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On July 17, JRP participated in Uganda’s celebrations for International Justice Day in Gulu, in collaboration with Advocats Sans Frontieres, the International Criminal Court, and the Uganda Coalition for the International Criminal Court. JRP’s Lino Owor Ogora made remarks on behalf of JRP. This video contains footage of an ICC outreach drama performed by area secondary school students.
Reparations ‘Te-Yat,’ Mega FM, 23 July 2011
Transcript is not available at this time.
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From July 13-July 20, JRP staff guest lectured to students from the University of Tennessee as part of the Gulu Study and Service Abroad Program, or GSSAP. The students were completing a short course on peacebuilding and conflict resolution in northern Uganda. JRP team leaders spoke about gender justice, community mobilization, traditional justice, transitional justice and reintegration.
Give LRA victims justice, says ex-bishop,” Daily Monitor, 20 July 2011
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1204356/-/bl4ltxz/-/index.html
By Sam Lawino
Gulu
The government and Judiciary should deliver true justice to survivors of war in northern Uganda, civic and religious leaders have said. Addressing a rally during the International Day of Justice celebration in Gulu Town on Sunday, the retired Bishop of Kitgum Anglican Diocese, Macleod Baker Ochola, said the day should remind the government and its partners that they have failed to dispense justice to the victims of the 23-year-old Lords Resistance Army (LRA) rebellion.
Government blamed
He said: “Uganda has failed to support victims and survivors of the LRA and government mayhems in Acholi yet it also deliberately refused to accept responsibilities for the crimes they may have committed.”
Bishop Ochola said: “Everyone in Uganda and the rebels must be brought to book for atrocities they may have committed against unarmed civilians during the war. It is one way through which we can attain peace and justice,” Bishop Ochola said. He criticised the government for not coming up with a clear policy on compensation of the families of those killed, and the survivors.
A programme officer with Justice and Reconciliation Project in Northern Uganda, Mr Lino Owor Ogora, said: “Justice and accountability or the quest to end impunity should not be limited to criminal prosecution.” He said there should be other solutions like reconciliation.
A programme officer for Advocate Sans Frontiere, an association of lawyers supporting the fight against impunity, Mr Vincent Babaranda, said victims of the LRA atrocities should be granted access to the ongoing trial of former rebel commander Thomas Kwoyelo in the International Crime Division of the High Court to enable them know what is being done to address injustices perpetrated against them. Kwoyelo is facing 53 counts of murder, destruction of properties and abductions, accusations he denied.
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On July 17, JRP participated in Uganda’s celebrations for International Justice Day in Gulu, in collaboration with Advocats Sans Frontieres, the International Criminal Court, and the Uganda Coalition for the International Criminal Court. JRP’s Lino Owor Ogora made remarks on behalf of JRP.
“Uganda’s International Crimes Division Court Attracts Massive Critique,” Uganda Radio Network, 14 July 2011
http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=35292
By Joe Wacha
The War Crimes Division of Uganda High court has come under sharp criticism from some members of the public only a few days after it started trying Thomas Kwoyelo, the former LRA director of operations.
Uganda’s International Crimes Division Court has come under sharp criticism from some members of the public only a few days after it started trying Thomas Kwoyelo, the former LRA director of operations. Kwoyelo is facing 53 counts of crimes for his alleged involvement in the LRA war from 1987 to 2005, when he was captured by government forces.
However, some people in Northern Uganda doubt whether the Uganda War Crimes Division court has the capacity to competently prosecute suspects. Bosco Ocan, a resident of Layibi Techo in Gulu municipality says that he doubts the independence of the judicial system in Uganda to be able to competently deliver justice.
Jane Akwero Odwong, a former Woman MP for Kitgum district is surprised that the court does not address crimes against gender. Adwong explains that whereas many women and girls were raped and subjected to sexual slavery during the war in northern Uganda, the charges have not been brought against Kwoyelo.
Louis Odong, another victim of the war complained that the court does not provide compensation for the people who suffered from the war and either lost relatives or property. Other people suggest that holding the trial nearer to the victims, only reminds them of the atrocities they suffered during the war.
However, not everyone is against the operation of the court. Onono Onweng, the retired Bishop of Northern Uganda says that court is a test and it is only right for it to draw critiques. He however hoped it would improve overtime.
