Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will provide assistance to the Ugandan government to support the capture of Joseph Kony in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK supported UN sanctions placed on the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Joseph Kony and will consider imposing further sanctions on other members of the LRA. The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) welcomed the International Criminal Court’s action in the case against LRA Commander, Dominic Ongwen and encourage the international community to work together to bring all perpetrators to justice.

The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) was alarmed at the LRA’s increase in activities across eastern Central African Republic this year. Those attacks have involved looting, violence against civilians, destruction of property and abductions.

The African Union’s Regional Task Force remains the best tool the international community has to defeat the LRA and the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) welcomed the extension of the operation to May 2017. He urged the UN Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) to work with the region to ensure there is no increase in LRA activity.

The UK is working with UN Security Council partners on the MINUSCA (UN peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic) mandate renewal in which MINUSCA will be asked to enhance operational coordination and information sharing with the Regional Task Force.