Ugandan farmers displaced for Scandanavian carbon trading

The new colonialism in the name of climate action

Evicted for Carbon Credits: 

Norway, Sweden, and 

Finland Displace Ugandan 

Farmers for Carbon Trading

Oakland Institute,
29 August, 2019

Evicted for Carbon Credits: Norway, Sweden, and Finland Displace Ugandan Farmers for Carbon Trading, brings forward irrefutable evidence that the Norwegian forestry and carbon credit company, Green Resources, forcibly evicted villagers around their plantation in Kachung, Uganda. The establishment of the plantation on land previously used by subsistence farmers precipitated an on-going food security crisis that has not been addressed by the company, its financiers, nor the Ugandan government.

Green Resources has been the subject of two reports published by the Institute in 2014 and 2017. The exposés documented the plantation’s destructive impact on the local population as well as the misleading audit commissioned in 2017 by the Swedish Energy Agency—Green Resources only carbon credit buyer. Company documents released with the briefing paper—including letters threatening the local villagers, corroborate the Institute’s previous findings.

Evicted for Carbon Credits implicates Green Resources’ new majority shareholders, the public development institutions of Norway and Finland—Norfund and Finnfund—which rescued it from bankruptcy in July 2018. These institutions are aware of the land grab, yet continue to finance the project despite Green Resources’ abuse against the communities at Kachung.

The report also exposes the complicity of three prominent international certification bodies—the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), The United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA)—that are supposed to verify the company’s compliance with environmental and social standards. Evicted for Carbon Credits analyses how several of their monitoring and assessment reports omitted or downplayed the impacts of the land grab.

https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/forced-evictions-green-resources-forestry-plantation-uganda

Tighter security for flights to US

This is plastered over western media. Let's give it the attention it deserves.

US embassy warned of ‘specific’ attack threat at Uganda airport tonight

The US has been warned by Ugandan police of a “specific threat” of an attack on Entebbe International Airport, 35 km from the African country’s capital Kampala, on Thursday night.

RT,

3 June, 2014

The US embassy in Uganda stated that it was handed information by the Uganda Police Force describing a “specific threat to attack Entebbe International Airport by an unknown terrorist group today, July 3rd, between the hours of 2100-2300 [1800-2000 GMT].”

Anybody with plans of passing through the airport should review their travel plans in accordance with the new information, the embassy said in the release published on its website.

The embassy went on to warn of “the continued threat of potential terrorist attacks in the country.” Among potential terrorist targets are “hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping malls, diplomatic missions, transportation hubs, religious institutions, government offices, or public transportation.”

Uganda has been no stranger to terror threats this year. In May, the US issued a warning announcing a specific threat to churches, saying terrorists were “preparing to strike places of worship in [the capital of] Kampala… including some that may be frequented by expatriates.”

Image from maps.google.com

While the source of the threats is still to be identified, in the past fingers have been pointed at Somali-based terror group, Al-Shabaab. Uganda and Kenya are key contributors of troops to aid the African Union Mission in Somalia; Islamists have carried out revenge attacks in both countries.

The conflict has spilled into neighboring Kenya as a result of that country’s contribution to the African Union forces operating in Somalia. At least 50 people were killed during a raid on a coastal Kenyan town in mid-June, which Al-Shabaab took responsibility for.

It was revealed on Wednesday that American military advisers have been operating secretly in Somalia since around 2007. Somalia’s battle with Al Shabaab has been ongoing for the last seven years.

The threat evokes memories of counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission Operation Entebbe almost exactly 38 years ago on 4th July 1976. A week before the operation, an Air France plane had been hijacked and flown to Entebbe airport. While some 47 non-Israeli passengers were released, over 100 Israeli and Jewish hostages were held.

An Israeli family reunion at Ben-Gurion Airport after the Israeli raid on a hijacked Air France plane that had been flown to Entebbe, Uganda in 1976. (Reuters)

After the week had passed, and plans were formulated, Israeli commandos rescued the majority of those who were being held by the hijackers at the airport after 200 elite troops were flown in 2,500 miles from Israel. The 35 minute standoff which ensued saw some 20 Ugandan soldiers die, along with all seven hijackers and three of the hostages.

