The champions of the 2012 Transitional Justice Quiz - Pope John Paul VI Secondary School
Pope Paul IV Secondary School, which is found in Nwoya District, emerged as the winners of this years’ Transitional Justice (TJ) School Quiz Competition. It was a time of joy and sadness for the winners and those who had not won. The best female student (Sharon Lakaraber from Awere Secondary School in Gulu District) and the best male student (Simon Okot from Pajule Secondary School in Pader District) were each recognized with a cash price of 50.000/= while the winning school walked away with a cash prize of 500.000/= and the first runner up was Kitgum High School with a cash price of 400.000/= and a trophy handed over by the Chairman of the Justice and Reconciliation Board of Directors Mr. Michael Otim, the Gulu District Speaker and the LCIII Chairman.
The TJ Quiz Competition final was guided by the theme “Everybody Counts: Voices of Young People in Transitional Justice” and it took place in Gulu district at Sir Samuel Baker school on the 20thof September 2012. The Regional Competition had begun with an elimination round with the highest scoring team from all of the District Competitions being exempted from competing in the elimination round and being allowed to automatically proceed to the finals. The remaining four teams selected a number between 1 and 4 from a lottery and faced off in two short competitions consisting of one wild card and one lightning round. The team which emerged with the lowest score of the four was eliminated from the competition. In general the Quiz was stiff and very competitive which made it hard to tell who the winners would be.
The runners-up, Kitgum High School, hoist their trophy.
In the spirit of competition, the runners-up, Kitgum High School, sent the following warning to their rivals: ”Next year we are taking the trophy that belongs to the winner and giving ours to Pope Paul IV and we will retain it for as long as the transitional justice school quiz is still a programme.”
Aware of the challenges that the war affected communities face in the post conflict arena and of the ongoing national debates on transitional justice, the Justice and Reconciliation Project is currently embarking on a brain teaser quiz competition for secondary schools in Acholi sub-region under the theme: “Everybody counts, voices of the youth in Transitional Justice.”
As a Video Communications Intern, I travelled with the Community Mobilization team that organized this competition to film series of exciting events which took place in Pader, Kitgum, Nwoya, Amuru and Gulu districts respectively where four schools from each district battled it out in a bid to win the district competition and qualify for the grand finale in Gulu town at Hotel Free zone. Two teams faced each other in the first rounds before the winners with the highest scores would go in for the play-offs and consequently determine the district winner.
It was very entertaining seeing young people scratch their heads and struggle to answer ten questions within sixty seconds in the lightening round as they would later produce amazing facts on Reparations, Juba Peace agreement, Gender Justice, Criminal prosecution, Traditional justice and media knowledge. They surely did enjoy the spirit of team work as they would supplement each other.
The audience too matched the task of the contestants as they were later fired questions and some experts asked to elaborate on traditional ceremonies such as the ‘Mato Oput’, ‘Gomo tong’, ‘Moyo piny’ and ‘Moyo kum’.
It was a rare form of competition that the contestants confessed it was their first time to participate in such a competition. One of the guests admitted the fact that he used to watch such kind of contests only on televisions and never thought it would come to Acholi that easy. The audiences and the contestants were all pleased with JRP for this initiative.
Judges Dixon, Rosalva and Victoria were kept busy throughout the district competition and I bet they shall be up for the same come 20th September, 2012 at Sir Samuel Baker School, so why don’t you join us and be part of it on this day. Don’t miss out because it is fun, entertaining and educating. Your voice definitely counts.
The 21st of September is the United Nations recognised International Day of Peace. The day, established in 1981, is the shared date devoted to strengthening and creating ideals and acts of peace all around the world. The UN General Assembly resolved in 2001 (Resolution UN/A/RES/55/282) to declare the day a Day of Ceasefire, being “an invitation to all nations and people to honor a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the day”. The “temporary” ceasefire is meant to encourage individuals and nations to work to sustainable peace on a more permanent level and to give hope to victims of conflict for the possibility of peace.
