Tag Archives: Barlonyo

Barlonyo vigil

Standing together for the commemoration of the 13th anniversary of the Barlonyo massacre

Barlonyo vigil
Mourners light candles in memory of Barlonyo victims during a candlelight vigil, 2012.

On behalf of the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), it is my honour to celebrate with you the lives of those who perished during the tragic Barlonyo massacre of 21st February 2004. I am honoured by the legacy set by the victims’ community to commemorate the lives of their loved ones on an annual basis.

Remembrance has proven to be a strong tool for social reconstruction especially in dealing with trauma, conflict and tension, and also in addressing stigma within the community. It provides an opportunity to understand shared conflict experiences and for victim communities to chart a way forward to deal with their transition challenges for harmonious coexistence.

Promoting justice and reconcililiation

Community memorialization is also a community relevant transitional justice approach to justice and reconciliation, an approach that needs to be supported by local government and international organizations to promote justice and reconciliation especially in the absence of official transitional justice framework. I want to applaud Lira district local government for taking up the challenge of leading the arrangement of this year’s Barlonyo memorial prayer as well as thank all partners that supported the process.

Over the last 11 years, JRP has played a key role in understanding and explaining the needs, concerns and interests of war-affected people in northern Uganda through research and documentation. Adopting a victim centered approach, we have built the capacity of many victim communities to play a lead role in advocating for justice, accountability and reconciliation as well as dealing with their conflict challenges on their own.

We have also supported community justice, accountability and reconciliation initiatives which have moved victims to another level in as far as social recovery is concerned. We are happy to see the community of Barlonyo, with whom we have worked with for a long time, keeping up the momentum to socially reconstruct their society by collaborating with other partners, especially local government.

Holistic approaches

In a survey we conducted in 2015 on opportunities for regional reconciliation, we found a number of justice, accountability and reconciliation needs within communities and between the different ethnic communities in northern Uganda. This is a huge transition challenge that calls for holistic approaches to provide substantive responses to the transition challenges.

I therefore urge the government of Uganda to pass the transitional justice policy of Uganda and expeditiously implement programs to answer the justice, accountability and reconciliation needs in war affected communities. This will go a long way realize sustainable peace and reconciliation in northern Uganda and achieve national unity.

In conclusion, I want to thank the community of Barlonyo and Lira district local government for initiating the commemoration of the 13th anniversary of the Barlonyo massacre. I urge every stakeholder for a positive remembrance through an approach that deals with conflict trauma, stigma as well as the reconciliation needs of the affected community.

JRP remains committed to support justice, accountability and reconciliation efforts of conflict affected people and we shall always be there for victims and with victims.

May the souls of those who perished rest in peace and their spirits leave to promote community and regional reconciliation.

Okwir Isaac Odiya is the Head of Office with the Justice and reconciliation Project

 

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Communities in Lango and Acholi work to memorialise their experiences

A capacity building workshop is held in Parabongo earlier this year.
A capacity building workshop is held in Parabongo earlier this year.

With funding support from USAID-SAFE Program, the Community Mobilization department at JRP conducted a series of trainings on themes of memory and reconciliation with 39 members of Community Reconciliation (CORE) teams in seven communities across Lango and Acholi sub-regions. Held in May, 2015, these trainings covered a range of topics including conflict mitigation, peace building, forgiveness and reconciliation, gender mainstreaming in peace building and reconciliation programs, trauma healing and counseling skills, and memory and memorialization. This helped the members of the CORE teams to understand the importance of memorialization and to envision an ideal memory and reconciliation project for their communities.

During the training, the participants examined the following questions in order to come up with an ideal memory project for each of the seven communities:

  • What are the conflict events that occurred in your areas?
  • What conflict event do you want to remember?
  • How would you like to remember it?
  • What memory projects would promote healing, advocacy and reconciliation for your communities?
  • What ideal memory project can you implement in your community?

These guiding questions helped the CORE team members to come up with ideas for memory projects in consultation with their respective victims’ communities, which could be implemented within five months in their communities. The seven communities came up with the following innovative ideas for community memory projects which are now nearing successful completion.

