Category Archives: Photos

International Criminal Court Presents Community Screenings of the Ongwen Trial

The trial of former LRA Commander Dominic Ongwen resumed on Tuesday, September 18, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, with an opening statement from the defense. Miles and miles away, Ugandans gathered around televisions and hunched over radios, following each detail of the proceedings. Many attended screening events organized by the ICC itself. The court endeavored to make the trial accessible to those people whose lives were torn apart by conflict. The Justice and Reconciliation Project hosted one such screening in the organization offices at Koro-Pida.

Some one hundred participants arrived by bus from various locations. They crammed together on white, plastic chairs. Mothers brought small children, who sat in their laps or played on the floor. The screening was near silent. Attendees only spoke during the breaks, when they shared snacks and soda, or relaxed in a courtyard.

The ICC strove to create an open space, where the community could truly engage with the trial, however distant. Eric MP Odong, a field assistant, said, “We are here to execute the mandate of the registry of the court, and to serve the victim community.”

The screening at JRP was not the first of its kind nor was it the only event in the area. Another screening, this one at Gulu District Hall, was so packed that people spilled on to the ground outside. Engagement in the case is high. “We are responding to the interest and the demand of communities, who want to follow the trial,” said Jimmy Otim, another field assistant. In fact, the ICC has organized screening events since Ongwen’s trial began two years ago. Court representatives travel to areas with little electricity and bad roads in order to disseminate information.

Many of these locations were the sight of LRA attacks. Emotions run high and memories of war are fresh. “My better half of my life is the conflict,” said Otim. “That is why I studied conflict, to understand why people suffer.” His work is personal. Otim also vividly remembers trial screenings at which community members corroborated the information on screen, pointing to places where violence occurred. As a result, counselors and facilitators are always present.

community members watch the Dominic Ongwen defnese at the JRP offices in Koro-Pida. Photo credit, Sophia Neiman
Community members watch the Dominic Ongwen defnese at the JRP offices in Koro-Pida. Photo credit, Sophia Neiman.

Responses to these screenings have been overwhelmingly positive. According to Otim, “[The community] is happy that what happened to them is being heard in an independent court, they are happy that what happened to them is being recognized. They are happy that maybe, ultimately, they’ll get justice.”

Odong agrees. “I see justice being done,” he said. “The prosecution did its part and now it is the defense’s turn. I see justice by allowing different parties to express themselves.” Odong claims he will be satisfied regardless of the outcome. “The process of the trial will have cleansed the accused, even if he is set free,” he said.

The trial culminates a longer hunt for Ongwen and his fellow rebels. More than eleven years ago, the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest, along with warrants for Vincent Otti and enigmatic leader Joseph Kony.  In 2014, Ongwen was captured along the border between South Sudan and the Central African Republic, and turned over to the court. His is a painful saga, and one that contains the complex history of the conflict itself.

Ongwen was abducted by the LRA when he was nine years old. He was walking to primary school near Gulu. Like many other young boys, he was forced to watch and later commit heinous acts, and was brutally inducted into the army. Unlike many, however, Ongwen ascended the ranks. He reached the LRA control alter and came to command the notorious Sinia Brigade. This wing of the LRA attacked internally displaced person’s camps, specifically Abok, Odek, Lukodi and Pajule. Ongwen himself is charged with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves.

Thus, Ongwen can be cast as both victim and perpetrator; a man whose life was altered by the conflict, and a man who altered the lives of others. He is also the first and lowest ranking member of the LRA to be tried internationally. Kony is still at large. Otti is presumed dead.

Seeing such a man stand trial can be divisive and upsetting. Some want him in jail, punished for years of havoc, while others believe he was boy brainwashed, and so deserves amnesty. Many community members are former abductees themselves, and do not understand why they have been forgiven and Ongwen has not.

Andrew Simbo has worked in transitional justice in both Uganda and Sierra Leone. He is currently the executive director of Uganda Women’s Action Program. The organization helps to bring more women and children to the ICC screenings. He claims that communities have now become fully reintegrated, “Those who actually carried out the atrocities are in the communities now. They have been given amnesty. They are the boda boda riders; some are musicians. They are there. They have been integrated into the community,” He added, passionately, “people have moved on.” While UWAP remains a neutral body, Simbo asserts it can be difficult to explain the mere fact of Ongwen’s charges to community members.

Justin Ocan, a community representative from Lukodi, believes that the screenings themselves will lead to a better future. “We tell these populations that this is also a learning environment, because we need to learn this time, so that you transfer the knowledge you gained from this screening to your children, so that in the future they don’t engage themselves in such kinds of practices,” he said.