The day can be celebrated in practically any way – from lighting a candle to sitting in silent meditation. In Uganda, Archbishop of Gulu Ecclesiastical Province of Northern Uganda John Baptist Odama will be awarded with the World Vision International Peace Prize for his contribution to promoting peace processes. The Archbishop Odama, who was nominated by JRP’s Community Documentation Team Leader, is best known for meeting with the LRA in 2002 in an attempt to convince the rebels to lay down their arms. Even today, the Bishop continues maintain efforts to bring peace in both Uganda and the region as a whole, including appealing to the Government to resort to dialogue as the only way of ending the insurgence. Recently, along with a team of other Northern Ugandan leaders traveled to the Central African Republic to negotiate and ascertain the condition of people held captive by the LRA.
The Award and the Day will be celebrated in Gulu at the Kaunda Grounds on the 19th of September. Read more about the Archbishop’s efforts to achieve peace in the region here.
The Justice and Reconciliation Project will also be celebrating Peace Day through a unique, youth centred initiative known as the 2012 Transitional Justice (TJ) Quiz. The TJ Quiz is an educational programme designed to connect youth from different parts of Northern Uganda to build a critical mass around transitional justice. Schools from Pader, Kitgum, Nwoya, Amuru and Gulu Districts are compete by answering rapid fire quiz questions on transitional justice issues, peace processes, international to scoop the regional prize on the eve of International Peace Day in Gulu. . The theme of the competition this year is “Everybody counts; Voices of Young People in Transitional Justice” and it is hoped that it will further increase awareness among the young people Uganda on the conflict as well as ongoing transitional justice debates within the country.
Archbishop John Baptist Odama greeting an LRA soldier in Garamba forest during the Juba Peace Talks.
Archbishop John Baptist Odama is the metropolitan Archbishop of Gulu Archdiocese in northern Uganda, a region which is emerging from over two decades of conflict waged between the Government of Uganda and the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The civil war, which started in 1986, has had disastrous impacts upon the population. Among other impacts of the conflict, between 28,000 and 38,000 children were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to serve as child soldiers, sex slaves and porters, and over 1.8 million people were displaced and forced to live in squalid conditions of the IDP camps. It is amidst this setting that Archbishop Odam has worked for several years to restore peace in northern Uganda. When he was first posted to northern Uganda in the early 1990s, he readily accepted to go and work in the region despite the threat of insecurity paused by the LRA. The suffering of the people in northern Uganda, and in particular the children immediately influenced his determination to work for the return of peace in the region. He has been an outspoken advocate for peaceful means, having witnessed first-hand the impacts of war against civilians. He is known to have continuously remarked that “As long as there is an opportunity for peace talks, I shall pursue it”. He is soft-spoken and a good listener. When addressing people he is fond of referring to them as ‘gentle people’ instead of the traditional ‘ladies and gentlemen’. He also has a high sense of humor and patience with each and everyone who approaches him.
From the moment of his ordination as Archbishop on 10th April 1999, Archbishop Odama dedicated his efforts to advocating and working for the return of peace in northern Uganda to create a safe environment for children and other civilians. During the inaugural speech at his ordination ceremony as Archbishop of Gulu, he called one of the children to him, lifted up the child, and asked the child if he wanted to grow into an adult amidst settings of violence and insecurity. The child shook his head. The Archbishop then declared that his main priority would be to advocate for the restoration of peace in northern Uganda for the sake of the children.
On many occasions, he has knelt down in public before children who were rescued from the LRA, and asked them to forgive him for not protecting them with the words,
He fondly refers to children as ‘ngini-ngini’, the Acholi word for small black harmless insects that are very hard working and often co-exist in large numbers. He has demonstrated his love and concern for the welfare of children in various ways. For example on several occasions when he was leading mass and the church was packed to capacity he would call the children to sit around him on the altar. At the height of the conflict, the LRA used to abduct children they came across and carry them off to serve in their army as soldiers and rebel wives. To avoid abduction, many children in northern Uganda used to seek refuge at night in town centres such as Gulu town, where they would sleep on verandas of shops and any other public spaces. It was during this period that Archbishop Odama showed solidarity with the night commuting children, an incident which many people in northern Uganda still recall. On one of the evenings Archbishop Odama, together with other religious leaders, left the comfort of his residence in Gulu Cathedral and walked with these children for almost four kilometers to Gulu town, where he spent a cold night with them on the veranda of a shop. He opted not to carry a blanket with him, but instead wrapped his legs in a nylon sack just like most of the children would do in order to keep warm for the night.
