Category Archives: Blog

Song, dance and theatre to highlight the transition challenges in Atiak

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Members of Limo Can Tek victims' group in Pupwonya parish, Atiak rehearse for the Bearing Witness post-participation event on 16 October 2014. The event will be held at Atiak sub-county headquarters and will feature song, dance and theatre to highlight post-conflict transition challenges and solutions identified during the project.
Members of Limo-can Tek victims’ group in Pupwonya parish, Atiak rehearse for the Bearing Witness post-participation event on 16 October 2014. The event will be held at Atiak sub-county headquarters and will feature song, dance and theatre to highlight post-conflict transition challenges and solutions identified during the project.

Join the community of Atiak on 16 October 2014 at Atiak sub-county head-quarters when it hosts an event to showcase post-conflict transition challenges and discuss recommendations for the reconstruction of conflict affected communities brought forward during the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s memory and truth-telling project, Bearing Witness.

Since the beginning of 2014, supported by USAID-SAFE, JRP has worked with the community in Atiak, Amuru District to pilot an informal storytelling and truth-telling process called Bearing Witness – Dealing with the past to create a better future. During the project, community members have shared their experiences and perceptions during and after conflict through informal story-telling circles and truth-telling dialogues. Bearing Witness marks the first time a community-based truth-telling process, which directly involves different sectors of the community, has been implemented in the region.

To conclude this process, this event will bring together six of the victims’ groups that participated in Bearing Witness, community members as well as key invited stakeholders to interact and share conflict experiences through the use of creative arts. The event will help advocate for victim’s demands for justice, allow for a mutual understanding of common challenges and provide the means to chart a way forward. It will also feature performances of songs, dance, poetry and theatre performances prepared by the participants in the project that depict their conflict memories.

See the programme below:

11:00 am

Participant’s arrival

11:00 – 12:00pm

Spiritual worship – Rt. Rev. Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola II

Welcome remarks – Area LCI

Presentation (song) by Atiak Massacre Survivors Association (AMSA)

Welcome remarks – Chairman LCIII

Opening remarks – Program coordinator JRP

Remarks by Board Chairman – JRP

Opening remarks by USAID SAFE team

12:00 – 1:00 pm

Presentation by Limo-can Tek (song) entitled ‘Kony dwog Lutino gang”

Presentation by Waroco Paco (Ajere dance)

Remarks by sub-county Chief – Atiak sub county

1:00 – 2:00 pm

Presentation by Lagada Yil (song) entitled “Ting ter”

Remarks by Area Councillor V

Presentation by Lacan Penino (song)

Presentation of an account of “Bearing witness” project – Community Mobilisation Team Leader, JRP

Presentation of emerged justice and reconciliation needs and recommendations – Chairman Truth Telling and Reconciliation Committee, Rt. Rev. Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola II

2: 00 – 3:00pm

Presentation by Rubanga tek (drama) entitled “Alany pa mony”

Presentation by Atiak Massacre Survivors Association (AMSA) (Poem) entitled “Lweny labalpiny”

Open discussion – how to deal with legacy of conflict in northern Uganda, how to achieve reconciliation and national unity

“What is our role in post conflict reconstruction” – Moses Odokonyero, Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC)

Presentation by Waroco paco (song)

3: 00 – 4:00 pm

Presentation by Limo-can tek (Drama) entitled “Pyem miny neko paco”

Presentation by Lacan pe nino (Funeral dance)

Remarks by USAID Mission

Remarks by Area MPs

4:00 – 4:30pm

Closing remarks by Guest of honour

Presentation of Otole dance by Lagada yil

MC- Obalo James –Radio Mega

For more information contact Isaac Okwir Odiya: Team Leader Community Mobilisation on Tel: +256 (0) 471433008 /+256 (0) 782509839 or E-mail: iokwir@justiceandreconciliation.com.

 

JRP documents the conflict experiences of Joseph Kony’s birthplace – Odek

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Watch out for JRP’s upcoming report on the experiences of the community of Odek, the birthplace of LRA leader Joseph Kony. ‘The Forgotten Victims’ chronicles the collective memories of violence, massacres, torture, abduction and displacement as told by community members, many of whom feel that their story has been mis-told by outsiders and obscured by the shadow of Kony.