From BBC

Tighter security for flights to US

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28138526

Security is being tightened at airports with direct flights into the US - including some in the UK - in response to US warnings of a "credible threat".

UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the measures were being taken to keep the public safe.

While he would not specify what steps would be involved, he ruled out "significant disruption" to passengers.

It comes amid US media reports that al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria and Yemen are developing bombs to smuggle on planes.

A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said the changes were a response to a "real time" and "credible" threat, but he could not comment on specific intelligence matters.

'Remain vigilant'

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement: "We are sharing recent and relevant information with our foreign allies and are consulting the aviation industry."

The changes are expected in the coming days.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said she took the threat seriously, saying: "We have to remain vigilant."

Mr McLoughlin told the BBC that "very stringent" measures were already in place, but that the UK had to take action when given information and advice to do so.

It is thought the measures could include more thorough screening of passengers, checks of shoes and electronic devices.

At Manchester Airport, it is believed extra swab machines were sent to departure gates on transatlantic flights to allow staff to swab hand luggage immediately before boarding, as well as at security.

The prime minister's spokesman said people should continue to fly, but advised they allow "appropriate time" to go through the tighter security.....

US troops for Africa

Bad News for Africa: 3,000 More U.S. Soldiers are on the Way

The United States plans to permanently station a U.S. Army brigade on African soil, beginning next year. Is this the start of something big – and ominous – or “only a benign creeping U.S. military presence in Africa?”

Mark P. Fancher

Black Agenda Report,

23 October, 2012

“The obvious mission is to lock down the entire continent.”

When President Obama deployed 100 U.S. troops to Uganda a year ago to conduct a mythical search for Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, it is likely that many people shrugged. After all, how much damage could a mere 100 soldiers cause while wandering aimlessly through the bush purportedly in search of an accused terrorist? But as with the proverbial observer who can’t see the forest for the trees, a broader view reveals the deadly implications of what many incorrectly perceive as only a benign creeping U.S. military presence in Africa.

Army Times news service reported that the U.S. is expected to deploy more than 3,000 soldiers to Africa in 2013. They will be assigned to every part of the continent. Major General David R. Hogg mused: “As far as our mission goes, it’s uncharted territory.” But the presence of U.S. soldiers in Africa is nothing new, and even though Hogg is unwilling to admit it, the obvious mission is to lock down the entire continent.

The U.S. military has at least a dozen ongoing major operations in Africa that require hands-on involvement by U.S. troops. By ensuring that U.S. troops will be found in every corner of Africa, there will be little risk that any regions where U.S. interests are threatened will be left uncovered. For example, Mali has oil reserves and is strategically located, but it has been destabilized by a growing secessionist movement in the north. Conveniently, Mali has also been the site of a U.S. military exercise called “Atlas Accord 12” which provided training to Mali’s military in aerial delivery.

During this year, there have been other operations in other parts of the continent that were comparable in scale if not in substance.

*“Cutlass Express” was a U.S. naval exercise that focused on what is purported to be “piracy” in the Somali Basin region.

*“Africa Endeavor 2012” was based in Cameroon and involved coordination and training in military communications.

*“Obangame Express 2012” was a naval exercise designed to ensure a presence in the Gulf of Guinea, an area that is in the heart of West Africa’s oil operations.

*“Southern Accord 12” was based in Botswana and its objective was to establish a military working relationship between southern African military forces and the U.S.

*“Western Accord 2012” was an exercise in Senegal that involved every type of military operation from live fire exercises to intelligence gathering to combat marksmanship.

There have been a number of other comparable exercises with names like: “African Lion,” “Flintlock,” and “Phoenix Express.” In addition, U.S. National Guard units from around the country have been rotating in and out of countries that include, among others: South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Tunisia, Nigeria and Liberia.

