Category Archives: Media

“LRA Victims Want ICC to Share Report On Atrocities Read,” Uganda Radio Network, 26 May 2011

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“LRA Victims Want ICC to Share Report On Atrocities Read,” Uganda Radio Network, 26 May 2011
http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=33953&PHPSESSID=a9da224d4ed6ee8f3e95602f7925995d

By Dennis Olaka

LRA war victims want the report on the attacks to be made public.

Victims of the LRA rebels’ massacre in Lukodi village, Bungatira Sub County in Gulu district want government and the International Criminal Court to share findings of forensic investigations into the attack in the area by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.

This is contained in a report that was presented by Justice and Reconciliation project – JRP at a function held on Wednesday to remember the victims of the 2004 attack.

More than 60 people were massacred and dozens more injured and abducted from Lukodi when the LRA rebels attacked the area on May 19th 2004.

A team of officials from the ICC are said to have conducted investigations immediately after the massacre but the findings have never been shared. The victims say they don’t know who to hold accountable for the attack because of the absence of the report.

56-year-old Doreen Abalo, who lost her husband and many other relatives in the massacre says it is still a pain to wake up to the memories of the gruesome murder. She recalls that on that day, all family members were sleeping in a hut when they were woken up by the cries of people being butchered by the rebels at around 4:00am.

Abalo says a child rebel attacked the house ordering them out. Her husband was hit several times on the head with a panga and he died instantly.

She adds that three of her children were abducted and she has never seen them to date.

Another victim, Nelson Oloya Ibango-loch breaks down while narrating how he narrowly escaped as rebels fired several bullets at him.

Lukodi Massacre Report Launch, 25 May 2011

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On Wednesday, 25th May 2011, a week after the annual Lukodi massacre memorial day, JRP held a community launch at Lukodi Market,  Lukodi village, Bungatira sub-county, Gulu district, for its latest report, The Lukodi Massacre: 19th May 2004.

The report reconstructs a narrative of the Lukodi massacre and the major events that unfolded on May 19, 2004. It came about as a response to community leaders in Lukodi asking for the documentation of their conflict experiences for purpose of acknowledgement and preserving memory. The report contains key recommendations to the Government of Uganda and other stakeholders, in line with the people of Lukodi — calling for reparations, the sharing of findings of the official investigation carried out after the massacre, and support for community initiatives, including a truth-telling process in which the community, the Government and LRA take part.

To read the full report, click here.

“Mukura compensation report disputed,” New Vision, 22 May 2011

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“Mukura compensation report disputed,” New Vision, 22 May 2011

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/755418/mukura

By Pascal Kwesiga

FORMER Kumi district Woman MP Agnes Akiror has disputed a report by Justice and reconciliation project, a local non-governmental organisation, on the compensation of the 1989 mukura massacre victims.

Akiror described the report as false, saying it was aimed at maligning her name and President Yoweri Museveni who appointed her to deliver the compensation package.

“There should have been an element of truth telling since they are talking of justice and reconciliation. The report depicts the Government as insensitive to the victims,” she said.

The report, which was launched recently alleged that the second compensation last year was mishandled. It said out of the 47 survivors, six were compensated.

President Museveni gave Akiror sh200m as compensation to the victims during his visit to their families in 2010.

The move was part of efforts to heal the wounds left by the incident.

A total of 69 suspected rebels were suffocated to death in a train wagon by the government forces on July 11, 1989 a Mukura sub-county in Ngora district.

“The President has often apologised to us for the incident. When he gave me the money, he said it could not compensate the lost lives, but would help the victims,” Akiror said.

She produced a statement from Stanbic Bank, Kumi branch containing the list of 43 survivors, relatives and widows of the victims who received sh3m each. They received over sh127.5m.

Other documents show that 25 beneficiaries, who refused to be paid through the bank, appended their thumbprints and signatures after receiving the cash. A total of sh72.5m was spent on this category of beneficiaries.

Akiror said 15 people claimed compensation, saying they were traumatised after seeing the victims suffocating to death. They were given sh8.5m.

Five people, she added, received sh100,000 each after they claimed that they were tortured by soldiers during the incident.

Akiror also produced documents indicating that those who claimed to have been traumatised and tortured had been paid.

She attacked the authors of the report for questioning why the President came up with the initiative after several years.

JLOS/CSO Dialogue in Lira, 20 May 2011

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On Friday, May 20, 2011, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), and the Uganda Victims Foundation (UVF), organized a one-day dialogue between representatives of the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) and civil society from northern Uganda. The event was held in Lira Town and was attended by 42 representatives, including His Worship Tadeo Asiimwe—Registrar of the War Crimes Division—and Ms. Rachel Odoi-Musoke—of the JLOS Secretariat.