By telling their story in this report, the community is eager to change its image which has been consistently marred as being the home of perpetrators of conflict. They also hope to actively involve themselves in transitional justice processes which they feel they have been previously side-lined from.

The Forgotten Victims, JRP’s 21st Field Note will be out November 2014.

Read more JRP documentation here.

Bearing Witness – dealing with the past to create a better future

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A dialogue is conducted in Atiak sub-county as part of the Bearing Witness project.
A dialogue is conducted in Atiak sub-county as part of the Bearing Witness project.

This year is a significant one for victims and survivors of the LRA/NRA conflict in northern Uganda. It marks the first time a community-based truth-telling process, which directly involves different sectors of the community, has been implemented in the region. Through Bearing Witness: Dealing With The Past To Create A Better Future, the Justice and Reconciliation Project, with support from USAID SAFE, works with communities in Atiak sub-county in Amuru District to foster social cohesion and reconciliation through a project that involves storytelling and truth-telling dialogues.

Atiak was chosen to be the subject of this ground-breaking truth-telling pilot because of the remnants of an infamous LRA massacre in 1995 and the two-decade long conflict in the region that the sub-county faces (Read JRP’s Field Note on the Atiak Massacre here). While active conflict has ceased, the wounds of the massacre and the experiences are far from healed. Since the end of the war, the community has been characterised by ongoing trauma, the stigmatisation of formerly abducted children, identity challenges for children born in captivity, and the issues arising from the reintegration of former combatants. Like most other conflict-affected communities, Atiak also seeks reparations as well as answers about the fate of those that went missing during the war. The question is how national transitional justice processes can be translated into community-centred approaches that are both relevant to the victims and survivors of the conflict and which address the challenges that they face.

Through Bearing Witness, we aim to promote the preservation of conflict memories, healing and reconciliation by creating forums through which communities can share and document their experiences through story-telling and facilitating informal truth-telling processes and dialogues. Because of these sessions, key issues which require interventions to ensure reconciliation and peace in both the community and region have been identified. Victims of conflict and alleged perpetrators have also been able to speak out about their experiences side-by-side.

At the end of this year, a ten member locally elected Truth-Telling and Reconciliation Committee will provide recommendations to local peace structures, local leaders and the community to respond the issues that emerged during the truth-telling dialogues. A joint community theatre carnival event will also be held in Atiak on the 16th of October 2014. This will involve drama, music, dance, poem performances by the participants in the storytelling circles to kick-start the process of addressing injustices and rebuilding relationships between victims and perpetrators, as well as inspire the audience with visions for the future.

Stay tuned to the JRP blog for more updates from Bearing Witness.

Thank you for bringing our son back to the soil from where he was abducted from

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“Thank you for bringing our son back to the soil where he was abducted from.” - Richard's uncle
“Thank you for bringing our son back to the soil where he was abducted from.” – Richard’s uncle

There was an air of excitement in Pagoro Kal village on Wednesday. On this sunny afternoon in Lamogi sub-county, Amuru District, community members were rushing to put final touches to welcome one of their sons home. Richard was abducted by the LRA in September 1996 when he was about 10 years old his uncle, Mr Latim, told us. Since then, his had parents died and his remaining relatives had heard no news about him.

It was a big surprise, then, when his uncle received a phone call telling him that his nephew had returned from captivity in the Central African Republic. After meeting his uncle at at the Army Barracks in Gulu, it was decided that an Acholi traditional ceremony known as nyono tong gweno (‘stepping on the egg’) would be performed at Richard’s ancestral home to cleanse him of any evil spirits that he may have encountered during his time away from home.

On the day of the ceremony, the atmosphere was one of a celebration. About 200 people were in attendance, including Richard’s relatives, community members, as well as representatives of the Ugandan army and a few NGOs. People danced to music blaring from a speaker system and a popular local musician, Tam Noffy, performed songs about the value of human rights, forgiveness and the beginning a new life.

