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Current Views and Perceptions of Truth-Telling in Northern Uganda

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By Andres Jimenez

On Tuesday 18th July 2012, the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) released its long awaited study on traditional justice and truth-telling. The one day launch event took place at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala. The report contained findings of a study on traditional justice mechanisms of tribes all over Northern Uganda, and truth-telling mechanisms. The report made policy recommendations on adoption of a national policy on truth-telling and traditional justice.

Following the launch of this report, JRP’s Community Documentation department decided to conduct a brief situational analysis on truth-telling within local communities, to analyse local perceptions and opinions on the subject. 

THE PUBLICATION in July this year by Uganda’s Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) of a report on traditional justice, truth-telling and national reconciliation issues in the context of war atrocities committed in different parts of Uganda motivated JRP’s Documentation Department to conduct a brief analysis of the issues of truth-telling and its current perceptions specifically within communities in the north of the country. Interviews were carried out from the 31st of July until the 3rd of August, 2012 in the communities of Awach and Lukodi (Gulu District), and Koch Goma (Nwoya District), as well as in Gulu town.

The objective of this quick study was to gauge the current perceptions and relevance of truth-telling within many war-torn communities in Northern Uganda, which would then be complied into a brief report. The study was particularly focused on documenting what the current understandings of truth-telling or truth-seeking processes are within these communities, what relevance these types of mechanisms currently have in terms of solidifying the reconciliation and healing process of victims and perpetrators in Northern Uganda and what challenges exist. 

From what we were able to determine, the opinions with regards to the current relevance of truth-telling processes are widespread and fairly diverse; nonetheless, there does seem to be an overwhelming support among many communities for some form of truth-telling process to take place. This support seems to mostly revolve around the issue of former rebel fighters and their struggle for reintegration and acceptance back into their communities.

Acholi traditional values and the community’s awareness of the victim/perpetrator duality that characterises the overwhelming majority of rebel fighters still supports a general view that unconditional forgiveness must be given regardless of the former rebel’s actions during his or her time in the bush. However, full reintegration and acceptance back into the community is not without its significant challenges. Animosity, resentment, fear, mistrust and stigmatisation are all issues that community members and former rebel soldiers often struggle with long after their return. It seems that despite the traditional Acholi views and attitudes towards forgiveness, complete integrations and acceptance by most community members requires an active engagement between the community and the returnee. A significant amount of community members thus consider truth-telling or truth-seeking processes as a highly relevant mechanisms which can cement the relationship healing process between former combatants and their communities.

Traditional Acholi cleansing or reconciliation ceremonies seem to still be considered as the preferred approach to any reintegration process of former rebel soldiers, and generally some form of truth-telling is involved in these processes. However, great debate still remains as to the extent to which this is the case. For this reason mixed opinions are still present amongst most respondents on whether truth-telling processes are already sufficiently covered within traditional cleansing or reconciliation ceremonies or whether there is a need for them to be carried out as separate complementary processes.

It is important to note nonetheless, that the acceptance and desire to engage in truth-telling processes in many communities in Northern Uganda is certainly not a view universally shared by all. There are community members that consider such processes as problematic and highly undesirable because of their capacity to resurface painful memories and the increase possibility of renewal of tensions within the community if such discussion were to take place. It would seem then, that any effort to carry out any type of broader truth-telling process thus needs to recognize and take into consideration the sensitivity of this issue.

Following its publication, the full report was shared at a conference organised by the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and in Kampala on the 17 of August 2012. This conference was organised with the intent to have a consultative meeting focused on the drafting of policy recommendations on traditional justice mechanisms, truth-telling and national reconciliation policies. This report was then shared and discussed with representatives from the Justice Law and Order Sector as well as other civil society organisations. ▪

 Andres Jimenez is an intern with the Community Documentation Department of JRP.

 

The First Step Towards Reconciliation

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The Role of Truth-Telling in Acholi Traditional Ceremonies

By Vicki Esquivel-Korsiak and Kate Lonergan

In exploring the relevance of traditional mechanisms to the unique justice needs of Northern Uganda, JRP’s Documentation department   found that truth-telling forms a central part of some reconciliatory ceremonies. In this article, mato oput and moyo kum specifically are examined vis-à-vis their role in truth-telling and the JLOS proposed transitional justice policy in Northern Uganda.