Lino Owor Ogora, a transitional justice activist says that the court needs to lead in advocating the legislation of necessary laws for reparation and other areas people feel are not presently addressed.
But Tadeo Asiimwe, the registrar of the International Crimes Division of the High Court noted that the court is a permanent institution with the capacity to prosecute all war crimes and crimes against humanity. He added that the decision to move the trial to Gulu was intended to ensure the victims of the LRA war participate in the justice process.
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Finally, after several months of delays and postponements, the long awaited trial of Col. Thomas Kwoyelo kicked off in the International Crimes Division (ICD), which held its first landmark session in the High Court of Gulu. The much anticipated trial attracted visitors from all over the globe, in addition to many of the local nationals who flocked the High Court and crammed it to capacity. In attendance were civil society organizations, members of the district local government, the media, victims and the public at large. The trial started with an inspection of the guard of honour by Hon. Justice Akiiki Kiiza, the head of the ICD. Other Judges in attendance were Hon. Justice Elizabeth Ibanda Nahamya, Hon. Justice Alphonse Owiny Dollo, in addition to the Principal Judge Hon. Justice Yorokamu Bamwine. The prosecution team was led by state attorney Joan Kagezi and backed by Mr. George William Byansi and Mr. Anguzu Lino. The defence was led by Mr. Alaka Caleb, and his colleague Mr. Onyango John Francis.
“Public divided over Kwoyelo trial,” Daily Monitor, 10 July 2011
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1197660/-/bylc79z/-/index.html
By Moses Akena
In Summary
About the War Crimes Division
As he steps into the dock tomorrow for trial by the War Crimes Division of the High Court of Uganda, former Lord’s Resistance Army colonel Thomas Kwoyelo, will write a chapter in the history books as the first commander of the rebel outfit, to be tried in the court.
The trial comes three years after the formation of the Court. The trial of Kwoyelo will also be the first for war crimes that a prosecution will take place under the Geneva Conventions Act since it was passed in 1964.
In March 2009, Kwoyelo was injured and taken into custody following fighting between the Ugandan army and LRA fighters in Ukwa, DR Congo. He was subsequently treated by the government of his bullet wounds.
He was first held in unknown military intelligence facilities, then Gulu Prison in late 2009 and has been held in Luzira maximum prison for a while.
Kwoyelo was first produced in a fully parked Chief Magistrate’s Court in Gulu in September 2009, to answer to 12 counts of kidnap with intent to murder which, was read out to him by then Gulu Chief Magistrate, Joseph Omodo Nyanga.
Amnesty in vail
A year later, in August 2010, he was charged with violations of the 1964 Geneva Conventions Act, including the grave crimes of willful killing, taking hostages and extensive destruction of property in the Amuru and Gulu districts of northern Uganda.
Though he applied for Amnesty last year, Amnesty Commission is yet to reply to his request. The Commission said it referred the case to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions as required under the act when individuals are in custody, for determination of eligibility.
The DPP has not responded to the Amnesty Commission’s request, raising some questions about the arbitrariness of the process.
It is not known how long the trial will but government said it will call close to 90 witnesses to testify. Cases involving war crimes and those against humanity tend to be difficult, because of the range of incidents and extended time period involved in the charges.
Since November 2010, Kwoyelo has been represented by private lawyer Caleb Alaka.
Though not one of the indicted five top commanders of LRA, Kwoyelo was captured by UPDF in battle and has since been treated as a prisoner of war.
The LRA top leadership is accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). And in 2005, it issued arrest warrant for its elusive leader Joseph Kony, Dominic Ogwen and Okot Odhiambo. Others Raska Lukwiya and Vincent Otti have since died.
Kwoyelo is the first member of the LRA to be in this situation and if found guilty, he will be sentenced to life imprisonment as per the Uganda’s Geneva Convention Act. It also provides a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment for the other crimes.
The impending trial has generated huge public interest in northern Uganda with mixed reaction about the trial. Gulu, where the trial will take place bears the brunt of the two-decade war.
Justice wanted
Mary Adibu, 61, who said she fell into a man hole while running from the LRA and broke a collar bone in Laliya, near Gulu town, says she wants to see justice done for the LRA victims.
