All posts by JRP

Ugandan Forces Confirm Lord’s Resistance Army Commander Has Surrendered

07 Jan 2015In the NewsJRP

Uganda’s army has confirmed the announcement from the US that American and African Union forces in the Central African Republic are holding Dominic Ongwen, a top commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Recruited by the LRA as a child, Ongwen has allegedly served as an aide to the guerrilla group’s leader Joseph Kony and is wanted for crimes against humanity, with charges that include murder and enslavement. In a 2005 arrest warrant, the ICC noted that Ongwen was a key member of the LRA’s “Control Altar,” the core leadership responsible for “devising and implementing strategy, including standing orders to attack and brutalize civilian populations.” Reports emerged in 2005 alleging that he had been killed, but were disproved following a DNA test.

“We can now confirm he’s the one and we can also confirm he’s in our custody at our base in Obo,” Paddy Ankunda, Uganda’s military spokesman, said on Wednesday. “We think he was just tired of bush life and simply turned himself in.”

https://news.vice.com/article/ugandan-forces-confirm-lords-resistance-army-commander-has-surrendered

Anino Ku (I Don’t Sleep) by the Families of the Missing with John Oweka

09 Dec 2014UncategorizedAnino Ku, Families of the Missing, FoM, Missing Persons, Music, The Right to KnowJRP

Anino Ku (I don’t sleep)

(Acholi)

John Oweka:

In Acholiland I thought there was no more mourning

But mourning still exists

In the villages I thought there was no more mourning

But mourning still exists

In our country I thought there was no more mourning

But mourning still exists

Many mothers complain that they don’t sleep at night

That is why I ask them: “What makes you not to sleep?”

Chorus:

I don’t sleep, I don’t sleep

This Kony problem makes me not sleep x2

Families of the Missing:

Kony abducted my child

Kony abducted my only child

Kony abducted my beloved child

(Chorus)

Kony abducted my doctor (Opici)

I cry and mourn every day

Kony abducted my farmer

Kony abducted my daughter (Alany)

Kony abducted my beloved ones (Opici)

(Chorus)

Spoken (English):

I don’t sleep because of the pain of losing my son, my daughter, my sister, my brother and my spouse

I leave my door open at night hoping that my loved ones will one day walk through back into my arms

They disappeared during the decades of armed conflict in northern Uganda

Day and night I’m waiting, searching for answers

Who will give me answers?

Who will tell me where my loved ones are?

Who can give me information about their fate?

Government of Uganda, international organisations, NGOs, cultural and religious leaders

Wake up!

Listen to our cry, join us

The families of the missing

Distributive justice: Recommendations for reparations and distributive justice for former child soldiers in northern Uganda

09 Dec 2014Statements & Briefschild soldiers, reparationsJRP

The Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) works to understand and explain the interests of individuals, groups and communities affected by conflict. Since 2005, JRP has made key policy recommendations to the civil society and government actors regarding the provision of victim-sensitive reparative measures in northern Uganda, based on research and interaction with victims of conflict, policy makers and other key transitional justice stakeholder. This policy brief seeks to explore how distributive justice and reparations can serve children that were forcibly recruited into the LRA. It is based on the findings of 17 semi-structured key informant interviews conducted in Kampala, Kitgum and Gulu in Uganda. The organisations which were represented by the interviewees included a mix of local, national and international organisations from the fields of children’s rights and transitional justice3 as well as two young people who were formerly associated with the LRA.