 In July 2012, Uganda’s Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) proposed the formulation of a national truth-telling process to be informed by community-driven truth-telling processes at the regional, community, and/or local level. (Justice Law and Order Sector, “Implementation of the Recommendations of the Traditional Justice  and Truth-telling Study Recommendations”). The national transitional justice policy is expected by the end of 2012.  As we wait for this policy to be elaborated, it is important to note how traditional mechanisms are filling the current gap and providing an important avenue for truth-telling in affected communities in the north.

Traditional Acholi justice and reconciliation mechanisms such as mato oput and the myriad of cleansing ceremonies all involve aspects of truth-telling. Mato oput is generally performed in cases of accidental or intentional killing to reconcile the clans of the parties involved. Truth-telling is a key first step toward reconciliation, usually taking the form of negotiations. (The Mato Oput Project, “Community Perspectives on the Mato Oput Process: A Research Study by the Mato Oput Project,” 2009, 35 ). Elders are enlisted as mediators and engage in shuttle diplomacy between the two clans to establish the facts of what occurred.

In one study of mato oput, 59% of respondents remarked that such negotiations were a key aspect of mato oput as practiced in their village and one respondent noted, “Negotiations are at the root of mato oput in order to arrive at a common understanding and to encourage commitment to reconciliation.” (The Mato Oput Project, 14) During this initial step, witnesses from both sides are invited to share what they know until all can agree on what took place. There is no timeline for this process and it can often take years.  Once the truth has been established, compensation is decided upon and the elaborate mato oput ceremony takes place.

Each side is required to provide materials for the ceremony, from goats and sheep to new calabashes, kwete (local brew), and roots from the oput tree. Though the specifics of mato oput differ across clans, they all share the same general principles of voluntariness, mediation of truth, acknowledgment of wrongdoing and reconciliation.  The ceremony itself generally involves ritual killing of sheep or goats, the sharing of a large meal, and drinking of kwete mixed with the oput. The ceremony as a whole symbolizes the end of bitterness between the two groups and the restoration of relations.  It hinges on the perpetrator’s admittance of guilt during the negotiation (truth-telling) phase and the victim’s willingness to forgive.

Traditional ceremonies such as moyo kum (cleansing of the body), laketeket (cleansing a person of a bad spirit that disturbs them – similar to moyo kum, it can be done for a group or individual) and moyo piny (cleansing of an area) that are intended to cleanse bad spirits also involve elements of truth-telling. In order to determine the appropriate type of cleansing ceremony, traditional elders and ceremony performers must first determine the truth about the atrocity committed. When ex-combatants return to their families from the LRA, a trusted family member often sits down with them during the first days and weeks of return and tries to determine what took place in the bush.

One returned LRA fighter explained, “I shared the experience with my parents, because when I came back, a month after my parents had to put me down and ask me, ‘You are from the bush, you need to tell us what you experienced from there. Because could be that you might have killed, and we believe the spirits are following you, so let us know what happened to you in the bush so we see what to do.’” (Male respondent, age 24, individual interview, Lapul sub-county, 15 June 2012)..

Because the consequences of violating Acholi taboos on killing and mistreating dead bodies can extend to the whole clan, family members often take collective responsibility for initiating a process of truth-telling in order to prevent spiritual retaliation.

A detailed account of the atrocity is necessary in order to ensure that the ceremony adequately appeases that spirit of the victim. Even if this account does not come from the returnee himself, it will often be revealed when the ceremony performer consults the angry spirit in order to determine its specific demands. One ceremony participant described, “The elders and other traditional leaders took me to the ajwaka (traditional healer) where I was questioned to explain what actually took place while I was in the bush. So I explained it. Then at the ajwaka’s place, I was made to go through the process of moyo kom, where a goat was killed for cleansing me from those bad experiences.”( Female respondent, age 35, focus group discussion, Paicho sub-county, 19 April 2012.) Although the act of truth-telling exists as part of a larger spiritual cleansing process, it is an integral first step to that process.