“They should be tried because they made us suffer so much in their hands,” she said. Gulu district boss Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, said the trial should open the eyes of some LRA commanders and some senior figures in the government that they cannot commit crimes with impunity and get away with it.
He said this will help reassure the people of northern Uganda who want the perpetrators of the atrocities answer for their actions.
“I am very confident that the war crime division will do what is believed to be true justice and the people of northern Uganda are waiting to hear the outcome of this,” he said.
However, others like Lino Owor Ogora, the Team Leader Research Advocacy and Documentation at the Justice and Reconciliation Project in Gulu, Kwoyelo’s trial is selective.
“I think the war crime division really wanted to have a case on the ground because we are failing to understand why and how they arrived at Kwoyelo,” he said.
Some people Sunday Monitor talked to had little knowledge of Kwoyelo, compared to other LRA leaders like Onen Kamdulu and Kenneth Banya. Many insist that since he was following orders from his superiors, he should not be sacrificed for the ‘big fish’.
“I don’t think he is guilty because he was acting on orders from his bosses,” said a 50-year-old woman who refused to be named because she is a wife to a soldier.
LRA Victims like Ms Irene Laker argue that allowing the rebels to integrate into the community and engage in projects to help the people they maimed is more realistic.
Laker was hit by land mine planted by the LRA on her door steps.
She has an artificial right leg and she is one of the 268 members of land mine survivors association from Gulu, Amuru and Nwoya districts.
“I think they should just forgive him because for me, I am already lame and there is nothing he can do to bring back my legs,” said Ms Laker.
Critics of the trial have claimed that the fact that Kwoyelo has not been granted amnesty and is to be prosecuted is politically motivated, given that so many other LRA commanders have benefited from amnesty.
Off the hook
“For example, the former LRA high-ranking commanders Brig. Kenneth Banya and Brig. Sam Kolo Otto, as well as Lt Col. Opio Makasi, who served as the LRA director of operations, have all received amnesty under the act over the last several years. Several other LRA members who applied for amnesty were not prosecuted and instead joined the Ugandan army to fight the LRA,” said Human Rights Watch on its website.
HRW points that amnesties for crimes such as war crimes and crimes against humanity run counter to international law and practice, which rejects impunity for the gravest crimes. “International and hybrid international-national war crimes courts outside Uganda have rejected amnesties for serious crimes,” said the Rights body.
Who is Thomas Kwoyelo?
Thomas Kwoyelo is a former commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), who is from Acut Cama village, Pabbo Sub-county in Amuru district.
His exact birth date is not known, but is he said to have been born between 1968 and 1972.
He went to Pawel Langeta Primary School but dropped out in primary four due to lack of school fees.
His peers describe him as a jolly person. Kwoyelos’s childhood friends fondly referred to as a scooter (a famous kind of motorcycle) because of his athletic abilities. He was also a passionate performer of a traditional dance called ayije. He was also a farmer and hunter.
Kwoyelo is said to have joined the Uganda Peoples Democratic Army rebels in the late 1980s. However, when the rebel outfit was disbanded, he returned home but was reportedly arrested by the National Resistance Army (now UPDF) at the age of 17 together with his two brothers after he was found in possession of a gun. He was jailed for three years in Luzira before he was released around 1990.
Little is known of how he joined the rebels. Kwoyelo held the rank of colonel in the LRA and commanded the Sinia Brigade.
Former abductees describe him a reserved man and say he largely kept to himself.
He was injured and captured in March 2009 in a battle with UPDF in DR Congo and flown into the country. Images of a frail man, on drip as he was helped out of the UPDF plane appeared on front pages of newspapers.
“Lukodi Massacre Victims Struggle To Live With Memories,” Uganda Radio Network, 27 May 2011
http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=33984
By Joe Wacha
The survivors of the 2004 massacre at Lukodi internally displaced people’s camp in Gulu district say they require government to urgently initiate mechanisms to help them cope with the dreadful memories of the attack.
Survivors of the 2004 Lukodi massacre in Gulu district say they are individually carrying the burden of the atrocities committed during the war due to lack of government support to heal the past.
Many of the survivors say they require truth-telling by all the parties in the massacre, construction of memorials to honor the dead, acknowledging the past and a comprehensive reparation to be able to move on from the incident.