Press statements issued by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) suggest that these operations are as beneficial to Africa as they are to the United States. AFRICOM’s central message is that the U.S. and African militaries are partners in a war against terrorism and other forms of unrest. It is, however an error for any African country to swallow the notion that Africa and the U.S. are in some way interdependent. The true nature of the relationship was explained by A.M. Babu, a central figure in the formation of the country of Tanzania. He said: “The alleged ‘interdependence’ can only be of the kind in which we (Africans) are permanently dependent on the West’s massive exploitation of our human and material resources.”

“It is an error for any African country to swallow the notion that Africa and the U.S. are in some way interdependent.”

U.S. plans for exploitation are revealed by a Congressional Research Service report made available by WikiLeaks. It says: “In spite of conflict in the Niger Delta and other oil producing areas, the potential for deep water drilling in the Gulf of Guinea is high, and analysts estimate that Africa may supply as much as 25 percent of all U.S. oil imports by 2015.” The document quotes a U.S. Defense Department official as saying: “…a key mission for U.S. forces (in Africa) would be to ensure that Nigeria’s oil fields…are secure.”

Consequently, the U.S. would be pleased if there were African military operations that target militants who sabotage foreign oil operations in West Africa. At the same time, because of plans for increased oil imports, the U.S. would vigorously oppose efforts by an African military to exclude western companies from Niger Delta oil fields even though these companies’ leaking pipelines have ruined countless acres of African farm land and fishing waters.

The true interests of Africa and the U.S. are in perpetual conflict and the relationships between the U.S. and African countries must therefore be far from interdependent. Africans are well advised to react to the presence of U.S. soldiers in their countries as they would to termites in their own homes. There might be no immediate observable harm, but over time the structure will be irreparably damaged and may even collapse.

Mark P. Fancher is an attorney who writes frequently about the U.S. military presence in Africa. He can be reached at mfancher@comcast.net.

Ebols outbreak in Uganda

Uganda Ebola outbreak: patients flee hospital amid contagion fears

Ebola outbreak in Uganda claims at least 14 lives as health officials battle to stem spread of deadly virus

the Guardian,

29 July, 2012

Terrified patients fled from a hospital in western Uganda as soon as news broke that a mysterious illness that killed at least 14 people in the region was Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases.

Ignatius Besisira, an MP for Buyaga East County in the Kibaale district, said people had at first believed the unexplained deaths were related to witchcraft. "Immediately, when there was confirmation that it was Ebola … patients ran out of Kagadi hospital (where some of the victims had died)," he told the Guardian. "Even the medical officers are very, very frightened," he said.

Government officials and a World Health Organisation representative confirmed the Ebola outbreak at a news conference in Kampala on Saturday. "Laboratory investigations done at the Uganda Virus Research Institute ... have confirmed that the strange disease reported in Kibaale is indeed Ebola haemorrhagic fever," they said in a joint statement.

Health officials said at least 20 people had been infected and of those 14 had died.

There is no treatment or vaccine against Ebola, which is transmitted by close personal contact and, depending on the strain, can kill up to 90% of those who contract the virus.

It has a devastating history in Uganda, where in 2000, at least 425 people were infected, of whom more than half died. Ebola was previously reported in the country in May last year, when it killed a 12-year-old girl.

During an outbreak in 2007, which claimed at least 37 lives, President Yoweri Museveni advised people not to shake hands and public gatherings were also discouraged.

One of those who succumbed to the outbreak in Kibaale was a clinical officer, Besisira said. The other fatalities came from a single household in Nyamarunda subdistrict, he added.

Joaquim Saweka, WHO's representative in Uganda, said the suspected infections emerged in the region in early July but the confirmation came only on Friday.

The Ugandan government said a national emergency taskforce had been set up and urged the population to remain calm. The government, WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control have sent experts to Kibaale to tackle the outbreak.

Besisira said officials in Kibaale had released radio broadcasts outlining precautionary measures on Saturday. "We have assured (the people) that we have a very strong team … who are making sure the disease is controlled … I am very confident we can contain it," he added.