The dialogue provided an opportunity for the two JLOS representatives to share updates and developments on TJ in Uganda, and more specifically the work of the JLOS Transitional Justice Working Group and the War Crimes Division (WCD), soon to be renamed the International Crimes Division (ICD). It also provided space for the various civil society representatives to ask questions and share comments on the processes involved and how these could impact their communities.

This event coincided with national community consultations by JLOS to gain perspectives on truth-seeking, traditional justice and reparations, and followed a consultative meeting organized by ICTJ and JRP on April 21st in Gulu with civil society on an outreach strategy for the WCD (report available upon request).

“Mukura victims poorly compensated- report,” New Vision, 19 May 2011

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“Mukura victims poorly compensated- report,” New Vision, 19 May 2011

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/17/755202?highlight&q=In%20Memory%20of%20Mukura%20Victims

 

By Godfrey Ojore

A report by the justice and reconciliation project on the 1989 Mukura massacre has said compensation of relatives of the victims was poorly handled.

The report pinned former Kumi MP Jaff Akiror for excluding names of relatives who had missed out on the compensation package.

The report, compiled last year, said Akiror only paid six out of the 47 known survivors.

“This contradicts an article published in the media in January which said 88 families had been paid sh209m,” the report read in part.

The report was launched at Mukura Memorial Secondary School, which the Government built in memory of the victims.

“The President instructed the Attorney General to assess the damage and ensure full compensation to the victims and the families of the deceased. What then was Akiror’s role in the process,” the report questioned.

Lead researcher Lino Ongora said they were not happy with Akiror’s involvement because she did not conduct proper verification of the relatives of the deceased, resulting in many of them missing on the paying list.

However, Akiror rejected the report. “Did they show you bank statements indicating that I did not pay the relatives of the deceased? Didn’t they know that as an MP, I had a right to collect the money and distribute it?” she asked.

However, at the launch of the report, two old women, Tereza Amujal and Madelena Adongo who lost their sons, said they were not paid. “I was told the money was over. So I went back,” Adongo who lost her sons, John Olinga and Lawrence Oboi, said.

The Government has constructed a mass grave at the railway station where the incident occurred.
Kumi resident district commissioner Samuel Mpimbaza Hasaka received the report on behalf of the Government.

In 1989 during the insurgency in Teso region, soldiers rounded up people suspected to be rebels and herded them into a train wagon before setting fire beneath it.
About 69 people are said to have died due to suffocation.

He, however, pointed out that the report did not include the achievements done by the Government like erecting the monument, apology of the President to the people of Teso and constructing a secondary school.

“That was a stupid mistake by a few indisciplined army officers. It is regrettable and painful,” Hasaka said.

The report recommends government to bring to book the perpetrators of this horrendous act and finalise policy on reparation to provide clear guidelines for the victims of the past atrocities.

In 1989 during insurgency in Teso region, soldiers rounded up people suspected to be rebels and herded them into a train wagon before setting fire beneath it.

About 69 people are said to have died due to suffocation in the wagon.

Mukura Massacre Report Launch, May 2011

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From May 10-11, JRP launched its latest report, The Mukura Massacre of 1989, in Kumi town and Mukura trading centre, respectively.

On July 11, 1989, the 106th battalion of the National Resistance Army (NRA) allegedly rounded up 300 men from Mukura, a small village in eastern Uganda, and surrounding areas, and incarcerated some of them in train wagon number C521083. These men were suspected of being rebel collaborators against the NRA regime, but there is little evidence to suggest that most of them were anything other than innocent civilians. Trapped in the crowded train wagon, trying not to trample on one another, the men struggled to breathe, and by the time they were released, after more than four hours, sixty-nine of them had suffocated to death.

Twenty-two years later, JRP reconstructs an account of what took place using narratives from survivors, in order to bring the concerns of victims to the attention of the Government of Uganda and other stakeholders. This report aims to improve the implementation of future post-conflict transitional justice (TJ) initiatives in Uganda and elsewhere through analysis and recommendations for victims’ involvement in TJ processes.

To download the report, click here.

