efforts including a super conscious criminal justice policy commanded by a new penal legislation that only focuses addresses the cross-cutting injustice of child sacrifice in Uganda.  Presently, the legal framework that is in operation in Uganda does not yet go far enough to be effective tackling this criminal issue sufficiently. The incumbent criminal justice administration of Uganda must take further steps in order make a distinction that acts of child sacrifice, even if it involves killing, are different from murder in that they have processes and intentions that go beyond the act of homicide. This demands a self-contained-regime of penal legislation that comprehensively governs the harmful act of child sacrifice.  As a matter of fact, this brings into play the legal equations of defining the substantive legal content of the act and the procedures thereof. Leaving the act of child sacrifice only to the attention of the regular criminal law of Uganda makes the problem as ordinarily as the crimes committed on the daily basis in the country.  It is only then that the children of Uganda sleep soundly every night in the knowledge that the country’s law can safely shield them from their tormentors

International Human Rights Law as a Complementary Path

States are the primary entity under international human rights law to bear the obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill the widely recognized rights and freedoms as enshrined in treaties and other instruments. These treaties, which thematically and also on a basis of address the rights and freedoms, have also devised a procedural guarantees through which the individual or group of victims can shop appropriate venues to petition their complaint in the defaulting situations by the respective state. Therefore, the government of Uganda bears all types of obligations in making sure the innocent children live free from any fear of sacrifice. In order to achieve this, not only legislative measures but also the educating the society is as necessary as  executing the national strategic plan to eliminate or curb these unconscionable acts against children.

AHD/EACO’s Every Child is Anybody’s Child Campaign

Advocates for Human Dignity is developing a project to help combat child sacrifice in Uganda in partnership with Empower and Care Organization Uganda. Please support our project by donating today.

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Displacement in North Kivu

March 21, 2013 in Articles, Congo, Official Statements

By Firdaus Arastu, Human Rights Analyst

 

Since the M23 rebellion in April 2012, violence has racked the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Reports vary, but between 200,000 and 700,000 people have been displaced by the conflict and are either living in harsh conditions in camps or in makeshift shelters. The instability has led to a humanitarian crisis. Though relief workers have scaled up their interventions to respond to the urgent needs of thousands of people by providing food, potable water, health and other essential services and commodities, the security and protection of these internally displaced persons (IDPs) remains a major concern. One camp was attacked and looted by a large number of armed men who stole food, medicine and household essentials. The displaced individuals also face hostility from local communities, which suspect them of having ties with the rebel groups.

(A majority of) the M23 rebels are former members of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which signed the March 23rd peace treaty with the DR Congo government in 2009. Under Article 6 of this treaty, both parties recognized the right of every Congolese citizen to live peacefully and the necessity of quickly facilitating the return of Congolese refugees and IDPs to their homes. As such, the M23 rebels are in clear violation of the terms to which they were signatory.

Even more alarming is the findings by Human Rights Watch, which show that the M23 rebels’ have committed war crimes. The rebels have perpetrated horrific abuses against the civilians, including raping women and girls, performing summary executions, and forcing recruitment, particularly of children. From April to September of last year, at least 264 civilians, including 83 children, were arbitrarily executed by armed groups in more than 75 attacks on villages in the eastern part of the state, according to a UN report.

Two groups of people that are particularly vulnerable from the conflict and displacement are women and children. Many women have suffered from sexual violence by the rebel groups as well as the FADRC. M23 rebels have raped at least 46 women and girls – the youngest was an 8-year-old girl. Two women died from the injuries they sustained from when they were raped by M23 fighters and a 25-year-old woman who was 3 months pregnant was shot dead because she resisted being raped. The conflict has exposed children to both physical and psychological dangers. UNICEF is particularly concerned with psychological trauma and the risk of cholera – the latter because of a recent increase in the disease in some IDP groups. The education of displaced children, as well as children who live in the area affected by the conflict, has suffered. All schools within a 30-kilometer radius of Goma have been closed.

An independent report by a UN Group of Exports has presented strong evidence that the Rwandan government is supporting the M23 rebels, a charge they have repeatedly denied. Human Rights Watch said the Rwandan government has deployed reinforcements and recruits to support M23’s military operations, as well as providing weapons, ammunition and training. This makes the Rwandan government a party to the conflict and complicit in the war crimes committed.

On New Year’s Eve, the UN Security Council added the FDLR and the M23 rebel groups to the list of entities subject to sanctions under Resolution 1533, which include an arms embargo, travel ban, and freezing of assets.

AHD joins Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, in condemning the human rights violations stemming from the conflict. We welcome the news of the February 24th peace agreement and news of peace talks between the Congolese government and the M23 rebel leaders. However, we remained concerned about the well-being of the displaced Congolese civilians and continue to call for justice in line with the rule of law. We further welcome the news that Bosco Ntaganda has turned himself in and is to be transferred to the custody of the International Criminal Court.