By and large people feel that the process of establishing the truth is one of the most important aspects of reconciliation through traditional measures. That said, people are not able to engage with traditional ceremonies as widely as they would like. The long period of war caused a decline in Acholi culture and the youth in particular lack the knowledge to engage with traditional mechanisms. However, since 1999 a strong push for cultural revival has been underway, starting with the restoration of the traditional chiefs (Rwodi). Communities have since been slowly making use of the traditional ceremonies. The primary impediment to engaging in traditional ceremonies, particularly mato oput, has to do with the high cost of materials and compensation. In addition, in the context of war atrocities, it is often difficult to know who the perpetrator was and what clan he/she came from. Despite these issues, people are eager to make use of traditional ceremonies and have “made numerous pragmatic, creative suggestions about adapting [traditional ceremonies] in order to address the unique needs and changes of war.” (The Mato Oput Project, 5.)

As JLOS puts in place a transitional justice policy for Uganda, it is important to consider the role which traditional ceremonies could play in furthering the goals of truth-telling at the local level. Traditional measures can be complementary to state efforts and serve the purpose of fostering healing and reconciliation in addition to truth-telling. ▪

Vicki Esquivel-Korsiak is a Documentation Officer with JRP’s Community Documentation Department. For more information on women and youth experiences with traditional justice see: “Gender and Generation in Acholi Traditional Justice Mechanisms,” JRP, Field Note XVII.

 

An Acceptable Truth-Telling Process for all Ugandans?

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By Isaac Okwir Odiya

 Uganda is well endowed with a number of ethnic groups with different ethnic value and beliefs which are key in guiding behaviours in societies. Each group values their belongings and lifestyle and always strives to defend it at any point. Every society values truth-telling as a fundamental instrument of promoting justice and peace for the good of the societies but justice which is believed to come through truth-telling varies from person to person, society to society depending on individual needs.

The disparities in justice needs of individuals and societies has turned to define what “truth-telling” is. It is therefore important to build a cross cutting culture with similar value to foster truth-telling that strives for the justice needs of the society where individuals benefit from by virtue of being member of the society. In my opinion, the culture and background of a people is important in discussing the issues of truth-telling in conflict and post conflict period.

Many people look at truth-telling not as a matter of speaking the truth but rather as matter of speaking what one believes to be the truth and what they believe will promote justice to them. Liars do not necessary speak what is false but they say what they believe to be false for the sake of changing the situation to favour them and to protect their group. At the same time one can mislead without necessary telling the lies. From a social perspective, sincerity is virtue and lies are morally objectionable under any circumstance in our society and this raises the question of having a general principle of fostering a culture and value of truth across the border. Truth-telling in society may be dictated by how much one value himself or his people and what people objectively expect from such person. As those in Government swear to protect its people from all kind of aggression, different people, societies and groups also ought to protect their people in any circumstance.

I cannot neglect the fact that socio-economic influences have had a deep impact on our society as many societies have adopted capitalism as a way of life and this has led to the common prayer of, ‘One for oneself and God for all’. This prayer is a true spirit of individualism where people live in different and action is guided to meet one’s interest and not that of the society. Each and every member of society is better off living in a society that holds common value and interest, where people are truthful most of the time than we would be in society in which people tell the truth as much as they tell lies in pursuit for justice.

In Uganda, there is nothing intrinsically more rational to everyone than driving on the left side of the road instead of the right side of the road. The question is, how difficult is it to build a system of acceptable truth-telling that is morally accepted by every Ugandan? The quest for individual justice needs always override the moral principle of telling the truth but how can societies instill a culture of truth-telling for the good of the society regardless of whom justice will be given. In African societies, truth-telling is encouraged in settling conflicts and every possible means is applied to ensure that the truth is told to help in deciding way forward. Fostering truth-telling in African tradition would permit use of any means including ritual practices that intimidates parties to the conflict to tell the truth to promote restorative justice in society. However, in a formal justice approach, all sorts of investigation is done to levy retributive justice on the parties to the conflict and this is where everyone fights to be proved innocent irrespective of what they say.

 In this time of post conflict recovery of Uganda, society has been weakened such that the social structures for enhancing truth-telling are nearly dead and people are impoverished to an extent of affording to bend contrary to their consent. Leaders are involved more in defending their people than building a culture that fosters the whole nation to a principle of truth in quest for justice. It is therefore my appeal to have leaders of common interest strive for the justice needs of society through building a principle of truth-telling across the different ethnic and cultural groups. It is important to restore the cultural leadership role in commissioning the heart and practice of truth-telling in society. Traditional justice mechanisms are believed to promote restorative justice which is the interest of the majority members of society. It is important to take care of the fears related to truth-telling that prevent one from speaking the truth because of its repercussions on to them and begin to preach the importance of truth-telling when providing justice in the interest of building a strong justice mechanism for the good of everyone. ▪

Isaac Okwir Odiya is a Project Officer with JRP’s Community Mobilisation Department.