He is a strong advocate of peaceful and non-violent methods including amnesty and dialogue. In 2002 he was instrumental in organizing a series of meetings between the government and LRA. For his first meeting with the rebels, on 14th July 2002, at a great risk to his own life, he went to meet a group of LRA rebels at a place called Otici in Kilak Hills in northern Uganda. This location was deep in the bush, and to find it they had to cut through thick bushes until they reached the rendezvous. From then on, he attended a series of meetings with the rebels and presented their demands to the government until his initiative collapsed as a result of resumption of hostilities between the government and the LRA. During the Juba Peace talks, Archbishop Odama played a key role. He was among the people who were used to build confidence among the LRA. He was always willing to leave his residence in Gulu at short notice and head off to Juba or Garamba forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo to attend the peace negotiations. The input of religious and cultural leaders during the Juba Peace Talks did a lot in influencing the talks beyond the signing of the final peace agreement. Religious leaders were a constant pillar of strength, encouragement and confidence. There were occasions when the LRA leaders insisted that religious leaders be present as a condition for meeting with the government peace delegation. On several occasions when the peace talks were showing signs of breaking down the religious leaders would intervene to encourage the delegates to go back to the negotiating table. Although the final peace agreement was not signed in 2008, the six agenda items, particularly agenda item number three on accountability and reconciliation have been critical in paving the way for the implementation of post-conflict reconstruction programs.
One of the most remarkable impacts arising from the work of Archbishop Odama was the passing of the Amnesty Act of 2000. Through the Acholi Religious Leader’s Peace Initiative (ARLPI) he advocated for the passing of a blanket amnesty in order to promote forgiveness of ex-combatants and to encourage many of them to abandon rebellion. Through advocacy from Archbishop Odama and other religious leaders, coupled with pressure from prominent Acholi leaders in northern Uganda, the Amnesty Act of 2000 was passed, and has been influential in facilitating the return of over 10,000 ex-combatants. Archbishop Odama advocated for a blanket Amnesty, as opposed to conditional amnesty that would exclude some members of the LRA leadership from receiving pardon.
In addition, he has also been instrumental in setting up organizations and associations that have contributed tremendously in working for peace in northern Uganda. One of the most famous organizations that the Archbishop contributed to setting up is the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI). ARLPI is an interfaith peace building and conflict transformation organization formed in 1997 as a proactive response to the conflict in Northern Uganda. ARLPI brings together leaders of six different religious sects/denominations (Anglican, Catholic, Muslim, Orthodox, Pentecostal, & Seventh Day Adventist) and their respective constituencies to participate effectively in transforming conflicts in Northern Uganda and the surrounding region. With northern Uganda currently experiencing relative peace, ALRLP continues to work for the reconstruction and recovery of northern Uganda in various areas including interfaith relations, research & documentation women empowerment, peace building & reconciliation and advocacy & lobbying. In 2004, ARLPI became the first African institution to receive the Niwano Peace Award for her contributions towards promoting unity and her commitment to finding peaceful ways to end the northern Uganda conflict. Upon receiving the prize, ARLPI used this award to create an ‘Interfaith Centre for Peace’ in Gulu.
Source: Interview with Archbishop Odama in 2010. Compiled and written by Lino Owor Ogora (0772835076, ogoralino@gmail.com), nominator of Archbishop John Baptist Odama for the 2012 World Vision International Peace Prize. Photographs: courtesy of Rev. Fr. Thaeddaeus Opio and Mr. Michael Otim.