Besisira had not heard of people moving out of the region, but the Daily Nation newspaper in neighbouring Kenya said on Sunday that people were leaving the area around Kagadi town, where the disease first appeared.

"We have to move to safer places because we can easily get infected by this disease here," the paper quoted a resident, Omuhereza Kugonza, as saying.

The WHO describes Ebola as "a viral haemorrhagic fever and one of the most virulent diseases known to humankind". It says the disease was identified in 1976 in a western equatorial province of Sudan and a nearby region of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). It takes its name from a river in the DRC.

Kibaale is near Uganda's border with the DRC.

Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids and tissues of infected persons. It can also be transmitted by handling sick or dead infected wild animals, such as chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope and fruit bats.

Symptoms include sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes, impaired kidney and liver function and bleeding.

The empire moves into Africa

Remember that oil has been discovered in Central Africa


AFRICOM Expands Mission In Africa

Maurice Carney: A U.S.-based unit has been selected as the Army's first "regionally aligned" brigade, and by next year its soldiers could begin conducting operations in Africa.

The scramble for Africa's oil

This really is looking for the last scraps; it is highly doubtful that there are any Saudi Arabias to be found, let alone, is it three that we need?

Oil explorers now piling into Africa

Kenya is the most recent country to discover oil after Uganda finds more than 2-billion barrels of reserves, new scramble for Africa now on in an oil-hungry world

Business Day,

11 April, 2012

MORE and more companies are coming to Africa in search of oil and gas, Elias Pungong, African oil and gas sector leader at Ernst & Young, said last week. "Africa is the next big thing," he said.

Other than traditional oil producers Nigeria and Angola, there have been hydrocarbon discoveries in Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique.

Mozambique is an important market for energy group Sasol , whose interests in that country include the Sofala offshore gas block and another offshore block called M-10. These are part of Sasol Petroleum International’s growth plans in Mozambique.

Kenya recently became the latest country to discover oil. London-based Tullow Oil last month announced the discovery of oil in the Turkana region of Kenya. The east African country can draw inspiration from Uganda. "Who would have thought that Uganda will become an oil-producing country?" said Mr Pungong.

Uganda has more than 2-billion barrels of confirmed oil reserves. Mr Pungong said the oil discoveries had prompted oil firms all over Africa to acquire acreage. But international oil companies or oil majors such as Tullow and Total were still at the forefront of the search for hydrocarbon resources. "Big corporations follow discoveries. But there is space for smaller companies too, especially because of the local content requirements of the various countries," Mr Pungong said.

He said companies wanted a stable regulatory environment.

An Ernst & Young report on the risks and opportunities for oil firms listed access to reserves as the top risk for the oil and gas sector, particularly with regard to political constraints and competition for proven reserves.

The second-biggest risk was uncertain energy policy. In Nigeria, the Petroleum Industry Bill has been in the offing for a number of years, "and nobody knows for sure when it will be implemented", he said. "How do you expect companies to plan? "

The report said: "Policy uncertainty impacts not only conventional reserves but unconventional energy sources as well. As new energy sources are found and commercialised, the regulatory framework struggles to keep pace with the developments in the industry.

"This can lead to moratoriums while feasibility and impact assessments are completed. Such delays have affected both shale gas and coal-seam methane in a number of geographies. Regulatory and fiscal frameworks for these sources are also sometimes uncertain."

SA has a moratorium on shale-gas prospecting in the Karoo, while it looks into the implications.

More on KONY 2012

WikiLeaks: Makers of KONY2012 Spied For Ugandan Regime

Business Insider

9 April, 2012

Invisible Children, makers of KONY 2012 and Beyond KONY, provided intelligence to Uganda's security apparatus that led to the arrests of several opponents of the regime, according to leaked U.S. embassy cables and reported by Milton Allimadi at Black Star News.