Achieving Gender Justice through Truth Telling

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By Kasiva Mulli

With a proposed truth-telling process being considered at national level, Gender Justice Team Leader Kasiva Mulli examines the factors that need to be taken into consideration if such a process is put in place from a gender perspective.

 Whichever form of truth-telling process that a community affected by conflict or repressive rule decides to adopt, it is essential that gender is included as a key component. This is important because truth-telling is the only transitional justice process offers an opportunity to address gender based violations in a broad way and allows for deeper investigations into structural and enabling factors while adopting recommendations that can promote gender equity as well as ensure the lives of women and men in question are transformed through policy and legislation. They also offer an opportunity for people to understand different roles played by different genders in conflict and their contribution to peace and development.

Due to their non-judicial nature and unlike prosecutorial processes, truth-telling bodies are able to provide flexibility in evidential requirements, broaden their scope of work and adopt friendlier ways of interacting with victims. This is especially important for victims of gender based violations who often shy away from the “ruthless” questioning and evidential requirements in prosecutorial processes. Applying lesser standards of evidential proof especially in sexual violations ensures that such crimes are not disregarded due to lack of direct evidence which is usually never available due to lapse of time.  

Inclusion of a gendered perspective in any truth-telling process is not obvious. In fact many a truth-telling processes in the world have been accused of either neglecting gender or dealing with gender based violations in a very narrow way thus closing an opportunity to interrogate deeper the causes of such violations. Many truth-telling processes also tend to limit gender based violations to sexual based crimes only. Sexual based crimes are serious offences which should be dealt with seriousness but it is important to appreciate that gender based violations are much more than sexual based crimes and can involve marginalization,  displacements,  loss of livelihoods and challenges of new roles taken up by different genders in post conflict situations like women and orphans heading households.

The conflict in Northern Uganda has resulted in many gender based violations including rape, forced marriages, sodomy, forced pregnancies, displacements, loss of life, loss of livelihoods amongst others. Uganda has an opportunity to ensure that these violations are well tackled by any truth seeking process that will be adopted. The question then becomes: how can we ensure that gender aspects are included and comprehensively dealt with by a truth seeking process?  

To ensure that any truth seeking process is able to deal comprehensively with gender based crimes it is important to take the following into consideration:-

Firstly, the mandate of any truth-telling process needs to be broad enough to provide for a wider and deeper interpretation of 1) what amounts to gender based violations; 2) the structural context enabling these violations to occur in the said conflict; and, 3) the different roles played by both genders in the conflict. This assists in ensuring that issues of gender are not dealt with in a superficial manner, i.e. just scratching the surface but through a comprehensive and multifaceted way which digs deeper to the root causes and enabling factors. The way a truth process defines a human rights violation will also contribute to how that violation will be handled. Some of gender based violations may not present themselves outwardly in the form of injuries resulting from crimes like torture but may be non-physical like social economic crimes which may contribute to the physically visible violations and will require the same serious attention.  

Secondly, it is very important to ensure that the personnel of any truth-telling process is gender balanced. The presence of women or men among the staff makes such a process approachable to victims of each gender. However, ensuring gender balance does not mean that gendered issues will be solved: the staff need to understand what gender is and what violations are suffered as a result of one belonging to either gender. This can be achieved through continuous training of staff on gender based violations and how to handle victims of such violations.    Measures should also be taken by the truth seeking body to protect victims from stigmatisation and re-victimisation. It is important to build confidence through upholding confidentiality, especially for men who have suffered sexual violations, because it is not easy for them to come forward and provide testimony on such an issue. 