Richard’s arrival, though, was an event in of itself. Around 2pm, the excitement reached tipping point when a convoy of vehicles was spotted heading towards the home of his family. There was a flurry of ululation and cries of “latin wa!” (“our child”) as everyone rushed to see Richard. As people gathered around the vehicle, community elders placed a symbolic stick and egg at the entrance to the home, and when Richard exited the vehicle he was given guidance on what procedure he should follow in order to comply with Acholi tradition. After this he was lifted onto the shoulders of the eager crowd and taken to the front of a tent where his hand was shaken by people excited to meet him. Watching Richard’s heroic welcome home was an incredible experience for the three members of the JRP team that attended, as this was the first time to witness this particular ceremony for them.

JRP has done numerous studies examining such rituals and the impact they have. In Roco Wat I Acoli, the adaptation of traditional cleansing rituals for returnees were examined. In Denis’s story, we documented the experience of a young man who went through a ceremony to appease the spirits of the 27 people he killed while in captivity. Also, in Gender and Generation in Acholi Traditional Justice Mechanisms, we documented attitudes of women and youth towards traditional ceremonies. Each of these studies suggest the therapeutic value of them and the marked improvements in the behaviour and attitudes of the people that participate in them. But while the ceremonies have value, these reports also found that their success is not always straightforward. For instance, where participants understand the significance of the ceremonies, a positive change was generally seen, but where they didn’t there was significantly less likelihood of positive change. So while Richard’s community was very welcoming at this initial stage in his return, the complexity of reintegration of the formerly-abducted, former combatants and others like him remains an integral issue.

Namokora survivors’ group commemorates massacre, plan way forward

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Namokora Massacre Memorial 2014-08-19 (37)
Retired Anglican Bishop of Kitgum Archdioces Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola leads the Namokora massacre memorial prayers in Namokora sub-county, Kitgum District, 19 August 2014.

Last week, JRP’s Documentation team met with the Namokora LCIII and chairperson of the Namokora United Relatives of the Massacred and Survivors Association, Charles Onen, to discuss the second annual memorial for the 1986 Namokora massacre. This year was only the second time since 1986 that the massacre has been commemorated but Mr. Onen was enthusiastic as he told us about the progress the community is making in advocating for reparations and acknowledgment for the victims and their families.

As part of the commemorative initiatives, the Namokora suvivors association arranged a two day vigil on the 17th and 18th of August to pay respect to the 71 people that died during the operation led by the National Resistance Army’s 35th Battalion in Namokora sub-county, Kitgum District. On the 19th, a memorial event was held at the Namokora massacre memorial site where JRP’s Field Note ‘Occupation and Carnage: Recounting Atrocities Committed by the NRA’s 35th Battalion in Namokora Sub-County in August 1986’ was officially launched to the community. Retired Anglican Bishop of Kitgum Archdioces Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola, Kitgum District officials, other councilors, civil society, as well as Namokora massacre survivors from other sub-counties incl Orom, Kitgum Matidi and Lagoro were all in attendance.

During the memorial, representatives of orphans, elders and widows of the massacre were all given an opportunity to speak. In their speeches, many expressed their frustration in the lack of response from the their local leaders. One representative specifically said that because the victims and survivors felt that their leaders would not forward their concerns to the government, they would themselves trek to Kampala themselves to seek redress. Many saw the launch of the JRP report Occupation and Carnage as an important tool to redress their challenges.

Representatives of relatives of victims and survivors of the massacre also held a press conference at the Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC) in Gulu on Thursday 22 August 2014 to brief the media on the Namokora massacre, discuss a position paper developed by the survivors group, and detail the action the group intends to take.

 Read JRP’s Field Note Occupation and Carnage here: http://justiceandreconciliation.com/2014/04/occupation-and-carnage-recounting-atrocities-committed-by-the-nras-35th-battalion-in-namokora-sub-county-in-august-1986-fn-xix-march-2014/

TJ Monitor: Opportunities for victims of conflict with new African Court

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The African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) is a merger of The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and The Court of Justice of The African Union as stated in Article 2 of the protocol on the statute of the African court of Justice and Human Rights.

The formation of this court in 2008 was a commitment of Member States of the African Union to promote peace, security and stability on the Continent and to protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant instruments relating to human rights. Although, the Court is yet to become functional (it needs 15 ratifications to come into force, but has only received five so far from Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Congo), there has been discussion about expanding its jurisdiction to cover serious international crimes in the way that the ICC and other international tribunals do.

So what does this mean for victims of conflict on the African continent?