Since 2008 the San Diego-based nonprofit organization has acted in concert with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's government by coordinating public relations campaigns to promote a military solution against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and its leader Joseph Kony.

From Black Star News:

Kony2012 was viewed more than 100 million times; yet it now turns out that Invisible Children may have duped a global audience by hiding the fact that it's been working closely with the Museveni regime all along, to the extent that it even shared intelligence leading to arrests of perceived or alleged regime opponents.

The cables show that Invisible Children has also kept in touch with U.S. administrations dating back to George W. Bush.

CEO Ben Keesey met with ambassador Stephen Browning on August 10, 2007, "... to update the Ambassador on their activities and to describe their efforts to provide to their audiences timely information on conditions in northern Uganda."

In a memo dated June 11, 2009, U.S. political affairs officer Kathleen FitzGibbon discusses claims by the Museveni regime of a new rebellion in northern Uganda and the subsequent arrests of low level participants.

From WikiLeaks:

The latest plot was exposed when the Government received a tip from the U.S. non-governmental organization (NGO) Invisible Children regarding the location of Patrick Komekech. He was wanted by the security services for impersonating LRA leaders to extort money from government officials, NGOs, and Acholi leaders. Komekech is purportedly a former child soldier abducted by the LRA. Invisible Children had featured him in its documentaries. Invisible Children reported that Komekech had been in Nairobi and had recently reappeared in Gulu, where he was staying with the NGO. Security organizations jumped on the tip and immediately arrested Komekech on March 5.

The Ugandan military, after obtaining the names of other suspects from Komakech, conducted sweeps and arrested many others (many of whom later declared their innocence even after being tortured), according to Uganda media reports and reported by Black Star.

Invisible Children's current alliance with Ugandan authorities began after a disastrous military assault on the LRA — which employed U.S. fueled helicopters in addition to U.S. army logistical support and intelligence — that failed to neutralize Joseph Kony as more than a thousand Congolese civilians were slaughtered in reprisal attacks.

From Black Star News:

Hoping to reverse the negative publicity, the Museveni regime, with U.S. knowledge, teamed up with Congo to launch a public relations blitz to influence journalists, human rights organizations and other governments. Invisible Children played a role in the campaign, culminating with Kony2012.

Invisible Children also built support for military operations against the LRA by bringing Ugandan officials and politicians to Washington to meet with lawmakers as well as forming partnerships with lobbying organizations (such as Resolve Uganda and the Center for American Progress' Enough Project) that have promoted U.S. military penetration in Africa.

Black Star News notes that an LRA Disarmament bill was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in May 2010, paving the way for deployment of the U.S. military in Uganda in October 2011.

Gen. Museveni's army was found liable for war crimes in the Congo by the International Court of Justice in 2005, but won't be prosecuted as long as it has U.S. Support.

In return Museveni has contributed thousands of Ugandan soldiers for the U.S.-backed mission to stabilize Somalia (which Washington fears will become a haven for Al Qaeda).

From Black Star News:

At the same time, the U.S. also gets to maintain and expand its military presence in the oil and resource rich regions of Uganda, South Sudan, Congo and Central Africa. In this way, the U.S. is building leverage to check China's aggressive search for energy in the same region. The government of Sudan now must also think twice before it dares to launch a full-scale invasion of U.S.-backed, oil-rich, South Sudan.

It's not known if Invisible Children's intelligence relationship with the Museveni regime continues, but Allimadi noted that some legal experts think Invisible Children may be exposed to liability from the people arrested as a result of the tip to Ugandan authorities.

Also related to Uganda

Uganda: Food Prices Continue to Skyrocket

REPORTS from farmers and weather experts suggest that the delayed beginning of the steady rainfall season will lead to food shortage in most parts of the country and famine in, especially the Eastern and Northern regions, leading to high food prices

All Africa,

9 April, 2012

The commissioner for the meteorology department, Michael Nkalubo, has told Sunday Vision that many farmers across the country have complained that the food they planted when some rain fell in February, has withered.

