Lull in violence helps Uganda's young 'night commuters'

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GULU, Uganda

The number of barefoot children leaving home by the thousands each night for the safety of nearby towns has fallen sharply amid a lull in fighting and amid peace talks to end a two-decade-old insurgency in northern Uganda.

Three years ago, more than 40,000 children -- known as "night commuters" -- filled the streets of Gulu, Kitgum and other towns every evening. They slept on sidewalks, on storefront verandas and at bus stations -- anywhere they could find safety in numbers -- and returned home the next morning.

The movement into towns began during an offensive by Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which kidnapped 10,000 children from June 2002 until October 2003, according to estimates of the United Nations.

The kidnappings have nearly stopped as Kony holds peace talks with the government of President Yoweri Museveni. The talks, which began last month, are being hosted by southern Sudan.

Even if the war between Uganda and the LRA were to suddenly end, the trauma of two decades of predatory kidnappings probably would last generations.

The LRA snatches children ages 6 to 15, thinking they can be turned into fearless soldiers provided they survive a series of initiation rituals, which include beating another hostage to death. If they refuse or attempt to escape, the kidnapped youngsters are beaten to death themselves.

"I cannot take any chance. The children have to go [to the shelter] every day because you never know when [the LRA] will come back and start taking children again," said Margaret, 30, who survived the 2002-03 offensive because she was pregnant with Sharon, now 3.

"The rebels came into the village at about 8 p.m. and spent the night. They waited until about 6 a.m. and separated the pregnant women, lined up all the other adults, killed them and took away the children," Margaret said.

On orders from Kony, who claims to get his instructions from the spirits of dead people, pregnant women can't be killed because their children provide LRA soldiers.