Read this full Policy Brief here: Distributive justice (pdf)

Forgotten Victims: Recounting Atrocities Committed in Odek Sub-County by the LRA and NRA

09 Dec 2014Field NotesCommunity Documentation, documentation, LRA, NRA, OdekJRP

In its efforts to document the voices of the victims of the conflict in northern Uganda, based on the belief that through facilitating communities to tell their stories in their own terms and words not only helps to bring some relief to the victims but also contributes to better inform transitional justice processes, the Justice and Reconciliation Project launches this field note as a first step to acknowledge what happened in Odek sub-county. The purpose of this report is twofold. First, it seeks to make visible the atrocities committed by the NRA and the LRA in Odek and how it affected the lives of individuals and the community as a whole. Second, it aims to show how Odek is silently fighting another war; the war that comes with stigmatisation and exclusion. This report shows how the impact of the war continues to affect the daily lives of the people of Odek, and undermines its prospects of achieving lasting peace and reconciliation.
Read this entire report here: Forgotten Victims (pdf)

2014 Annual Report

09 Dec 2014ReportsAnnual ReportJRP

The Justice and Reconciliation Project’s 2014 Annual Report presents the organisation’s activities and their impact in 2014 under four objectives derived from JRP’s 2010-2014 five year strategic plan. Read how the memory of conflict affect communities was preserved, communities were mobilised to engage in peacebuilding processes, vulnerable groups were supported in their pursuit of justice and victim-centred transitional justice was advocated for this year.

Download: 2014 Annual Report (pdf)

Families of the Missing release advocacy song “Anino Ku”

03 Dec 2014BlogAnino Ku, Community Mobilisation, Community Mobilization, Missing Persons, The Right to KnowJRP

Lyrics (Translated from Acholi): Kony abducted my child Kony abducted my only child Kony abducted my beloved child I don’t sleep because of the pain of losing my son, my daughter, my sister, my brother and my spouse I leave my door open at night hoping that my loved ones will one day walk through back into my arms Who will give me answers? Who will tell me where my loved ones are? Who can give me information about their fate? — Lyrics (Translated from Acholi):
Kony abducted my child
Kony abducted my only child
Kony abducted my beloved child
I don’t sleep because of the pain of losing my son, my daughter, my sister, my brother and my spouse
I leave my door open at night hoping that my loved ones will one day walk through back into my arms
Who will give me answers?
Who will tell me where my loved ones are?
Who can give me information about their fate?

The Justice and Reconciliation Project is pleased to announce the release of Anino Ku, a song performed by the Families of the Missing group in Pece, Gulu and renowned Acholi artist John Oweka.

Anino Ku, which means “I don’t sleep” in Acholi, speaks to the challenges families of persons missing as a result of conflict face in northern Uganda. The Families of the Missing group was formed with the support of JRP in 2013 to rally support for the cause and has conducted community outreaches across Acholi sub-region in the past year to draw attention to the issue.

Anino Ku is released as part of JRP’s Right to Know campaign, which seeks to create awareness about missing persons in northern Uganda. Read more about the campaign here.

Establishing the Extent of SGBV Revictimisation among Female Survivors of Conflict SGBV in Northern Uganda

25 Nov 2014Reportsgender justice, Redress for SGBV, SGBVJRP

Establishing the Extent of SGBV Revictimisation among Female Survivors of Conflict in Northern Uganda – Report Summary on a Baseline Study and Pre-Project Assessment on Redress for SGBV on Conflict-Related Wrongs — Report Summary on a Baseline Study and Pre-Project Assessment on Redress for SGBV on Conflict-Related Wrongs

This baseline study seeks to determine the extent to which revictimisation affects female survivors of conflict sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) in northern Uganda. The information gathered will inform the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s (JRP) project, “Redress for Sexual- and Gender-Based Violence on Conflict-Related Wrongs” which aims to support transitional justice (TJ) efforts of female survivors of SGBV in the northern Ugandan districts of Adjumani, Pader and Lira, and the project of our partners under a consortium funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In addition, we intend for these findings to inform the work of the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) of the Government of Uganda (GoU), as they establish a national TJ policy to provide remedy and redress for victims of Uganda’s many longstanding armed conflicts. The baseline operated under a simple, yet alarming observation, based on JRP’s years of working with conflict victims: war-affected women are continuously targeted for sexual- and gender-based crimes.