Thirdly, it is essential that these violations are captured at the statement taking stage.   Statement taking is the backbone of any truth-telling process. It is through this initial stage in any truth-telling process that determines how the commission will establish patterns of violations for investigative purposes. Ensuring that statement taking is gender friendly will encourage participation of victims resulting to highlighting these crimes. Most victims of gender based violations do not openly talk about the violations they suffered but tend to highlight other violations committed against people they know. It is thus important for statement takers to ensure they can sieve through testimonies to establish these violations while at the same time been sensitive to the victim in question. It is also advisable at this stage for a truth-telling body to work with victim groups who will help them identify victims of these violations and encourage them to provide their testimonies.

Other essential issues to take into considerations are how investigations are conducted as well as the role of research. Due to its non-judicial nature, investigators in a truth-telling process have an opportunity to be creative. They can provide invaluable insight as to the root causes of gender related violations, existing structural inequalities that lead to these violations and discriminative practices adopted by a state or a society. Unlike judicial bodies, they can adopt friendlier ways of investigating sexual based violations taking into consideration that due to lapse of time it will not always be easy to get evidence.

Researchers can play a critical role of ensuring that there is qualitative participation of all genders. Interviewing many women and men does not always result to establishing gender based violations, this is especially so for women who always treat themselves as secondary victims. Through continuous tracking, the truth-telling body can continuously adopt measures to encourage victims to speak out about violations committed to them in their own person.   Researchers should also work with civil society organizations, academics and victim groups who usually have documented these violations during and after the conflict. They can provide very valuable literature to harness the final report.  

Another important and crucial issue is the outcome of a truth-telling body which is usually in the form of a report. It is important for gender issues to be captured well and clearly at this stage.   This is because this is usually the relationship of the truth-telling process and the public.  Articulating gender based violations well in the report ensures that the public knows and acknowledges violations committed to different genders. It can also provide basis for advocating for law reform and gender equity. Gender based organisations need to be vigilant to ensure that gender issues form a critical part of the report and useful recommendations are generated. ▪

 Kasiva Mulli is the Team Leader for JRP’s Gender Justice Department.

 

A Truth-Telling Process that will lead to reconciliation

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By Nancy Apiyo

Continuing from last issues ‘Ododo Wa: Our Stories’ (‘Storytelling, Gender and Reparations’ Voices, Issue 2, September 2012), JRP’s Gender  Justice department uses the mechanism of story telling to ascertain the views of war affected women on the Right to Know, truth-telling processes, missing persons and the need for reconciliation at community level.

 A group of about twenty women are silent and listening attentively while we explain what a truth telling process is. We give them illustrations on how a truth process is conducted and how it has worked in other countries. We also explained how the process can led to healing,   reconciliation, reparations, prosecution or any other post conflict recovery processes that are recommended. Women who took part in this discussion were formerly abducted women who stayed in captivity for various periods of time. We use illustrative discussions, drama, songs and theatre to make the women understand what we are discussing. The women play games in between the sessions to make them more engaged and comfortable. When we ask them later if they think a truth telling process should take place in regard to the conflict in Northern Uganda they keep quiet for some time. We get curious why it was taking them so long to respond yet they are usually very active until they start to explain. They explain that they are hesitant to answer because they feel bringing back the past might bring more violence. On the other hand also they felt it was important to have a truth telling process. In one groups   where the women used colours to illustrate what the future would be like they put white and red to show what an outcome of a truth telling process would be like.  Red meaning recurrence of violence and white meaning peace.   

Aida was abducted at ten and wonders who among the four men who raped her during the conflict should be prosecuted. On top of that she was forced as a child to engage in active combat.  She was a soldier, mother, wife, porter and had to do anything the rebels asked her to do. She does not know who should be held accountable for the violations that happened to her. To her everyone is guilty and everyone should be accountable for what happened to her during the conflict: the community members for reporting her whereabouts to the rebels leading to her abduction, the government for not protecting her, the international community for being silent over the conflict in northern Uganda for a long time and the rebels for subjecting her to such extreme violations. Life is not any easier now that she is home.  The community has failed to accept her back because she was with the rebels. In addition to this, she has to take care of children she bore while in captivity, children she never wanted in the first place but now form part of her life. She ponders about this loudly as we listen.  Many of the women we meet with are struggling with the same issues.   

One of the groups plays a skit about one of the massacres. Some of the women took part in it and know they are not innocent. They live with the guilt, trauma and struggle to survive everyday   in a community where it is hard to differentiate who is a victim or a perpetrator amidst poverty.  They say so many things happened in the past that it is better for people to move on and stop dwelling in the past. 