 

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New partner in Uganda for AHD

December 27, 2012 in Official Statements

Courtesy of Empowerment and Care Organization.

Courtesy of Empowerment and Care Organization.

 

Advocates for Human Dignity is very proud to announce that we agreed to a partnership with Empower and Care Organization (EACO) of Uganda.  The relationship will start with the exchange of information on human rights in Uganda while also fostering closer ties which both parties are confident will eventually lead to joint projects between AHD and EACO in Uganda. EACO is a registered NGO in Uganda that focuses on poverty,HIV/AIDS and issues of human rights abuses. AHD and EACO have had some preliminary discussions on the possibility of AHD providing support for an upcoming project focused on the prevention of child sacrifices and child trafficking in Uganda. For more information on this issue, please see a report by the BBC here.  We look forward to working closely with our new partners, EACO, and are quite eager to discuss how our organizations can work closely to help eradicate the instances of child sacrifices in Uganda.

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Human Rights and over 60 years of Activism

December 10, 2012 in Articles, Official Statements

Courtesy of the United Nations

10 December, 1948 was the day on which United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). With the inspiring notions and continuing hopes for the race of human being, the United Nations adopted the first and major instrument of human rights, the UDHR just three years after its establishment. The Declaration consists of a preamble and 30 articles, setting out a broad range of fundamental human rights and freedoms to which all men and women, everywhere in the world, are entitled, without any distinction. The

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has collected, translated and disseminated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into more than 380 languages and dialects. The Universal Declaration is thus the most translated document and the most “universal” one in the world.

Human Rights Day presents an opportunity, every year, to celebrate human rights, highlight a specific issue, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights by everyone everywhere. It is observed every year around the globe as a special day among the peoples of the world. It was the day on which the fact that all human beings are born with equal dignity and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms was recognized through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and spread to all the nations of the world.

A theme is chosen every year for the Human Rights’ Day. This year’s theme of observance of the Human Rights’ Day is “inclusion and the right to participate in public life”. It was taken from Articles 19, 20, and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that elaborate on the right to freedom of expression and opinion, the right to freedom of assembly and association and the right to take part in government, either directly or through freely chosen representatives.

Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted 64 years ago, there have been dramatic advances in crafting different human rights instruments as covenants, conventions, protocols and treaties to be used for the realization or implementation of the Declaration. Today, there are about ten such international human rights instruments (conventions and treaties) in place to be followed by the member states. These subsequent instruments are established from the outset over a long time with a full intent of legally binding nature. Pursuant to this, all signatories to the international conventions and treaties of human rights have international legal responsibility to protect, respect, and fulfil rights and freedoms enshrined therein.

Today, across many nations in the world, human freedom and liberty is under a major threat by the dictatorial leadership of their respective governments. From all corners, suffering of peaceful demonstrations, dissident political oppositions, human rights defenders, journalists, and any other innocents are subjected to the grave violations of their rights and freedoms. To stand up against the dictators and any other violators, civic organizations including human rights organizations should play a decisive role in educating the people about their human rights. Advocates for Human Dignity, therefore, commits itself to this important cause and movement of fighting for the respect and protection of human rights all around the world so that the hope of all human beings for better future continues to flourish.

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Ntanganda & Mudacumura must be surrendered to the ICC

November 24, 2012 in Articles, Congo, Official Statements

 


Public domain image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Netherlands,_The_Hague,_International_Criminal_Court.JPG

Recently the Prosecutor’s Office of the ICC renewed its call for the arrest and surrender of Bosco Ntaganda and Sylvestre Mudacumura, whom are both subjects to ICC arrest warrants. Both mens are accused of committing various international criminal offenses defined under the Rome Statute of the ICC.

In the July 2012 arrest warrant, Pre-trial Chamber II of the ICC held that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, rape and sexual slavery and persecution on ethnic grounds…as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population and pursuant to the organisational policy”. Other alleged offenses in which the court concluded that there were reasonable grounds for an arrest warrant include rape, sexual slavery and pillaging among other alleged offenses. Also in July 2012, Pre-trial Chamber II of the ICC found sufficient evidence to issue an arrest warrant for Mudacumura for the allege crimes of attacking civilians, murder, mutilation, cruel treatment, rape, torture, destruction of property, pillaging and outrages against personal dignity. These alleged crimes are chilling in nature and if proven to be true would amount to a transgression not only upon the victims, but also upon humanity as a whole.