"Depending on our forecast, which predicted the steady rainfall season to begin in late March, we warned people not to waste their seeds in the earlier rains but they did not listen. Now they are complaining," Nkalubo said.

But the March-May forecast Nkalubo is talking about has also not been a prefect prediction either since March ended with no rain.

According to last year's reports, by the month of May, food prices had increased by 50% and became the major cause of the high inflation that added to the economic stress. The situation is likely to be worse this year.

Some few parts of western Uganda have been getting steady rainfall but according to the commissioner for disaster preparedness, Martin Owor, the rain there has been characterised by strong wind and hailstorms, which have destroyed crops.

"If this happens in other parts of the country, we are likely to experience food shortage far worse than it was last year since this time, the delayed rain season will lead to delayed harvesting period," Owor said.

Commissioner Nkalubo said because the sun has passed the equator from the Southern Hemisphere, moving towards the North, the rains we see now will develop into a steady rain season within the next two weeks.

The regional climate outlook for the coming rainfall season indicates increased likelihood of below to near normal rainfall over much of the Horn of Africa and this raises the possibility of a repeat of last year's experience during which most of the countries in the region experienced severe food shortage.

The UN food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Friday appealed for $50m to help counter the food crisis in the Horn of Africa.

Owor advised farmers to plant fast growing seeds and vegetables as an intervention

U.S. Marines Dispatched to Five African Countries

JOSEPH KONY, AMERICA'S PRETEXT TO INVADE AFRICA: US Marines Dispatched to Five African Countries

by Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, 

16 March, 2012

The hidden agenda in Uganda, Central Africa and the Horn of Africa is the conquest of oil and strategic mineral resources. Going after Joseph Kony and protecting Ugandan children is a cynical smokescreen, a pretext for a "humanitarian intervention" in a region where US sponsored  "civil wars" (Sudan, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia) have in the course of the last 20 years resulted in more than eight million deaths: 

"Through AFRICOM, the United States is seeking a foothold in the incredibly resource rich central African block in a further maneuver to aggregate regional hegemony over China. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the world’s largest regions without an effectively functioning government. It contains vast deposits of diamonds, cobalt, copper, uranium, magnesium, and tin while producing over $1 billion in gold each year. It is entirely feasible that the US can considerably increase its presence in the DRC under the pretext of capturing Joseph Kony." (Nile Bowie,  Merchandising and Branding Support for US Military Intervention in Central Africa, Global research, March 14, 2012) 

In a recent decision, the Pentagon confirms the sending in of Marine Special Forces to train Ugandan troops in the fight not only against Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) but also against Al Shabab in Somalia. Joseph Kony is being used as a pretext for outright military intervention in five African countries. 

"So far, the task force has deployed small teams to five African nations, including some threatened by the terror group al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, according to a Marine news release" (Stars and Stripes, March 15, 2012 ). 

Officially, the underlying framework is "peacekeeping" to be achieved through US sponsored "counterterrorism operations". The stated objective is to transform Ugandan soldiers into "counterterrorism engineers", namely Special Forces under US supervision,  "who will then deploy to Somalia in support of infantry battalions."(Ibid) 

The sending in of US Marines to Africa is  upheld as "part of a new Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-12 based out of Sigonella, Sicily" which will dispatch small teams of Marine forces throughout the African continent. The initiative was launched in 2011 "as part of an effort to prepare African militaries to conduct counterterrorism operations" under US guidance.

What this initiative also implies is the direct involvement of Ugandan troops and special forces in the civil war in Somalia:

“The genesis of this mission was operations in Mogadishu, Somalia, where African Union peacekeepers experienced IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and other complex obstacles, which exposed them to ambushes by al Shabaab,” said Maj.Charles Baker, a spokesman for the Marine mission, in a news release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Kampala.

