Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2008, Page 33
they [the rebels] said you would be protected by the Holy Spirit if you stood
tall and had no fear. But if you took cover, the Holy Spirit would be angry and
you would be shot dead with bullets.
So many, so many were killed.‘ (quoted in HRW 1997, 37)
Many children on the front lines die within their first few battles, while the commanders
remain in the back where their enemies‘ bullets do not reach. Consequently, many children
believe that their commanders have supernatural powers that prevent bullets from hitting
them (Allen 2006, 69).
In addition, the LRA requires children who do not carry weapons to conduct spiritual tactics
during battle. Samuel, an escapee, testifies about some of the tactics in which he partook:
‗...you take a small stone, you sew it on a cloth and wear it around your wrist
like a watch. That is to prevent the bullet that might come, because in battle
it is acting as a mountain. So those people on the other side will look at you,
but they will see only a mountain, and the bullets will hit the mountain and
not hurt you.
You also have water: they [LRA commanders] call it ―clean water,‖ and they
pour it into a small bottle. If you go to the front, you also have a small stick,
and you dip it in the bottle and fling the water out. This is a river and it
drowns the bullet that might come to you.
Finally you wear a cross on a chain. But in the fighting you wrap it around
your wrist and hold it in your hand. Should you make a mistake and not wear
it on your hand, you will be killed.‘ (quoted in HRW 1997, 35-36)
Samuel believes in the spiritual protection that the LRA claims to receive in battle. But he
believes, like many Acholi, that this protection is not from Tipu Maleng but from an evil jok
who instructs Kony to kill (HRW 1997, 36).
LRA battalions combat government forces with this combination of witchcraft and Western
military strategies (Allen 2006, 39 Behrend 1999b, 29). LRA members also conduct certain
rituals in an effort to use supernatural forces against their opponents. Kony‘s controllers
claim to disable their enemies‘ weapons by placing wire models of them into a fire and then
quickly cooling them they also claim to harm their enemies by flooding rivers on maps and
throwing rocks (Behrend 1999a, 184). Some children believe their commanders‘ assertions
that all injury, illness, and death—civilian, government, and rebel—are punishment for sins
and for breaking the commands that Tipu Maleng (roughly, the Holy Spirit) voices through
Kony (Amnesty International 1997, 6 HRW 1997, 39).20
Kony‘s use of religion to justify violence is clear from his speech at the peace talks in
Uganda in 1994:
‗If you picked up an arrow against us and we ended up cutting off the hand
you used, who is to blame? You report us with your mouth, and we cut off
your lips. Who is to blame? It is you! The Bible says that if your hand, eye or
mouth is at fault, it should be cut off.‘ (Joseph Kony quoted in Allen 2006, 42)
When LRA leaders accuse a civilian of breaking a rule, they use Kony‘s interpretation of
religion to justify the amputation of the body part needed to perform the accused action
(Doom and Vlassenroot 1998, 27). For example, the LRA amputates the legs of people
caught using bicycles and removes or padlocks the lips of people who speak out or are
thought to potentially speak out against the group (O‘Loughlin 1997, 7). Kony also uses the
ban on pork consumption from Orthodox Islam to justify slaughtering people who raise pigs
(Doom and Vlassenroot 1998, 25). The LRA amputates an arm from civilians caught working
they [the rebels] said you would be protected by the Holy Spirit if you stood
tall and had no fear. But if you took cover, the Holy Spirit would be angry and
you would be shot dead with bullets.
So many, so many were killed.‘ (quoted in HRW 1997, 37)
Many children on the front lines die within their first few battles, while the commanders
remain in the back where their enemies‘ bullets do not reach. Consequently, many children
believe that their commanders have supernatural powers that prevent bullets from hitting
them (Allen 2006, 69).
In addition, the LRA requires children who do not carry weapons to conduct spiritual tactics
during battle. Samuel, an escapee, testifies about some of the tactics in which he partook:
‗...you take a small stone, you sew it on a cloth and wear it around your wrist
like a watch. That is to prevent the bullet that might come, because in battle
it is acting as a mountain. So those people on the other side will look at you,
but they will see only a mountain, and the bullets will hit the mountain and
not hurt you.
You also have water: they [LRA commanders] call it ―clean water,‖ and they
pour it into a small bottle. If you go to the front, you also have a small stick,
and you dip it in the bottle and fling the water out. This is a river and it
drowns the bullet that might come to you.
Finally you wear a cross on a chain. But in the fighting you wrap it around
your wrist and hold it in your hand. Should you make a mistake and not wear
it on your hand, you will be killed.‘ (quoted in HRW 1997, 35-36)
Samuel believes in the spiritual protection that the LRA claims to receive in battle. But he
believes, like many Acholi, that this protection is not from Tipu Maleng but from an evil jok
who instructs Kony to kill (HRW 1997, 36).
LRA battalions combat government forces with this combination of witchcraft and Western
military strategies (Allen 2006, 39 Behrend 1999b, 29). LRA members also conduct certain
rituals in an effort to use supernatural forces against their opponents. Kony‘s controllers
claim to disable their enemies‘ weapons by placing wire models of them into a fire and then
quickly cooling them they also claim to harm their enemies by flooding rivers on maps and
throwing rocks (Behrend 1999a, 184). Some children believe their commanders‘ assertions
that all injury, illness, and death—civilian, government, and rebel—are punishment for sins
and for breaking the commands that Tipu Maleng (roughly, the Holy Spirit) voices through
Kony (Amnesty International 1997, 6 HRW 1997, 39).20
Kony‘s use of religion to justify violence is clear from his speech at the peace talks in
Uganda in 1994:
‗If you picked up an arrow against us and we ended up cutting off the hand
you used, who is to blame? You report us with your mouth, and we cut off
your lips. Who is to blame? It is you! The Bible says that if your hand, eye or
mouth is at fault, it should be cut off.‘ (Joseph Kony quoted in Allen 2006, 42)
When LRA leaders accuse a civilian of breaking a rule, they use Kony‘s interpretation of
religion to justify the amputation of the body part needed to perform the accused action
(Doom and Vlassenroot 1998, 27). For example, the LRA amputates the legs of people
caught using bicycles and removes or padlocks the lips of people who speak out or are
thought to potentially speak out against the group (O‘Loughlin 1997, 7). Kony also uses the
ban on pork consumption from Orthodox Islam to justify slaughtering people who raise pigs
(Doom and Vlassenroot 1998, 25). The LRA amputates an arm from civilians caught working
