The producer of the documentary Lord's Resistance Army was questioned.

In March, a video named "KONY 20 12" went viral on major video websites around the world. In a self-reported way, the video tells the personal experience of helping Jacob, a Ugandan child, rebuild his life path, exposing a man named Joseph Kony in Uganda and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who committed a "heinous crime" and calling for him to be brought to justice. While the video was widely spread, it was also criticized. Some people point out that the organization of "lazy activism" will not bring about substantial changes, while others question the use of funds by this organization.

This video was first posted on Youtube by an American NGO called Invisible Children (IC), and it has been played more than 78 million times since March 5. The video publisher said that this video is part of the "Kony 20 12" project, which aims to appeal to the US government to pay attention to Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army and help Uganda eliminate them.

In the video, the sponsor's interview with Jacob as a child touched many people. When talking about his future, Jacob said, "I'd rather you kill me now." His brother was captured by Kony's army and killed when he escaped.

The video tells about their efforts to stop Kony, including spreading information about Kony on social networking sites, launching fund-raising, lobbying parliamentarians to support sending troops and so on. The organization is promoted on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, and its supporters include celebrities like Bill Gates. On Youku, a domestic video website, the most played version has 270,000 hits.

According to Wikipedia, Joseph Kony is the leader of the Ugandan anti-government organization "Lord's Resistance Army". The organization was accused of serious human rights violations, including maiming, abuse, rape, kidnapping of civilians, use of child soldiers and massacres. According to media reports, the organization kidnapped and forced more than 30 thousand children to fight for it, and destroyed the bodies of children and forced them to kill their parents themselves. The "Lord's Resistance Army" has been creating wars in northern Uganda since the 1990s, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths and about 300,000 people fleeing their homes. In 2005, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Lord's Resistance Army leader Kony, accusing him of committing crimes against humanity in Uganda.

The video producer said that Kony had been at large for a long time for committing such cruel and inhuman deeds. They want to make a film to expose Kony's evil deeds, let the public know Kony exists, and then push the government to get rid of him.

Questioning the spread of video is not a practical action.

Although countless people claim to support this action, many people question it.

On Youtube, a video site, some Ugandans expressed their dissatisfaction. They think this film does not reflect the current situation in Uganda well. The Ugandan government also issued an official statement on KONY 20 12. On the one hand, they expressed their gratitude, on the other hand, they pointed out that there were no traces of LRA activities in Uganda at present. In 2006, the Uganda People's Defence Forces successfully deported the LRA. At present, this organization has fled to the complex terrain of some neighboring countries in Central Africa, and its power has been reduced to less than 300 people.

Uganda's tourism department even pointed out that this action "helped the local community". Amos Wekesa, president of Uganda Tourism Association, told Reuters that many customers cancelled their travel arrangements because of this video. "The customer asked what happened here and whether it was safe. The video suggests that Kony is still in Uganda, which is ridiculous. "

The organization that filmed this documentary, Invisible Children, also raised financial questions. According to public information, only 32% of the funds raised by this organization last year were used to help Ugandan children, and the rest were used for staff salaries and other expenses, including tourism.

In addition, the "Kony 20 12" action is also considered to be a bit lazy radicalism. This word often refers to the social activities initiated by many young netizens on the Internet. Although it is easy to express and share, it lacks practical actions that really bring about social changes. Indeed, it only takes one click to make Kony famous, but more actions are needed to eliminate the Lord's Resistance Army and improve the lives of local people.

Respond to our "down-to-earth work"

Recently, the "Invisible Children" organization released a new short film to respond to outside questions.

"Some people think that this is a flashy lazy activism stunt, and I can understand it." Ben Keesey, CEO of Invisible Children, said, "In fact, this view is completely wrong. What we initiated was a rather profound and well-thought-out strategic movement. " He said that "down-to-earth" is the creed of the organization, and making movies to make more people pay attention to child protection is also one of their tasks.

The video shows that from 2007 to 20 1 1, the organization used 80% to 85% of the funds raised for "project expenditure". In fact, the top three highest paid employees in this organization earned between $87,000 and $90,000 in 20 10. The salary of $90,000 accounts for 65,438+0% of the total expenditure of the organization. According to the charity regulator, this figure has just reached a reasonable level. The salary and benefits of institutions 20 10 account for 17% of the total expenditure, which is lower than that of some well-known non-profit organizations.

The video shows some projects they have built in Africa, including a radio system that can warn villagers in time when Kony's armed forces approach the village. They believe that early warning is very important, because Kony's troops often raid villages, kidnap children, and then train the kidnapped children into soldiers or imprison them as sex slaves. The video also shows the construction of a child protection center.

Kissy also answered questions about their travel expenses. "Someone asked, is it only the management team that travels by plane and stays in high-end hotels? This is not the case. " He explained that most of the travel expenses are used for team members to travel around the world to take publicity photos, about 3,000 times a year. Some money was also used to rescue children controlled by Kony forces and bring them back to the United States.

Commander of US troops in Africa: There are about 200 people left in the LRA.

In the video, the organization said that it successfully persuaded the United States to send troops to Uganda. According to media reports, in 20110, US President Barack Obama ordered to send about 100 soldiers to Central Africa as consultants to help fight the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). According to senior officials of the US Department of Defense, this unit will not be stationed in this area for a long time.

According to American officials, the tasks of the United States in Central African countries are divided into four aspects, namely, arresting or killing rebel leaders such as Joseph Kony, protecting civilians, disarming the "Lord's Resistance Army" and providing humanitarian assistance to areas affected by this rebel. At present, the US military is mainly an army special force, which mainly assists the armies of Central African countries to complete the first task, while the State Council is mainly responsible for the other three tasks.

Brian Losey, commander of the US special forces in Africa, said on February 22 this year that the US special forces and the four Central African countries have successfully weakened the strength of the anti-government armed forces "Lord's Resistance Army". The "Lord's Resistance Army" was forced to flee in the border areas of South Sudan, Uganda, Central Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At present, there are about 200 people left, which is only a small part of the heyday.

debate

Ukrainian sociologist: You should know more about the real situation before you help.

Adam Branch is a senior researcher at the Raleigh Social Research Center in Ma Kai. He is the author of Transfer of Human Rights: War and Intervention in Northern Uganda, and currently works in Uganda. Recently, he published "Danger Neglect: Kony 20 12 Video Hysteria" on the English website of Al Jazeera. The article accuses the production and dissemination of the video of irresponsibility. "It advocates militarization and diverts people's attention from Uganda's serious problems."

In Blanche's view, the movement of IC is a symbol. "This is likely to be an excuse for the US government to send more troops to Africa, a place rich in oil and other resources. And chasing Kony is the best reason. "

"Therefore, the militarization of the United States or other countries in this region is what we should focus on, not just IC."

In fact, the most serious problem facing Uganda at present is land plunder. "For more than a decade, a large number of foreign land investors have cooperated with the Ugandan government and military to plunder large areas of people's land. These people can only live in temporary tents. " Blanche said, "Other problems include the growing problem of children nodding."

As a scholar studying Uganda, Blanche has been asked by American friends many times how to help people there. He gave several suggestions: First, learn more about the real situation in Uganda, where the situation is very complicated. Second, if we want to launch a social movement, the first step is not to consider how the United States should intervene in the local conflict, but to consider the question: What have we done to make the conflict in Uganda more serious? As American citizens, should we allow the government to militarize other countries under the banner of "fighting terrorists", but in fact it is probably just to obtain oil and other resources? Source xiaoxiang morning herald)