The proposal of an indigenous human rights court comes on the heels of calls for localised solutions to “African problems”, as an alternative to international tribunals like the ICC. It was also hoped that this court will administer justice on the African continent especially given the history of mass violence and crimes  that have been committed there.

What are the opportunities for TJ?

This new court is also an opportunity to address the criticisms that have been leveled over the years towards its predecessors, the ICC as well as other international tribunals, for and on behalf of victims and survivors of conflict.

These criticisms include a lack of consultation on the views of victims, a lack of accessibility for victims, challenges to do with witness protection, and a lack of effectiveness of the court. In this respect, an African court could, for example, make it easier for victims on the continent to access and participate in court proceedings. It could also allow for linkages with other national transitional justice mechanisms such as truth commissions and reparations. Localised outreach to communities affected by conflict could also address claims that international tribunals and courts, who are often not exposed to what happens in criminal proceedings trying matters related to them.

Foreseeable challenges include a possible lack of independence of the court (the AU has already been criticised for reportedly voting for a provision to grant immunity to African heads of state by the Court) and questions about political will amongst the leadership in Africa to ensure that this court will succeed.

Ultimately, if the new African court is to support the needs and interests of victims of conflict, it needs to fill the gaps left by existing national and international courts and tribunals.

It Was Only The Gun Speaking launched in Arua

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Survivors of the Ombaci massacre of 1981, 24 June 2014
Survivors of the Ombaci massacre of 1981, 24 June 2014

 

On 24 June 2014, JRP attended the second annual memorial of the Ombaci Massacre of 1981 at the Ombaci Catholic Mission, Arua in the West Nile sub-region of northern Uganda. The event, organised by members of the Ombaci War Victim’s Association, consisted of a memorial prayer led by the Bishop of Arua diocese, the Rt. Rev. Sabino Odoki, and a follow-up event, which included presentations by survivors of the massacre. In his speech, Bishop Odoki called upon the people to speak out against oppression, crimes and human rights violations. He also called for reconciliation among the peoples of West Nile, and with those outside of the sub-region. He also identified the trauma that still exists for victims of massacres like those in Ombaci as needing to be addressed.

The event was also attended by Bernard Atiku, the Member of Parliament for Ayivu county in Arua, who pledged to work with the survivors group to improve the massacre memorial site, as well as the Arua Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Peter Debele, among others.

The event concluded with the launch of JRP’s 20th Field Note It Was Only the Gun Speaking, With a Pool of Blood Flowing: the Ombaci Massacre  June 24, 1981.

 

 

Why the government must expedite reparations for victims and survivors of the northern Uganda conflict

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On 17th June 2014, I was confronted with news of the untimely death of a man called Buti, a victim and survivor of a Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) ambush. Earlier in 2013 I had received news of the death of a woman called Celina, from the village of Obalanga in Amuria district. Celina was a survivor of a helicopter gunship bombing perpetrated by the UPDF in 2003. I came to know both in the course of my work as a researcher in northern Uganda.

Buti was the victim of an LRA ambush on 13th May 1994, along the Karuma-Pakwach highway. He was on his way back to Koboko from Kampala. In an attempt to jump out of the bus and escape, Buti broke his spinal cord. He spent four years in hospital, he was crippled for life, he lost his job, and his wife and mother to two of their children deserted him. Once productive and respected, Buti was reduced to a beggar.

Celina was the victim of a helicopter bombing incident by the UPDF on 9th July 2003. The LRA incursion had just spread into Teso sub-region and all civilians in Obalanga had fled into IDP camps. Celina was part of a group of people who had remained behind to nurse a sick brother, Ejabu Michael, when a UPDF helicopter gunship flying overhead mistook them for LRA rebels, and opened fire.  The civilians scampered for safety as bombs exploded to their left and right. The hut in which Michael lay ill was set ablaze by one of the mortar shells, and he died instantly. By the time the gunship left, nine people were dead. Selina lost five relatives in the incident including both her mother and father in law, her brother (Ejabu Michael) and her two nephews (Okello Silver and Edyegu Daniel).

Both Buti and Celina’s lives were shattered by their experiences, and they were hoping for compensation and reparations from the Government.