In calling for the arrest of these two men, the ICC Prosecutor’s Office stated that “until Bosco Ntaganda and Sylvestre Mudacumura are arrested and brought to justice, they will continue to be major drivers of instability throughout the entire Great Lakes region and one of the biggest threats for civilian populations”. The Prosecutor’s Office called upon states in the region and not state actors in the region to make the arrest of Ntaganda and Mudacumura a top priority. Advocates for Human Dignity has been following the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo very closely and continued to strongly concerned that those subject to ICC arrest warrants for the crimes the two men have allegedly committed are still at-large. AHD supports the call to arrest and surrender both Ntaganda and Mudacumura. The unique nature of the ICC which facilitates the capacity for victims to be represented before the court suggests that as a forum the ICC represents the best opportunity for justice for the victims of these atrocities while also providing a fair trial for all of those accused.

AHD will continue to monitor the situation in the DRC both in regards to these two fugitives and the continued violence in the region. We urge the international community to bring their influence to bear to encourage all parties involved to respect the arrest warrants of the ICC and bring these two men to trial while also taking active steps to stop in on-going violence in the DRC.

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Iraq’s ‘Moral Police’ target teenagers for their appearance

October 8, 2012 in Articles

Looks Could Kill: Iraq’s ‘Moral Police’ target teenagers for their ‘emo’ appearance.

After Saddam Hussein’s toppling, control of Iraq’s streets shifted to the Shi’ite militia. The Shi’ite, who had previously been oppressed under Hussein’s rule have themselves been subjugating a section of society. The government has been promoting the idea that homosexuality is a sin, and as a result, there has been an increase in recent years of the number of homosexuals who have been targeted and killed by these militia groups. Ali al-Hilli, Chairman of the Iraqi LGBT human rights group, said: ‘There is a strong wave of campaigns by clerics against homosexuals now and the police do not provide protection for them because they are also being intimidated.’ He estimated that around 750 gay Iraqis had been killed since 2006. Reports show that the militia campaigns have gone beyond sexuality and those men who are considered to look gay, particularly those who dress in an ‘emo’ style have reportedly been hunted down as well.

Shocking stories about ‘emo’ killings have emerged in the press. The Guardian published an article after interviewing a young man called Hassan (not his real name). Shortly after uploading a video of Hassan’s heavy metal band onto YouTube, Hassan learned that his band mates had been tracked down and killed on the streets. After hearing this news he went into hiding because he feared that he would be hunted down as well. Reuters also conducted an interview with an Iraqi man whose friend was bludgeoned to death with heavy concrete blocks because he had a stylish haircut and fashionable clothes. According to the Cairo-based al-Akhbar website, armed men in civilian clothing had led dozens of teenagers to a secluded spot, stoned them to death and disposed of their bodies in garbage dumpsters. It is not clear how many young men have been killed for their appearances because the authorities have not been recording incidents, however, Hana al-Bayaty, an NGO dealing with Iraqi issues claims that the current figure is between 90 and 100.

‘Emo’ is a musical style which might be described as a mix between indie rock and pop punk. In the early 2000s a style of dress also became associated with this type of music which tended to be tight, black clothes, messy long or short spiky dark hair, tattoos and piercings. Essentially it was a style of music and dress for teenagers who were struggling to find their identity and who were hungry for self-expression. However, in Iraq this style of dressing is not only seen as effeminate, but is considered to be dangerous as it suggests the wearer is a ‘devil-worshipper’. Iraq, a conservative Muslim country has been battling to prevent what is viewed as immoral Western influences since the US-led invasion in 2003, and this style of dress amongst the Iraqi youth is seen as problematic. The violent approach the militia has taken to tackling ‘emos’ has caused great apprehension amongst the Iraqi youth who have felt coerced into changing their appearances.

The ‘Moral Police’ as they have come to be known published two statements on the Interior Ministry’s website earlier in the year regarding the ‘emos’.  The 1st statement outlined the militia’s wish to eliminate the Satanists and the 2nd statement urged a crackdown on stores selling ‘emo’ fashion. The Education Ministry additionally urged schools to crackdown on undesirable behaviours and the ‘Moral Police’ were granted approval to enter schools and pick out students with Western appearances. Moreover the militia have been distributing leaflets with hit lists of possible victims and the following warning: ‘We warn in the strongest terms to every male and female debauchee. If you do not stop this dirty act within four days, then the punishment of God will fall on you at the hands of Mujahideen.’ Hana al-Bayaty believes there may be some complicity within the Interior Ministry to these killings. Despite this, no matter how much bullying the Iraqi youth are currently being subjected to, the fact remains that they will be the ones to determine the future of Iraq.

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Reactions to the attacks on embassies

September 13, 2012 in Articles

This week, a violent attack on the American embassy in Benghazi left the American ambassador to Libya dead on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Several other employees of the embassy, as well as several Libyans, were also killed. The embassy in Cairo was also attacked on Tuesday, though there were no causalities reported. Cairo suffered another attack today, with as many as reported 224 injuries near the embassy.