In this summary, we provide an overview of the methodology and conceptual frameworks that were used in developing this baseline, as well as the key findings and conclusions that emerged.

Read the report here: Establishing the Extent of SGBV Revictimisation among Female Survivors of Conflict SGBV in Northern Uganda (pdf)

Government to document missing persons

07 Oct 2014In the NewsJRP

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Govt-to-document-dead–missing-persons/-/688334/2476230/-/psuc9h/-/index.html

By James Owich

Posted Monday, October 6 2014 at 01:00

Gulu.

Government will document all missing persons killed during the northern Uganda war and those presumed to be still in captivity of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, the minister Without Portfolio in charge of Political Mobilisation has said.

Addressing journalists in Gulu Town at the weekend, Mr Richard Todwong said the documentation had been planned to take place in 2010 but was delayed “since most of the people were still in Internally Displaced People’s camps.”

LRA rebels waged a two-decade war during which they massacred a people and abducted hundreds.

“Government is now ready to conduct the documentation, which will tell the figure of missing persons,” Mr Todwong said.
He said resident district commissioners in the region had been instructed to document, not only missing persons, but even those who were killed.

Stock-taking
This, according to Mr Todwong, is part of the stock-taking of what transpired during the war.

Ms Kerobina Kalokwera, 62, a mother of six whose son Faustino Okello, 11, was abducted in 1996, applauded the initiative, saying she still hopes her son is still alive.

Ms Lilly Odong, the chairperson Pece Missing Person’s Group, an association of parents whose children are still missing, said many members had lost hope on finding their children alive.

However, she urged civil society organisations and other stakeholders to support the initiative.

Mr Oryem Nyeko, Communications Officer Justice & Reconciliation Project (JRP), a local NGO that promotes sustainable peace says the affected families has over the past years been having questions of where their loved ones are years after they were abducted.

“This initiative will give the families the opportunity to mourn for their relatives in case they died or build on hope that they will safely return,” Mr Nyeko commented.

In October of 2008, Dr. Stephen Kagoda, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported to Parliament that some of the missing children might have been sold in the Darfur area of Sudan, as soldiers, sex slaves and cheap labourers by LRA leader, Mr Joseph Kony.

The two decade war, left over a million people displaced, and over 30,000 children forcefully abducted as child soldiers while women were sexually abused. Statistics from by Amnesty Commission indicate that so far only, 8, 000 children majority now adults have safely returned and reintegrated into their respective communities.

A 2012 report by CAP Uganda indicates a total of 1,000 people abducted by the LRA are still missing and their where about are unknown.

Missing
The where abouts. According to a 2012 report by CAP Uganda, more than 1,000 people, who were abducted by the LRA, are still missing and their where about are unknown.
Reports. In October 2008, Dr Stephen Kagoda, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Internal Affairs, said some of the missing children might have been sold in the Darfur, Sudan, as soldiers, sex slaves and cheap labourers.

Voices Magazine Issue 8

01 Sep 2014Newsletters & MagazinesRegional Reconciliation, Voices, Voices Issue 8JRP

On Wednesday, June 24, 1981, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) attacked civilians who had taken refuge at Ombaci College, four kilometres from Arua town in Uganda’s West Nile sub-region. The “Ombaci Massacre” eventually claimed the lives of close to 100 people and left countless wounded.

In 2013, the Justice and Reconciliation Project be- gan conducting research for a report which would document the events of that day, its aftermath and the recommendations of the survivors and their descendants. It Was Only the Gun Speaking, With a Pool of Blood Flowing (see an excerpt on page 18), JRP’s 20th Field Note, details how today the remnants of this massacre still exist for many of the survivors of the massacre: the children that were orphaned on that day live with lost opportunities for education, financial and emotional support, while survivors who lost property continue to seek compensation.

Many survivors also suffer from health complications and injures. As such, it is evident that reparations form a significant part of the call for redress for survivors of the Ombaci massacre, however a recurring theme that surfaced among them was the call for reconciliation and dialogue among the different peoples of northern Uganda.