Recently, members of JRP’s Community Documentation and Mobilization Departments attended the 10th anniversary of the “Mucwini Massacre” which was celebrated in Mucwini, Kitgum District.
The sinister events that took place in and around Mucwini date back to the ill-fated evening of the 23th of July, 2002. As the local inhabitants were settling down for their evening meals, they remained unaware of the imminent danger that lurked at a close distance. The gruesome events that were to unfold on that sad July evening would only conclude after the massacre of 56 innocent men, women, and children, and with a whole community wrapped in chaos and despair.
On that evening the inhabitants Muchwini, as well as surrounding parishes were attacked by a heavily armed group of LRA rebels. It is widely believed that this was a reprisal-attack undertaken by the LRA as a response to the escape of a man called Omara, a member of the community that had been abducted by the rebels a couple of days before. Apparently Omara had been able to quickly flee from captivity a couple of days before the attack, deeply angering his captors in the process. Rumors say that the news of his escape quickly made their way to the Sudan, where the LRA’s top leader Joseph Kony is believed to have ordered the local unit commander to attack the village of Mucwini and to “slaughter everything that breaths”.
Several interviewed people have alleged that during Omara’s abduction, he was forced to confess the name of his direct relatives, as well as the description of his place of residence in the village. It seems that Omara, a member of the Pubec clan, was so embittered by a long standing land dispute between his clan and the Pajong clan that when interrogated by the rebels he provided them with the name and place of residence of an influential elder and leader of the Pajong clan which he claimed was his father. After the massacre, accounts of Omara’s role in the attack quickly came to light, and since according to Acholi culture, one person’s crime extends to his or her entire clan, the blame quickly fell on the Pubec clan to take responsibility for the apparent misdeed of one of its members.
The event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the massacre was led by Bishop Macleord Ochola, an important local religious leader who has been working with this community for several years, and who is one of the main actors of a long mediation process that has allowed for the Pubec and Pajong clans to meet face to face and discuss reparations after years of animosity and hostility between one another.
Significant progress has been made ever since that dreadful July day and the community has overcome many of the challenges that it has faced in the past. Nevertheless, unresolved issues still remain, most notably with regards the payment of reparations and a more comprehensive settling of the land disputed. This commemoration ceremony thus presented the community of Mucwini with a good opportunity to not only honor its dead, but also to openly voice and discuss those issues that remain a constant cause of tension until this day.
As part of our “Right to Know” campaign and in commemoration of the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30th 2012, the Justice and Reconciliation Project will be embarking on a week of activities in West Nile, Teso, Lango and Acholi sub-regions. We will be releasing an official press statement on the Right to Know Campaign on which will be available here.
Remember! We are constantly blogging about our activities during the campaign – read them here.
The Week Against Disappearances – Activities
On Friday, 24th August 2012 we will be in Packwach, Nebbi District in West Nile sub-region for the screening of a short film entitled ‘The Right to Truth and Justice: Persons Missing in Northern Uganda as a Result of Conflict” and a dialogue about the issue of missing persons between 1:00 and 4:00 pm.
Between 7:00 and 8:00 pm we will be on Arua One FM to discuss the situations in their regions regarding persons missing or un accounted for as a result of conflict along with a victim’s Representative and a representative from the Uganda Red Cross.
On Monday, 27th August we will be at the Obalanga Sub-County Headquarters in Amuria District, Teso sub-region to screen the film and conduct a dialogue between 2:00 and 4:00 pm, followed by a discussion on Etop Radio with a victims representative and a member of the Obalanga Human Rights and Health Association.
Abok, Oyam District in Lango sub-region will be the venue on Tuesday 28th August for the film screening and a dialogue between 2:00 and 4:00 pm. We will also be on Voice of Lango with a victim representative and a member of the Lira NGO Forum between 8:00 and 9:00 pm.