“LRA survivors want marshal plan for region,” Daily Monitor, 28 April 2011

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“LRA survivors want marshal plan for region,” Daily Monitor, 28 April 2011

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1152202/-/c262ngz/-/index.html

By James Eriku


Amuru

April 20 is usually an important day in the lives of former displaced persons living in Atiak Sub-county in Amuru district. And for the Acholi sub-region, the day was set apart to commemorate the gruesome massacre of over 200 civilians by the Lords Resistance Army rebels in 1996, although other similar cases were committed in Lokodi, Lukome, Mucwini and Barlonyo.

The Rev. Johnson Gakumba, the chairman of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative and the bishop of the Northern Uganda Diocese, while presiding over the occasion last Wednesday, prayed that such atrocities are not repeated in the region.

 

Meaningful reparation
The bishop also urged the government to develop meaningful reparation programmes for those who died during the war, adding that the government should also initiate other efforts to improve the lives of survivors. He said reparation could be such an important component of the Juba peace talks, in particularly agenda three, where reconciliation and accountability issues sound pertinent.

Mr Jacob Nokrach, a survivor and the chairman of the Atiak Massacre Survivors Association, said government has abandoned them to NGOs. Justice and reconciliation project, an NGO in the region, is currently supporting the survivors with counselling and guidance. “Many people can now talk freely about the incident more than 10 years ago, which is a positive gesture towards the rehabilitation efforts in the region,” Mr Nokrach said.

Improving livelihood
Mr Nokrach said the commemoration of the day is important to the lives of the survivors and relatives of those who were killed in the attack. The survivors’ chairman said a Marshal Plan should be drawn by the government as the Acholi people emerged from the rubbles of the camps, saying a reparation of Shs5 million per survivor and those killed would go a long way in improving the livelihoods of the affected people.

Ms Irene Oyet, another survivor from Ayugi village, sarcastically said the only thing the attack left her with were the mutilated bodies of her siblings on their compound three hours after the rebels had left. Ms Pasca Aromorach, 18, said she grew up as an orphan after her parents were killed in the attack. She said she was left to raise seven of her siblings amid biting poverty.

“Acholi urged to shun rebellion,” New Vision, 24 April 2011

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“Acholi urged to shun rebellion,” New Vision, 24 April 2011

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/16/753041/mukura

By C. Lubangakene and Justin Moro

THE 1995 massacre by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in Atiak and others in Acholi sub-region should be an eye opener to the Acholi not to rebel against government.

The remarks were made on Wednesday by the Rwot of Atiak, Santo Apire, during the 16th annual memorial prayer for over 250 people killed by the LRA in Atiak.

Apire advised the Acholi to shun any rebellion against the Government.
“ What the LRA did should teach us that rebellion is bad,” Apire said.

He urged the Amuru district authorities to solve the boundary dispute between the district and Adjumani.

Apire said such disputes breed fertile grounds for insecurity in the region.
The Bishop of northern Uganda diocese, Rt. Rev. Johnson Gakumba, who led the mass, said it was unfortunate that Kony was still committing atrocities in Congo and the Central African Republic.

Gakumba, who is also the chairman of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative called upon the Government to renew peace talks in order to end suffering in the Great Lakes region.
He said military options rarely end guerilla wars.

Gakumba urged the Government to compensate those affected by the war in order to improve their lives.
He said the time for war was over and urged people to embark on reconstruction.

Mathew Akiya, the Lamwo district LC5 chairman, said the district was planning to construct a memorial site at Corner Ogwec in Lokung sub-county, in remembrance of the over 450 people killed by the LRA in 1997 and over 400 others killed and buried in mass graves during the Idi Amin regime.

He castigated the elders for fuelling land disputes, saying they were being bought to do wrong things.

Betty Bigombe, the woman MP-elect for Amuru district, urged residents to forgive the LRA for what happened in Atiak and Acholi.

The 1995 Atiak massacre survivors want the Government to compensate them like it has done in other parts of the country.

“We know that the budget reading of the 2010/2011 financial year put aside sh200m for families of victims of the 1989 mukura massacre in Teso.

While we applaud your efforts to compensate victims from this incident, we also want to be compensated,” the memorandum to President Yoweri Museveni, signed by the Atiak survivors committee chairman, George William Odong, read in part.

CSO WCD Outreach Consultation, 21 April 2011

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On April 21, JRP and ICTJ held a one-day consultative meeting organized by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) on outreach for the first war crimes cases before Uganda’s War Crimes Division (WCD).

The objectives of the meeting were to:

  1. Assess civil society’s expectations and realistic understanding for potential outcomes of the work of the WCD;
  2. Increase civil society’s engagement in all stages of legal proceedings before the WCD;
  3. Provide input for the draft outreach strategy and briefing information on TJ by JLOS.