Many witnesses of the massacre have expressed the belief that the massacre was an act of revenge by the majority Acholi UNLA for the treatment the Acholi people had received at the hands of Idi Amin’s soldiers when he was in power. This was also reflected during a dialogue held at the Ombaci Catholic Mission, as part of the annual com- memoration of the massacre in June this year, many speeches by survivors, community members and political leaders called for reconciliation and dialogue between the people of Acholi and West Nile. This issue of Voices magazine examines the importance, role and implementation of regional reconciliation in the vein of that which was called for in Ombaci in northern Uganda’s transitional justice.

Read the entire issue here: Voices Issue 8.

The Right to Know – Policy recommendations for addressing the rights of the missing and their families in northern Uganda

30 Aug 2014Statements & BriefsCommunity Mobilisation, Community Mobilization, Missing Persons, Palabek, The Right to KnowJRP

The Right to Know communicates the findings of a pilot study done in in Palabek Kal and Palabek Gem sub-counties in Lamwo District, to establish the circumstances under which people disappeared, examine past and present coping strategies used by the affected communities, evaluate surviving families’ needs, and provide recommendations for civil society organisations, the Ugandan government and international actors.

Overview

Increasingly, the missing victims of mass atrocities around the world are being formally recognised as a key impediment to genuine social repair and transitional justice. A recent conference organised by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) found that where a concerted effort was made to locate and identify the missing victims of mass atrocities some of these impediments were overcome. Going forward, the international community now recognises that the missing victims of past and ongoing mass atrocities are an urgent global concern that warrants a structured and sustained response that works in tandem with local government and civil society organisations. As such, the Government of Uganda and Ugandan civil society organisations, in collaboration with relevant sectors within the international community, have a legal and moral obligation to address the missing victims of Uganda’s recent civil war in order to promote genuine social repair and transitional justice in northern Uganda.

In line with these international developments, and building upon its history of working with families affected by the recent civil war, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), in collaboration with the families of the missing, launched the “Right to Know” campaign in 2012 to promote awareness of the plight of the missing and the anguish of their families. JRP has since completed a pilot study in Palabek Kal and Palabek Gem sub-counties in Lamwo District that establishes the circumstances under which people disappeared, examines past and present coping strategies used by the affected communities, evaluates surviving families’ needs, and provides recommendations for civil society organisations, the Ugandan government and international actors.

This policy brief communicates the findings of this pilot study, drawing upon individual interviews and focus group discussions with families of the missing, formerly abducted persons, cultural leaders and local government leaders. These categories of participants were chosen to gain a multidimensional understanding of the lingering challenges faced by northern Ugandans whose lives have been intimately impacted by their missing relatives. Specifically: the needs of the surviving families, their sources of information on the missing, the impact of their search for information on the community, and any cultural or governmental processes that have allowed them to move forward while living with ambiguous loss. It then draws upon outreaches conducted by JRP in communities across northern Uganda to gain a better grasp of the situation.

Key recommendations

This policy brief recommends that the Government of Uganda, in collaboration with the international community and civil society organisations (CSOs) in northern Uganda, should take the following actions:

Formally and publicly acknowledge the missing victims of war and related atrocities in northern Uganda as a prominent obstacle to social repair;
Ensure a comprehensive transitional justice policy framework and subsequent legislation that reaffirms forced disappearance as a crime against humanity and, within this legal prohibition, formally recognises the rights of the missing and their surviving families;
Establish an independent commission on missing persons to collaborate with surviving families to generate a centralised database and oversee search efforts;
Provide economic support and skills training for the families of the missing so they can better overcome their unique economic burdens; and
Support ongoing research in northern Uganda beyond Palabek toward identifying regional particularities related to the needs of families of the missing.

Download this entire policy brief here: JRP Policy Brief – The Right to Know, August 2014 (pdf)