SUMMARY

In addition to engaging the Ugandan armed forces in combat, the rebel group UPA (Uganda People’s Army) in the context of its intrastate armed conflict with the Government of Uganda also carried out one-sided violence against civilians.

Information about the nature of the one-sided violence carried out by UPA is scant and no statements about why civilians have been attacked have been found. However, in one of the events where civilians were targeted, survivors recounted that the rebels had warned that the attack was the start of a new offensive against the government. Thus, it appears that the one-sided violence, at least in this instance, was carried out so as to send a message to the government.

UPA's most common way of carrying out one-sided violence appears to have been by conducting ambushes.

UPA first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1990, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 24 May that year when the group attacked a truck in the Ngora area of northern Uganda and killed 13 civilians.