This shameful act was said to have been provoked by a video produced by an Israeli-American business man and supported by the American pastor, Terry Jones, who attempted to publicly burn copies of the Koran. The video, which was posted to YouTube including a version with Arabic subtitles, ridiculed Islam and the prophet Mohammad. The embassy in Cairo released an independent statement before the Benghazi attacks denouncing the hateful video.

The actions of these extremists in Libya and Egypt are not only deplorable for their violence but also wrongly target the U.S. embassies for a video made by private citizens, no matter how hateful it may have been. The United States is not responsible for the opinions it represents and to use this video as a opportunity to rally people against the embassies effectively puts the innocent people of the U.S. and the North Africa in the crossfires of a war of ideologies from small segments of both places.

After the attacks, a little reported pro-U.S. rally began in Benghazi, honouring Ambassador Stevens and reaffirming that these extremists did not represent their nation or their faith. This event should serve as a reminder that most people are not driven by radical ideologies and that support and friendship between citizens goes beyond borders. AHD would like to wish the families of those Americans and Libyans who needlessly lost their lives on Tuesday our deepest condolences.

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State Dept issues S. Sudan Travel Warning

September 12, 2012 in Articles

The United States State Department recently released an updated travel advisory for the Republic of South Sudan. The advisory warns ‘U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to the Republic of South Sudan and strongly recommends U.S. citizens defer all travel to the country.’ While it is understandable that travel advisories are in place in South Sudan given the fact that the country is still in its infancy and faces armed violence and threats, there are some concerns raised by the State Department which are difficult to ignore.

The travel advisory suggests that ‘U.S. citizens have been the subject of arrest and detention without cause and physical abuse by South Sudanese security services.’ This is a rather direct comment toward the actions of South Sudanese security services. The advisory also notes there is a curfew for U.S. government personnel in Juba who are required to travel in armoured convoys when traveling at night.

While AHD recognises that wrongs that have befallen the people of South Sudan, we would be remiss if we did not call attention to these alleged violations by South Sudanese security officials. We condemn the arbitrary arrest of anyone and abuse of detainees regardless of their nationality. AHD believes that South Sudan must take active steps to fulfil their international obligations in regards to due process and the protection of detainees.

With the on-going humanitarian crisis and the fact that many noble-minded foreign nationals are delivery vital supplies and services to the people of South Sudan, the safety for foreign nationals is paramount not only due to South Sudan’s international obligations, but the continued flow of needs supplies and services. AHD will continue to monitor the situation.

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Uganda’s alarming rise in AIDS prevalence

September 5, 2012 in Articles

Uganda once had international acclaim after successfully reducing its AIDS infection rates in the 1990s. However, the country’s recent reversal has been causing alarm and complacency has been pin-pointed as the cause of this trend.

Last month the U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton voiced her concerns with Uganda as one of only two African countries (the other being Chad) where AIDS rates are on the rise. According to the website AllAfrica, Uganda’s HIV prevalence rates have risen from 6.7% in 2005 to 7.3% in 2012. This is particularly alarming given that Uganda was once a success story and had received billions of dollars of investment.

The Shadow Health Minister, Dr Lulume Bayiga attributed the rise in HIV/AIDS infection rates in Uganda to complacency amongst stakeholders. He attributed Uganda’s previous success to the intensive media campaign in the 1990s and he argues that since it has dwindled, so has public interest in the campaign.

An additional problem health experts argue is due to the lack of coordination between civil society organisations which have different ideas on how to contain the spread of AIDS. Those funded by PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan For Relief), for example tend to focus on promoting abstinence, whereas other organisations may promote condom use. In the 1990s the government’s ABC campaign (Abstinence, Be faithful and Condoms), required the coordination and partnership of all civil society organisations and donor groups. ABC involved grass-roots behavioural change and this contributed to its success. AIDS relief organisations no longer agree on the best method of education, which has meant that the messages going out to the public have been confusing.

Kihumuro Apuuli, the Director of Uganda Aids Commission, alleges that not enough HIV/AIDS and sex education has been reaching the adult population of 30+. He blames adults for engaging in risky sexual behaviours, not the youths or commercial sex workers. According to the New York Times, in Uganda, by their late 30s approximately 1 in 10 women are HIV positive and 1 in 10 men by their early 40s. In particular, due to the hard-lined approach towards homosexuality in Uganda, it is a concern whether this is a particular section of society that is missing out on sex education altogether.

Finally, the perception that ARVs (antiretroviral drugs) will heal HIV/AIDS is perceived to be another reason why adults are engaging in risky behaviour. The panic of the 1990s faded with the introduction of ARVs, but these drugs only improve the quality of life of the individual affected by HIV and do not provide a cure. This message does not seem to be reaching the public and Apuuli argues that people have now developed the impression that HIV is a normal illness. Health experts blame the complacency amongst the public to the rise in new infections; and there is no longer a sense of urgency to combat its spread.

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