After staying in Sudan for a long time,  Rhoda  and her husband decided it was time to come back home but the rebels got to know of their plans and her husband was forced to do an atrocity that made him a wanted man. She still recalls the conversation they had up to today.  She says, “He really wanted to come back home but when he was forced, he could not and there was no turning back.”

She still looks at him as an innocent boy who was trained and later turned evil. Just like her he was abducted at a young age from his parents and joined the rebels in the bush. She thinks his lapwony (teacher) should be the one who is responsible for his acts. It makes sense now to me that commanders in the bush were called lapwony and not according to their rank because they were indeed teachers.  I used to wonder why the women referred to the men as lapwony. I ask myself whether between a teacher and student who should be held   responsible for a child’s bad or good performance.

 After we had a long discussion the women said they think it is important to have a truth telling process so that truth is known and justice prevails. They said it is important that the facts of what they went through is known so that people can acknowledge that they are victims and establish who should be held responsible for their suffering. They also feel that a truth telling process will help identity the root cause of the atrocities. To them, reconciliation is the most important thing, followed by reparation. They think that any truth telling process should lead to reconciliation and reparations.

The majority of the women who were forcefully married off to commanders want reconciliation to take place between their clans and that of the men who abducted them. The women say that for the sake of their children, they want reconciliation between the two clans so that their children can live in harmony. They said they would be conflicting with themselves by wanting to prosecute the men and also wanting the children to identify with their fathers and their clans. Right now, these women feel that their children are important and that they need identity within the community.

They say that the government and the top commanders of LRA should be held responsible because they are to blame for the atrocities they went through. Those who were given to junior commanders   feel that the men they were given to in the bush were victims too because they were forced to marry them. They agree that it is important to have a truth telling process as long as it will lead to reconciliation and reparation. They are adamant about prosecution because they are tired of war and disunity.    They want to heal and move on after the conflict.  

When we asked them how a truth process should help them, they said that a truth process should change the lives of women to make it better. They think there should be an economic and social change in the current situation that women are in. They also feel that traditional institutions should be strengthened so that they can hold an informal process that will lead the community to healing and reconciliation. One of the respondents in a group says, “The rwodi (chiefs) should be involved so that they can talk to the affected clans to foster reconciliation.”

One of the groups acts a skit on how the process can take place using the chief and the traditional institutions as mediators between victims and perpetrators. They say to have genuine reconciliation all parties named should be supported for some time to engage fully in the process. They also think women should be actively involved in the process as full and equal participants. Reports on testimonies should be kept well and then disseminated to the public.  The community should be involved in planning and implementing the process so that the outcome of the process can make sense to them. They also said it is important for the community to say the truth and not be bribed to give false testimonies. They also suggest that   the truth about what all parties did be the government, rebels, those who were abducted and the community should be established so that there is justice. They also feel it is important that such a process should incorporate measures to ensure that women are able to tell give evidence about what they know in a private way, although some feel they are bold enough to share their stories publicly.

 All in all the women feel that a truth process is a necessary measure in the context of the Ugandan war. They also feel that they would support an unofficial truth telling process spearheaded by religious and cultural leaders. They however insist that such a process must lead to reconciliation and recommend reparations. They also feel that such a process will clarify some preconceptions the community has about them leading to forgiveness and acceptance.

The women are indeed tired of war, disunity and violence.  That is   why reconciliation is at the fore front of all their discussions. This has to be respected and valued if the women have to get the kind of justice they desire and deserve.

Nancy Apiyo is a Project Officer with JRP’s Gender Justice Department.

Our Lost Jewels

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The Women’s Advocacy  Network and the Unaccounted For

By Evelyn Amony

Daniel is one of the boys who never got the chance to come back home like we did. Many of us were abducted but not all got the chance to come back. Some died and others are still alive. They live with other tribes in other countries. When Daniel finally found his way home, he told us about his fate and that of the other children. There are people who are still in Sudan and living among the Lutugu tribe. Some of the girls have become wives while the boys become soldiers.   The boys have also been given women from the tribe to marry. Like Daniel they would like to come back home but are held against their will by the Lutugu tribe. 

