Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 50
classes or other attendance requirements. His resume says his degree is in ―medical
anthropology‖ or ―clinical anthropology,‖ and that he is a ―board certified ...medical
psychotherapist,‖ which he says is a ―peer certification.‖
Elberg states that he decided not to use the term ―cult‖ for Newton‘s organization ―because
that could have turned the trial into one about the meaning of a cult, rather than about this
girl who was yanked out of school and forced to go through what she went through.‖ (Tim
O‘Brien, New Jersey Law Journal, Internet, 7/7/03)
Lord’s Resistance Army
Former Child Rebels “Haunted”
It has been difficult for former child members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to
adjust to normal society since they escaped to freedom after being indoctrinated to kill or
be killed by the anti-government rebel group in Northern Uganda. Charles Ojok, now
training to be an auto mechanic, says: ―I feel frightened, I feel very afraid. I have returned
only once to my real home [in the district where the LRA raids for recruits].‖
The newly freed are assisted at special government centers, but they distrust aid workers
and give false names. They find healing, however, in contact with others who were also
forced to kill and abduct. Some even meet their own abductors at the centers. Many
returnees have nightmares and flashbacks while some are aggressive. But these symptoms
subside by the time they return home, where some are nonetheless stigmatized and
discriminated against.
Psycho-social program manager Michael Oruni says: ―A child that has been abducted needs
to be taken away from the situation of war. But the guns are still being shot, and that
complicates the situation.‖ (Orla Ryan, BBC Monday, Internet, 1/5/04)
Rebels Reportedly Withdrawing
Uganda security forces report that the majority of Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, led by
Vice-chairman Brig. Vincent Otti, have fled to Sudan to join leader Joseph Kony. They say
the LRA has suffered major defeats in recent months. Sudan has been working with Uganda
to defeat the rebels, and the impending peace between the Sudan government and its own
rebels ―will mark the death of the LRA,‖ according to a Ugandan source. (Emmy Allio, New
Vision, Internet, 1/14/04)
Spirit Beliefs Aid “Brainwashing”
According to aid workers counseling children freed from the Lord’s Resistance Army,
leader Joseph Kony uses ―brainwashing‖ and [the traditional] belief in spirits to enhance his
power over individuals. Within hours of a kidnapping, LRA leaders select for death a child
who has tried to escape and order the others to kill him or her, on pain of death for not
following the order.
Aid worker Els de Temmerman, from Belgium, says Kony ―sees himself as the Acholi [ethnic
group‘s] savior. ..He [Kony] says: ‗We have to cleanse out people so only the good,
faithful ones remain. So we are not killing our people, we are cleansing them.‘ It‘s a cult
pure and simple,‖ Temmerman concludes.
Even after they have escaped, according to Temmerman, the children believe that Kony can
read their minds and will track them down and kill them. They continue to believe that Kony
has the Holy Spirit and supernatural powers. Many former fighters, especially those who
spent years with him, think he is good but misunderstood. ―He is nice to children,‖ said one,
adding: ―His only problem is the hard orders he gives to his commanders to kill. It‘s them
who kill and torture children. They do it behind his back.‖ (William McLean, Reuters,
Internet, 1/15/04)
classes or other attendance requirements. His resume says his degree is in ―medical
anthropology‖ or ―clinical anthropology,‖ and that he is a ―board certified ...medical
psychotherapist,‖ which he says is a ―peer certification.‖
Elberg states that he decided not to use the term ―cult‖ for Newton‘s organization ―because
that could have turned the trial into one about the meaning of a cult, rather than about this
girl who was yanked out of school and forced to go through what she went through.‖ (Tim
O‘Brien, New Jersey Law Journal, Internet, 7/7/03)
Lord’s Resistance Army
Former Child Rebels “Haunted”
It has been difficult for former child members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to
adjust to normal society since they escaped to freedom after being indoctrinated to kill or
be killed by the anti-government rebel group in Northern Uganda. Charles Ojok, now
training to be an auto mechanic, says: ―I feel frightened, I feel very afraid. I have returned
only once to my real home [in the district where the LRA raids for recruits].‖
The newly freed are assisted at special government centers, but they distrust aid workers
and give false names. They find healing, however, in contact with others who were also
forced to kill and abduct. Some even meet their own abductors at the centers. Many
returnees have nightmares and flashbacks while some are aggressive. But these symptoms
subside by the time they return home, where some are nonetheless stigmatized and
discriminated against.
Psycho-social program manager Michael Oruni says: ―A child that has been abducted needs
to be taken away from the situation of war. But the guns are still being shot, and that
complicates the situation.‖ (Orla Ryan, BBC Monday, Internet, 1/5/04)
Rebels Reportedly Withdrawing
Uganda security forces report that the majority of Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, led by
Vice-chairman Brig. Vincent Otti, have fled to Sudan to join leader Joseph Kony. They say
the LRA has suffered major defeats in recent months. Sudan has been working with Uganda
to defeat the rebels, and the impending peace between the Sudan government and its own
rebels ―will mark the death of the LRA,‖ according to a Ugandan source. (Emmy Allio, New
Vision, Internet, 1/14/04)
Spirit Beliefs Aid “Brainwashing”
According to aid workers counseling children freed from the Lord’s Resistance Army,
leader Joseph Kony uses ―brainwashing‖ and [the traditional] belief in spirits to enhance his
power over individuals. Within hours of a kidnapping, LRA leaders select for death a child
who has tried to escape and order the others to kill him or her, on pain of death for not
following the order.
Aid worker Els de Temmerman, from Belgium, says Kony ―sees himself as the Acholi [ethnic
group‘s] savior. ..He [Kony] says: ‗We have to cleanse out people so only the good,
faithful ones remain. So we are not killing our people, we are cleansing them.‘ It‘s a cult
pure and simple,‖ Temmerman concludes.
Even after they have escaped, according to Temmerman, the children believe that Kony can
read their minds and will track them down and kill them. They continue to believe that Kony
has the Holy Spirit and supernatural powers. Many former fighters, especially those who
spent years with him, think he is good but misunderstood. ―He is nice to children,‖ said one,
adding: ―His only problem is the hard orders he gives to his commanders to kill. It‘s them
who kill and torture children. They do it behind his back.‖ (William McLean, Reuters,
Internet, 1/15/04)