Regardless of what the court decides, or even of divided opinions, one thing is certain. Sharing information, and making that information accessible, is crucial. It brings people together. It binds them in knowledge and informed conversation. It cements community. Justice itself is a long and twisting process, and its outcomes can never be universally satisfying. Yet, Ocan puts it beautifully, if simply: “Justice is a collective effort to attain a peaceful life.”

As the trial continues, people of many different opinions, can come together and watch it unfold.

Barlonyo vigil

Barlonyo Prayers & Victim Exchange 20-22Feb2012

From February 20-22, 2012, JRP organized an exchange between victims’ groups from across the greater north. More than 35 representatives from West Nile, Acholi, Lango and Teso attended the Barlonyo memorial prayers and candlelight vigil and a 1-day exchange meeting to share experiences and develop a way forward for victim-led advocacy in northern Uganda.

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Kwoyelo Trial 11Nov11

Kwoyelo ICD Trial Cessation, 11 Nov. 11

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On November, 11, 2011, the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court of Uganda convened at the High Court in Gulu to follow recommendations set forth by the Constitutional Court pertaining to the trial of ex-LRA commander Col. Thomas Kwoyelo. These photos capture what transpired. For more information, visit www.justiceandreconciliation.com.

Copyright © 2011 Justice and Reconciliation Project

Aboke Memorial

Aboke Commemoration Prayers, 10 Oct 2011

On October 10, 2011, JRP attended the Aboke commemoration prayers organized by St. Mary’s College Aboke and Concerned Parents Association. The prayers celebrated the triumph of love over evil 15 years after 139 secondary school girls were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Today, all but 1 girl has been accounted for. The prayers were held at St. Mary’s and were attended by survivors of the abduction, their parents, members of civil society and the community. The theme for this year’s ceremony was “transcending beyond the past” and focused on reconciliation as an obligation towards transcending beyond the past.

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Gender and TJ CSO Dialogue

Gender and TJ CSO Dialogue, 27 Sept 2011

On September 27, 2011, JRP and ICTJ partnered to hold a one-day civil society dialogue on engendering transitional justice in Uganda. It focused on challenges and opportunities for a gender sensitive TJ program in Uganda, and participants developed a list of recommendations for the Government of Uganda and stakeholders. A report on the dialogue is forthcoming. The dialogue was held at Churchill Courts in Gulu and attended by over 30 participants from Acholi, Lango and Teso sub-regions.

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Yumbe Theatre Disarmament

Yumbe Community Theatre Day / Peace Day, 21 Sept 2011

On September 21st, JRP and the MAYANK Development Association organized celebrations for the annual International Day of Peace (Peace Day) 2011 in Yumbe district, West Nile sub-region, Uganda. Survivors of the UNRF II conflict presented a drama that highlighted the cause and rise of the UNRF II and the resolution of the conflict through the Yumbe Peace Accord in 2002.

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JRP VOL Talk Show 20Sept2011

Peace Day Talk Show in Arua, 20 Sept 2011

On Tuesday, September 20, 2011, JRP held a one-hour talk show on Arua radio station Voice of Life FM 100.9. The show featured JRP’s Sylvia Opinia, Lindsay McClain, Isaac Okwir, Mzee Nahari Oyaa of the Madi-Lugbara Cultural Foundation, and presenter Jonathan Driliga.

The purpose of the talk show was to discuss International Day of Peace, celebrated every year on September 21st, and the programmes scheduled for West Nile. JRP, in conjunction with the MAYANK Development Association, organized celebrations in Yumbe. Survivors of the UNRF II conflict in Yumbe who have formed a JRP-supported theatre group performed a drama that traced the historical events of the UNRF II conflict and the 2002 Yumbe peace accords.

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Mukura theatre day 16Sept2011

Mukura Community Theater Performance, 16 Sept 2011

On Friday, September 16, 2011, JRP facilitated survivors and families of the 1989 Mukura massacre to hold a community theater performance. The performance was part of an ongoing engagement with the Mukura Memorial Development Initiative (MUMEDI) and aimed at generating a discussion on how to best seek justice and reconciliation after the conflict in the area. The drama’s script and theme of reconciliation with the President of Uganda was entirely drafted by the actors.

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Abia community theater practice

Abia Community Theatre Practice, 15 Sept 2011

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On Thursday, September 15, 2011, JRP visited Abia Primary School in Lango to follow-up with students participating in our community theatre project. The students have developed a drama that highlights the situation in Abia and how the conflict has exacerbated the rampancy of HIV/AIDS.

The community-wide performance of this drama will tentatively take place on September 28th in Abia trading center.