We know for sure that the same is happening in Congo. Some of the children who were released by the rebels at a young age did not make it home. This is because they cannot remember the way back. Some are with other tribes within the country and others must have gotten lost in the wilderness. We still have hope that one day those who are still alive will be reunited with their families. There were also women who were taken by government soldiers and forced into marriage during the conflict. Others are in other districts in the country. Most of the women who were taken as young girls are still unaccounted for.

All in all even those who managed to come back home are not doing well. They need to be supported. Their lives have to go on well now that they returned home so that they do not suffer. Those who lost their children should be talked to and involved in campaigns on missing persons. They have valuable information that can assist to trace missing persons. They also want to feel part of the process as they are victims too. 

As the Women’s Advocacy Network we think we can help work together with institutions and well intentioned individuals to trace these people and re unite them with their families. We can also work together with the governments where these children are so that they can assist with tracing and repatriation.  

Evelyn Amony is the chairlady of the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN).

Providing Answers for Families

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What the ‘Right to Know’ means for victims in Northern Uganda

By Lino Owor Ogora 

Despite experiencing close to four years of relative peace, Northern Uganda continues to grapple with several recovery challenges. Among these challenges are answered questions regarding the plight of people who continue to be missing. Many of these people were either abducted by the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) or simply went missing due to other causes such as displacement. It is not known if many of them are still alive.

A survey conducted by an NGO called Children and Youth as Peace Builders (CAP) indicates that 1,036 people are missing in Gulu alone. A 2012 survey by JRP in Acholi sub-region covering 2,573 respondents indicates that 55.5% of respondents still have a family member missing from the conflict. Of those respondents, 60% have one family member missing; 24% have two family members missing; the remaining 16% have three or more family members missing, their whereabouts still unknown. The families, friends and relatives of these people continue to be held in suspense as a result of not knowing whether their loved ones are still alive or dead.

When JRP conducted research in a place called Corner Kilak in Pader District, we came across an old man whose son had been abducted. This old man said to us, “I am an old man. I need to see my son before I die.” I have never forgotten the words of this old man, and since I heard these words several years ago, I am not certain if this old man had his wish granted.

In another place called Obalanga in Amuria district, I came across a woman whose husband – the headmaster of a local primary school – had been abducted by the LRA and had never returned. This woman has since been kept in the dark about the whereabouts of her husband regarding whether he is dead or alive, and as a result she is not sure whether she is a widow or a wife.

In a village located in Gulu District, we came across parents of girls who were abducted in the early 1990s by soldiers of the National Resistance Army (NRA) as they conducted an operation. These girls were presumable taken to serve the soldiers as wives, but were never heard of again. Their families continue to be held in suspense regarding their whereabouts.

The quest for answers is not only limited to missing people who are assumed to still be alive. It also stretches to people relatives of people who lost their loved ones but have not had the opportunity to conduct proper burials simply because they do not have the remains or bones of their loved ones with which they can conduct the burials. In Obalanga for example, I came across a distressed young lady called Petra whose husband was not only killed by the LRA in a most gruesome manner, but after killing her husband the LRA cut off his head and went with it. Petra’s husband had to be buried headless. To date, Petra still hopes to discover the head of her husband in order to make his burial complete.

 

In Acholi culture, just like in many other cultures in Northern Uganda, proper burials are called for, as it is not only a sign of respect for the dead, but also as a means of avoiding reprisals from the spirits of the dead. People who have not received the spirits of their loved ones will therefore continue to long for closure about how they died, and also to get back their remains so that they can conduct proper burials.

The right to know also stretches to people who simply want to know the causes of the conflict, and why horrendous atrocities were committed against them. Many survivors of massacres continue to ask why they were subjected to inhumane treatment by fellow human beings who behaved like beasts towards them. In one village, (name withheld) we came across male and female survivors of rape perpetrated by NRA soldiers in the early 1990s. A woman narrated how she had been raped almost seventeen times by different soldiers. An old man narrated how he had been sodomized by two soldiers. Almost twenty years later, this village has a high incidence of HIV/AIDs as a result of this mass rape and sodomy. Such victims seek answers to why fellow human beings had to behave like beasts towards them.

As Northern Uganda continues to recover from the impacts of the conflict, the time is overdue for the implementation of transitional justice post-conflict recovery programs. With every day that passes, the need to engage in reparative programs for victims grows more urgent. Among these is the need to set up a truth recovery program aimed at providing answers for families of the missing and survivors of conflict. ▪

 Lino Owor Ogora is the team Leader for the Community Documentation Department of JRP.