On behalf of other victims in West Nile, Buti had formed an association called the West Nile Kony Rebel War Victims’ Association (WNKRWVA) and had begun lobbying for help from the Government. He succumbed to kidney failure as a result of his 2003 accident before his efforts could bear fruit.

Celina lived a quieter life in Amuria but unfortunately became embroiled in a land dispute, and one morning she was found hanging by the neck in a suspected case of suicide. It is difficult to tell if she took her own life, or if her death was framed to appear so.

The UN basic principles and guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparations calls upon states to make available adequate, effective, prompt and appropriate remedies including reparations for victims of gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law.

The Government of Uganda, through the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) is currently in the process of drafting a national transitional justice policy, which is supposed to provide a framework for the implementation of reparations. On 26th January 2014, President Yoweri Museveni acknowledged that war crimes and human rights violations had been committed in northern Uganda, and that victims were entitled to reparations.

The only question that remains is when the Government’s efforts will bear fruit. In meantime we can only pray that victims live long enough to receive reparations for their suffering.

We were those girls

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WAN Bring Back Our Sisters

 

We were those girls.

We are the Women’s Advocacy Network, a group of war affected women from northern Uganda that underwent a similar experience to our young sisters in Nigeria. We condemn in the strongest terms possible the heinous crime of abduction committed by the Boko Haram in Chibok north eastern Nigeria. We call for the immediate release of the school girls and ask the Nigerian Government and the international community not to spare any effort in trying to rescue the girls.

We recall that during our time when we were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army, we ended up staying in misery with our captors for periods ranging from 5 to 12 years. We do not want what happened to us to happen to them or any other girl. We hope, pray and advocate that such should not be the case with our young sisters from Nigeria. We especially know what they are going through.

We also want to reiterate that women and girls should stop been targeted and used as weapons of war.

TJ Monitor: Nigerian abductions reinforce the value of collective advocacy

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Women march in Abuja following the abduction of over 200 school girls by Boko Haram rebels. Picture courtesy of AFP.

Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Lina Zedriga Waru for the next issue of Voices. Lina is a passionate advocate for the greater involvement of women in building and sustaining peace. We talked at length about how during the 2006-2007 Juba peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA she and others rallied to have the then neglected voices of women heard during the negotiations. Eventually hundreds of women of different ethnicity and backgrounds, from different parts of Uganda and other countries were mobilised to travel to Juba and join the talks.

“It was so powerful that when we reached Gulu, the President himself, who had refused to see us, decided to fly to Gulu to meet us,” she said, “The fact that we came from beyond [Acholi] demanding that this war must end and demanding that peace must be given a chance was very powerful.”

The women’s “march to Juba” was an incredible success and eventually culminated with the handing over of a symbolic “peace torch” from the contingent of women to Riek Machar, who was then the mediator of the peace talks. Most significantly, elements of the calls their group made in the “Women’s Protocol for Peace” that they delivered in Juba were included in the final written agreement.

While discussing the value of collective advocacy by women, we also discussed the recent abduction of over 200 Nigerian school girls in the north of the country by Boko Haram rebels as well as the efforts by groups of women, including the mothers of the missing, to draw attention to it. Sympathy has poured out from all around the world and many have observed that it harkens back to the dark times during the LRA conflict when students were abducted from their schools in northern Uganda. The abductions from in St. Mary’s College, Aboke in 1996, Sacred Heart Secondary School in 1993, and Lacor Seminary in 2003, and Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School in 1996, like the Nigerian situation, raised the profile of the conflict and drew scrutiny to the role of governments and other humanitarian actors.

The Nigerian government has been criticised for its lack of action in retrieving the girls, as well as the mixed messages it has given about their being rescued.  Lina Zedriga Waru observed that situations like this reflect the importance of utilising collective advocacy to draw the public’s attention to issues and to get governments and other actors to act. A series of activities that can sustainably and continuously draw attention to what is going on is vital, she says. A crucial element, though, is that advocates should make sure that they provide alternative solutions to the problems they are advocating to address, and to ensure that they work to recruit allies with a common vision. Most importantly they should relate the issue to the public as much as possible. Women advocates, she says, act as a support to the government by representing the concerns of communities.

The next issue of Voices (on gender justice and sexual and gender-based violence) will be out at the end of May.