The Week Against Disappearances will culminate on the International Day of the Disappeared on Thursday the 30th of August 2012 in Gulu. Along with Children/Youth as Peacebuilders, we will hold a ‘Dialogue on Disappearances’ as well as a candle lighting and prayer to pay respect and show solidarity of families affected by the issue. The event will take place at Hotel Free Zone from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and will include an address by the Guest of Honour Rwot David Acana II, Bishop Ochola, Sheik Musa K, the Team Leader of UN Human Rights and Hon. Ojara Martin Mapenduzi, the Chairman of the Gulu District Local Government.
On Thursday, we will be on Radio Rupiny between 6 and 7 pm to discuss the campaign.
To confirm your attendance and or to request more information, please contact Sylvia Opinia the Team Leader for Community Mobilisation on +256 772332353 or email: sopinia@justiceandrecociliation.com.
Look out for JRP’s upcoming Community Documentation reports on the following topics;
• “When a Gunman Speaks, You Listen”. This is a documentation of victims’ conflict experiences in Palabek Sub-County in the late 1980s and early 1990. In this report victims recount their suffering at the hands of NRA soldiers and the LRA rebels. Victims are particularly haunted by the name of a one “Captain Abiriga” who led the NRA’s 32nd Battalion which was based in Palabek, and subsequently committed numerous violations against the civilian populace. This field note is due by the end of August 2012.
• The Northern Uganda Transitional Justice Monitor; This is a survey of the transitional justice situation in northern Uganda, and how war affected communities are pursuing recovery and reconciliation. The survey monitors various aspects of recovery such as resettlement of formerly abducted persons, reconciliation, access to justice, livelihoods, security, and memorialization. The report is due by the end of August 2012.
• Victim or Villain? This special report focuses on individuals who bear dual victim-perpetrator identities, and the complexities involved in handling them. It uses the case study of Thomas Kwoyelo, a senior commander of the LRA who trial commenced before the International Crimes Division (ICD) in 2011. It discusses controversial questions of Amnesty, Reparations, and Impartiality. The report has no specific release date as a result of the pending trial of Thomas Kwoyelo but is likely to be released by the end of the year.
JRP’s Community Mobilization and Communication Teams recently traveled to Arua in Uganda’s West Nile region to shoot footage for our Missing Person’s documentary. Although I am interning with the Gender Justice department, I am a trained filmmaker, so I joined them for the four hour—sometimes very bumpy—ride to Arua to shoot video footage.
Our first interviewee was a woman named Norah whose son, Neville, has been missing since September 19, 2002. He was traveling from Kampala to Arua to go shopping for his upcoming studies at Makerere University. The LRA attacked the Nile Coach Bus he was on and for nearly ten years, Norah has been searching for answers to find out the whereabouts of Neville. To this day, she still does not know if her son was killed as he was never identified as dead or abducted.
Although many victims are seeking compensation from the government for the loss of their family members—something that Norah should be entitled to, especially as she is a widow and Neville was the new breadwinner of the family—Norah told JRP that she only seeks answers about her son.
JRP also interviewed Emmanuel, one of Norah’s other sons. It was an emotional interview, with Emmanuel crying throughout most of the time he was on camera. Our hearts went out to him as he described how Neville was like a father figure and how he wishes he had gone missing instead. He continued to explain that he had a medical condition that made him ill, and that he cannot help the family financially. After the interview, Emmanuel was still crying, and we assured him that we would tell Neville’s story to the world.
We also talked to Scovia, one of Neville’s best friends. She said Neville was a kind person, and watched out for her when a group of teenage boys tried beating up some of the girls at her school. Neville warned them not to hurt Scovia and she fondly remembers how they never did. She recalls Neville’s sweet spirit and protective nature and continues waiting for the day when she can talk with him again.
A representative from Nile Coach Bus Company also graciously offered to speak to us, recalling the many times that the LRA attacked their busses. They had drivers killed, busses burnt, and friends injured during the attacks. The representative explained how he yearns for answers, too, and how the incidents greatly affected their business and personal lives.
As we journeyed back to Gulu, I couldn’t stop thinking about Neville, wondering where he is now. The pictures of him are still engrained in my mind—images of a tall, handsome young man, with intelligence and ambition ready to take on the world. People like Neville are the reason JRP continues the important work they are engaged in.
