Over the years, news crews have brought attention to the tragedy happening in Uganda and have asked victims to recount their story for the world to read.
James is a school teacher in one of the Internally Displaced Persons camps in the outskirts of Gulu. He was asked to narrate his story under a different name for safety purposes.
I was abducted by rebels together with my wife in the middle of 2003 and stayed with them for 3 months.
It was around 9:00 p.m. and I was asleep in my room. Suddenly we were surrounded by rebels and I heard a kick at the door and was ordered to open it. Two rebels forced their way inside my room and tied my arms behind my back using my shirt. They looted my clothes, mobile phone, camera, bed sheet and many other things including the original of my exam certificate. They ordered my wife to carry all those properties and bring them out while the other rebels were busy looting properties from my mother's and brother's house.
They took us to join about 70 other people who had been rounded up. I was tied around the waist with one person and they put my wife close to me and ordered me to take care of her. If she escaped, I would be killed.
They took us to the next village and put us there while other rebels went back to collect food that was given to us and carried it with them. We walked a distance of 50 kilometers that night without resting and carrying bean seeds of 75 kg. Those who were unable to carry such weight were killed.
On our way, two of the former rebels whose feet were swollen and the skin was peeling off were killed and they told us that the same thing may happen to any one who could not walk.
We were going towards Sudan straight away. We walked for four days without eating anything and with the heavy load. I got tired and my feet started to swell and peel off as a result of walking a long distance. I was weak already. Life was terrible.
The rebel commander ordered that we had to increase the speed of walking because the Ugandan army, UPDF, was following us. But I couldn't walk. So I was beaten seriously and they ordered me to run quickly if I didn't want to be killed. So I had to do it. During the process of beating, I was given dislocation in the bone and seriously injured in my body.
When we entered in the camp, we were welcomed by other rebels. In the morning the rebel commander ordered us in line. They started selecting young girls who were 10 to 15 years old to be the rebel's wives, which is a violation of children's rights and at the same time is child abuse. Those who were not beautiful or had problems in their legs or body so that they could not manage what ever was needed, must be killed and they did it. Now, with those serious killings we found it normal. Staying with them, I started learning from them how the rebels behave compared to home. But there was no way I could escape.
Once day around 10:00 am we were attacked by an army helicopter gunship. We continued moving and taking cover in the tall grass and under trees. The rebel commander ordered killed people who were dressed in white and red since those colors would eaisily be seen by the soldiers in the helicopter. Two of the abducted girls were killed there and then. I had on white shorts and a green t-shirt. I feared I was the next person to be killed. But I was ordered to remove the shorts and remain half naked. I had to walk like that in the tall grass until we arrested some civilians who had a good pair of trousers.
This is how I escaped from the rebels: One day I was chosen to be among the 150 people to participate in a battle with army soldiers. When we met with those soldiers and the battle was terrible, I was among the 30 abduted who luckily narrowly escaped death."
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