“The soldiers on training will use the acquired knowledge in war-torn Somalia and in the hunt down of fugitive LRA commander Joseph Kony, wherever he is,” said Ugandan People’s Defense Force Lt. Col. Richard C. Wakayinja, in a separate Marine news release. (Stars and Stripes, March 15, 2012)

More of KONY 2012

Kony 2012: campaigner's meltdown brought on by stress says wife

Jason Russell's wife says he was hospitalised because he couldn't handle global attention caused by viral video

the Guardian, 

17 March, 2012

The wife of Jason Russell, co-founder of the Invisible Children charity, has blamed her husband's sudden hospitalisation on stress brought about by the extraordinary global attention garnered by the organisation's work exposing Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.

Russell, a devout evangelical Christian, was detained by police in San Diego at about 11.30am on Thursday after being spotted apparently nude in the street, screaming and interfering with traffic. Police said they had received several reports of him making sexual gestures or masturbating.

The development came at the end of a remarkable few weeks for Invisible Children and its trio of telegenic young American founders. After one of the charity's videos about Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army went viral across the internet, the organisation found itself at the centre of massive global attention. While millions of supporters flocked to its cause, especially over social media websites, the group also faced a torrent of criticism from aid groups, academics and media figures.

Russell's wife, Danica, issued a statement to American TV network NBC in which she said the pressure had simply become too much for her husband. "We thought a few thousand people would see the film, but in less than a week millions of people around the world saw it. While that attention was great for raising awareness about Joseph Kony, it also brought a lot of attention to Jason. And, because of how personal the film is, many of the attacks against it were also very personal, and Jason took them very hard," Danica Russell said.

NBC reported that she also said that Russell's behaviour was not down to drug or alcohol abuse.

After spending more than six years largely under the media radar in its work highlighting the problem of Kony, a single 30-minute video, Kony 2012 – narrated by Russell who features in the film with his son – has now been viewed more than 80 million times.

Cash flowed into the charity as new supporters bought Invisible Children's "action kits". Scores of groups popped up across America, especially on college campuses, highlighting Kony's use of child soldiers, rape and mutilation of civilians.

They are preparing for a day of action next month when organisers hope to put up more than a million posters across the US under the "Kony 2012" slogan. The group was even able to get a resolution in the US Congress calling for more to be done to bring Kony to justice. The group's work was hailed as a triumph of online activism in the modern media age.

But critics jumped in too. Analysis of the group's accounts raised questions over financial transparency and just how the group was spending money, forcing Invisible Children to release a new video defending its operations. Some critics, including elements of the Ugandan government, slammed it for over-simplifying a complex problem, not least because Kony is no longer active in Uganda itself. Attention was paid to hefty donations to the group from rightwing American fundamentalist groups, including those who fund anti-gay rights campaigns. A photograph also emerged of the children's founders posing with guns with soldiers in southern Sudan, which sparked widespread criticism.

But no one can have expected the next twist in the story to take the shape it did, with Russell's apparent and very public naked meltdown.

Now, in a grim mirror image of the group's initial burst of viral internet success, Invisible Children's cause again trended on Twitter. Hollywood gossip website TMZ swiftly obtained an alleged video of the incident in which a naked, blond man can be seen shouting and angrily pounding the pavement with his fists. That video too has gone viral.

In San Diego, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the group's offices were besieged by journalists while young activists inside wept. Invisible Children chief executive Ben Keesey appealed for privacy for his colleague. "We are devastated to see him dealing with this personal health issue. We will always love and support Jason, and we ask that you give his entire family privacy during this difficult time," Keesey said.

That statement was also put up on Invisible Children's Facebook page and within a few hours had attracted more than 4,000 comments. Some were full of support for Russell and the group's work. "I understand this Jason fellow was under an immense amount of pressure. Anyone would lose it if they were in the position he was. C'mon folks give this guy some slack," posted Lisa Shears, who lives in Quebec.

But that was an appeal that fell on deaf ears for many. "If someone in your community did the same thing, would you respect them? What if a teacher at your child's school did this? Would you be okay with them returning to the classroom?" asked Jamie Bronczyk in a comment on the Keesey statement.

Colonialism in 10 Minutes: The Scramble For Africa