On May 19, 2004, a group of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels descended on the Lukodi displaced people’s after overpowering a nearby military unit and murdered over 50 people. The rebels also destroyed property, abducted scores of the IDPs, while others managed to escape with bullet wounds. Only a few huts and a memorial stone inscribed with some of the names of the people who died in the attack, stands near the ground that used to be the camp.
However, seven years after the attack, the victims complain that government has done nothing to help them recover from the traumatic incident.
Nelson Oloya, a resident of Lukodi village, on whose land the IDP camp once stood, tearfully recalls how the rebels killed his family members. Oloya ran to Gulu town. He explains that although he is now back home, memories of the past still haunt him. He says government should establish counseling services to help them overcome the trauma.
Doreen Abalo, another victim who lost her husband and three step children in the attack, explains that she is haunted by memories. Abalo explains that her only relief is when she meets with the village mates to share experiences.
Abalo says she wants the murderers to be prosecuted and government to compensate people who lost their relatives and property or got wounded. Although the Juba peace agreement between the government and LRA rebels provides for reparations for war victims, the government is yet to implement the resolution.
Barlington P’angwec, the LC5 representative for Bungatira Sub County repeated the calls for urgent reparations. He wondered how government could quickly compensate victims of the July 2010 bomb blasts in Kampala and ignore those in northern Uganda.
The UN Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violation also demands that victims adequate, prompt and appropriate remedies for victims.
Evelyn Akullo, a research officer at Justice and Reconciliation Project explains that the victims are struggling to find ways to deal with the past and move on with life amidst a strong need to reconcile with each other and what happened to them.
She says government should design and implement an inclusive and transparent reparations policy for the victims. Barlonyo, Atiak, Burcoro and Mucwini are some of the other massacre sites where people still wait for compensation.
“Village bank provides relief to massacre victims in Lukodi,” Uganda Radio Network, 30 May 2011
http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=34053
By Joe Wacha
Survivors of the 2004 massacre in Lukodi Internally Displaced People’s Camp in Gulu have started an initiative to empower members economically. The survivors have started an association to provide soft loans, save and extend other financial services to members.
The 40 members say that besides the provision of the credit transactions, the local initiative is helping them to heal from the trauma associated with the incident that saw many people lose their lives, maimed and abducted by the LRA rebels.
Patrick Opira, the chairman of Lukodi Canogura Group explains that members of the group meet at his home on Wednesday every week to deposit their cash savings.
He explained that during the meetings, the members review the previous transactions before proceeding to make fresh deposits and balance the books of accounts. He said each member saves between 1,000 to 2,500 shillings weekly depending on how much they can afford.
Opira adds that they have so far managed to save 987,000 shillings since the new cycle begun in March. He said last year the group saved 700,000 shillings allowing the members to receive between 50,000 to 110,000 shillings for the members with the least and highest savings respectively.
The chairman says that the group also lends small amount of money to the members at an interest of ten percent meaning that a member who borrows 5,000 shillings pays 5,500 while the one who borrows 10,000 has to pay back 11,000 shillings.
Doreen Abalo, one of the group members says that they have been able to meet some of the basic needs through the initiative adding that they are yet unable to afford forming a Savings and Credit Cooperative organization to benefit from government-advanced loans.
To form a SACCO, groups are required to provide registration certificate, by-laws, lending policy, budget estimate and business plan among others conditions.
However, the credit facilities are not all there is to the group. Many of the members of the Lukodi Canogura Group say that the weekly meeting provides them with an opportunity to share experiences and forge forward with life.
Doreen Abalo explains that she looks forward to the weekly meetings because it provides her with an opportunity to meet with her fellow survivors and learn how each one is coping. She explains that during the meetings, the interactions help her to forget all about the sad memories of the massacre that have remained a part of her life over the past seven years.
To Abalo and other members of the community, the local initiative is a near solution to the absence of meaningful government intervention in form of counseling, income generation activities, durable support to the war victims and a comprehensive transitional justice provision.
A report last month by the Justice and Reconciliation Project emphasized the need for government support to local level community based initiative targeting reconciliation and healing.
It added that for healing to be successful among the war affected communities, the support measures targeting the healing and reconciliation processes have to be based within the communities itself and not imposed from the outside.
Until such an intervention is implemented, many communities in the areas ravaged by the two-decade LRA war will continue to yearn in vain for meaningful healing from the war.