Lukodi: The community of Lukodi chose to write a book which documents life before the war, and also emphasizes how culture has been eroded by war and makes suggestions on how it can be rejuvenated. They also chose to legally register the acquired piece of land which serves as the memorial site for the Lukodi massacre of 2004. This would enable the community to transfer a monument for the massacre which is in another area to this land and to develop the site.

Parabongo: The community of Parabongo, with guidance of the CORE team, chose to construct a new memorial stone to replace an older barely visible monument. They envisage having a more visible monument in memory of the people killed by LRA in Parabongo in 2006.

Atiak: Together with the CORE team, the victims’ community in Atiak chose to develop a list of conflict memorabilia to be preserved to document their memory of the war. They also decided to develop a profile of those who were killed in the 1995 massacre, and after verifying the list of names, they will engrave and place it onto a memorial monument. The community also pledged to facilitate a process of community-led documentation through the use of arts to preserve memories of events that became a turning point in the lives of the people of Atiak at the peak of the war.

Burcoro: The community of Burcoro chose to construct a monument in memory of the people killed during the military operation led by NRA in Burcoro in 1991. They wished to preserve memories of state-led atrocities that were never acknowledged.

Odek: The people of Odek also felt they were never publicly acknowledged to have suffered during the LRA war. To them, putting up a memorial monument would communicate what they went through in order for them to also be considered for post-conflict reconstruction services. They, therefore, chose to construct a memory stone in memory of the mass killing by LRA in Odek.

Barlonyo: The community of Barlonyo decided to beautify their memorial site in order to celebrate the lives of their loved ones who perished in the 2002 massacre. They chose to fence and beautify the memorial site with a variety of beautiful flowers blooming in gardens adjacent to well-paved walkways.

Abia: In Abia, the community chose to erect a monument in the form of a statue of a helpless woman which depicts their plight in the aftermath of the massacre of 2004. They also decided to make a painting on the wall of memorial school in memory of their war experiences.

JRP pledged to support the seven communities in the implementation of their respective community memory projects, which have been shaping well over the last five months. As the projects near completion, JRP is proud to reaffirm its support to showcase community-relevant approaches to justice, healing and reconciliation.

Voices Iss1 2012 cover

Voices Magazine Issue 1, 2012 (Amnesty)

Voices Magazine Issue 1, 2012 (Amnesty)

Click here to view.

Voices Iss1 2012 cover
Cover of the first edition of JRP’s Voices magazine

This is the first issue of the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s (JRP) latest publication, Voices magazine. JRP’s mission is to empower conflict-affected communities to participate in processes of justice, healing and reconciliation, and this magazine aspires to do just that. By providing a regular, open platform for victims and key stakeholders to dialogue on local and national transitional justice developments, we will be “sharing victim-centered views on justice and reconciliation in Uganda” each quarter.

The theme of this first issue is amnesty. With Uganda’s Amnesty Act up for expiration, renewal or renewal with amendments on 24 May, we have sought to present the views of the war-affected communities where we operate. In this issue, key stakeholders like Michael Otim of the International Center for Transitional Justice (pg 13), Ismene Nicole Zarifis, International Technical Advisor on TJ for JLOS (pg 6,) and members of the JRP team address the important question: What should be the future of Uganda’s Amnesty Act? Like all of our work, we hope this collection of views contributes to the policy-making process currently taking place in Kampala, and links the grassroots with the decision-makers.

Click here to view.

Note: If printing on a B&W printer, we recommend you print this grayscaled version.

Barlonyo vigil

Victims from northern Uganda attend Barlonyo prayers in solidarity

Barlonyo vigil

From 20-22 February 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 8th annual memorial prayers and candlelight vigil for the 2004 Barlonyo massacre. Afterwards, they met for a 1-day learning and exchange visit to share experiences (both personal and group) and set a way forward that will enhance and unite victim-led advocacy for transitional justice in Uganda.

Photos from the 3 days are available here, with a video advocacy documentary coming soon.

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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