So we continue to seek justice, ask questions, and lift up the voices of those who need answers. We stand alongside Norah, Emmanuel, Scovia, and the Nile Bus Company, continuing to raise awareness about the situation, searching for answers. As we were leaving, Norah said, “I thank JRP because you are the one letting my voice be heard.” So we lift up her voice to the world, in honor of Neville and the many other people who are missing as a result of the conflict.
Recently, members of JRP’s Community Documentation and Mobilization departments attended the 10th anniversary of the “Mucwini Massacre” which was held in the village of Mucwini, Kitgum District.
The sinister events that took place in and around Mucwini date back to the ill-fated evening of the 23th of July, 2002, when a group of LRA rebels surprised the inhabitants that were settling down for their evening meals. What happened in that sad evening, and which unfolded until early hours of the morning, concluded with the massacre of 56 innocent men, women, and children and a whole community wrapped in chaos and despair.
It is widely believed that the attack was carried out as a reprisal-attack undertaken by the LRA as response of the escape of a man called Omara, a member of the same community that had been abducted a couple of days before. It seems that Omara was able to quickly flee from captivity. It appears that the news of the event quickly made their way to the LRA’s top leader Joseph Kony in the Sudan, who is believed to have ordered the local unit commander to attack the village of Mucwini and to “slaughter everything that breaths”.
It seems that before his escape, the abductee was forced to confess the name of his direct relatives, as well as the description of his place of residence in the village. Apparently Omara, a member of the Pubec clan, was so embittered by a long standing land dispute between his clan and the Pajong clan, that when interrogated by the rebels he provided them with the name of an influential elder and leader of the Pajong clan, which he claimed was his father, and described to them the man’s place of residence. After the massacre, accounts of Omara’s role in the attack quickly came to light and because according to Acholi culture, one person’s crime naturally extends to his or her entire clan, the blame quickly fell on the Pubec clan to take responsibility for the apparent behavior of one of its members.
The event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the massacre was led by Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola, an important local religious leader who has been working with this community for several years, and one of the main leaders of a long mediation process that has allowed for the Pubec and Pajong clans to meet face to face and discuss reparations after years of animosity and hostility towards one another.
Significant progress has been made ever since that dreadful July day and the community has overcome many of the challenges that it has faced in the past. Nevertheless, unresolved issues still remain, most notably with regards the payment of reparations and a more comprehensive settling of the land disputed. This commemoration ceremony thus presented the community of Mucwini with a good opportunity to not only honor its dead, but also to openly voice and discuss those issues that remain a cause of tension until this day.
JRP’s Lino Owor Ogora Provides Feedback on the ‘Silent Voices’ Play; A Play Featuring the Conflict in Northern Uganda.
On Tuesday 24th July 2012, I attended and watched the play ‘Silent Voices’ showing at the national theatre. The two-hour play, written by Judith Atim, features the plight of children and other civilians living in northern Uganda, including the challenges of attaining justice and reconciliation for formerly abducted persons. The play provides a vivid history of the conflict, including the highlight of historic atrocities committed by the NRA in the early days of the conflict, such as ‘tek-gungu’. It also highlights crimes such as child abduction, sexual slavery, and massacres perpetrated by the LRA. In addition, another factor highlighted is the dilemma presented by the pursuit of justice. In this regard, a child mother particularly struggles to win acceptance from the community who only choose to view her as the ‘killer’ she is, while ignoring the victimization and suffering she underwent.
After the play I participated in a panel discussion, alongside with Nathan from the Amnesty Commission. I generally highlighted the challenges of attaining justice in northern Uganda, and controversies surrounding amnesty. Nathan from the Amnesty Commission pointed out that there was need to make reparations to victims of conflict; he however noted that the major challenge was the overwhelming numbers of victims. The audience also gave the feedback, and one of the points raised was that the play did not provide solutions for reconciliation. The other point was the need to develop national programs other than focusing on northern Uganda.
Generally I thought the play was good and informative especially for people who had never been to northern Uganda and would encourage anyone to watch it.