 

Voices of Uncertainty

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By Kamilla Hasager Jensen and Mia Jess

It is early morning and we have just arrived at a family compound in the outskirts of Gulu. We are greeted by the father of the family who is apologizing for being very busy that particular morning. It has been raining heavily all night and now he has to fix the latrine, which has been damaged by the rain. The father is weak and recovering from an illness, so the heavy work is hard for him to manage. He takes time out of his busy schedule to show us around his compound. While we are walking around we are talking about his family. He tells us about his eldest son who was abducted and is still missing. It pains the family not to know what has happened to the son, if he is still alive or dead. The mother of the family is especially distressed because of the loss of their son and the uncertainty of the situation. But the disappearance of the son not only affects the family emotionally, but also practically, in their everyday life. The father needs the eldest son to assist the family economically as well as in household chores, for example with digging the land and building the latrine this very morning. But since the eldest son is not there, the father has to manage all this alone or depend on the help of others.

We had arrived in Gulu in the end of August 2012 as anthropology students from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark to do research for our Masters thesis. Our preparation included reading books and articles about Northern Uganda, the war and current reconciliation processes. When we came to Gulu, we were fixed on the subject of reintegration of formerly abducted children who have returned to Gulu. We wanted to examine how religion and faith contribute to reintegration processes and the establishment of reconciliation and forgiveness. But when we faced the current situation and reality in Gulu, it made us change our minds. The decisive factor that made us change our project entirely was the “Dialogue on Disappearances” held on August 30th, at Hotel Free Zone arranged by the Justice and Reconciliation Project. Hearing the personal testimonies and experiences of families that are still missing a relative after the war had a deep impact on us and it made us realize that this was a crucial issue in the aftermath of the war in Gulu and the surrounding communities, though it has only received little attention from the public, NGOs and the government.

The opening example, concerning the father of a missing son, exemplifies how the absence and uncertainty of a missing relative has a great influence on the remaining family. Other families with missing relatives whom we have visited have expressed some of the same problems of family structures being changed and how the prospects of the family are narrowed down. The missing relative is needed as a contributor to the family, and now that he/she is gone his or her hands are missing in the daily chores of the family, which leaves the family with a much larger workload. At the same time several of the families we are in touch with, are now taking care of the children of the missing relative, which is an economic burden on the entire family. As a result children are often denuded of the possibility of education.

The mentioned issues concerning families with missing relatives are forming the framework of our research, which we have just started. In the next three months we will spend more time with these families, both participating in their daily activities as well as conducting in-depth interviews with them in order to achieve an understanding of the situation they are in. The analytical focus of our research will be on how the missing relatives are influencing the daily life of the families, which hopes the families have for the future and the families’ perceptions of guilt and evil. Through this focus, we hope to gain an understanding of how relations between families and non-present family members are formed and sustained.

Our research constitutes the foundation for our Masters’ thesis, which we are writing together in the spring of 2013 . Besides this, we hope, trough our research, to create awareness on families with missing relatives and the problems they are facing. We are very occupied by this issue, and we are glad to have changed our research focus. In the years after the war has moved out of Uganda, there have been a lot of research and initiatives on reintegration and forgiveness of the people who have returned from the bush but those who are still missing and the problems of their families have largely been ignored. Thus, there is a need to acknowledge those families as victims too and to let their voices be heard.

We hope to contribute our further findings in a later issue of Voices magazine.

Kamilla Hasager Jensen and Mia Jess are Masters students of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

The Dialogue on Disappearances

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By Sylvia Opinia

To commemorate the internationally recognised day against enforced disappearances, the Justice and Reconciliation Project in collaboration with Children/Youth as Peace Builders (CAP) Uganda organised a dialogue on the 30th of August 2012 between stakeholders, victims groups and civil society organisations in Northern Uganda to generate debate on addressing the issue of people who are still missing or unaccounted for as a result of conflict. Guided by the theme “the right to truth”, this was part of a series of week long of activities organised by JRP in West Nile, Teso, Lango and Acholi sub-regions aimed at engaging with communities on the issue.

 THE ‘DIALOGUE ON DISAPPEARANCES’ served to launch a campaign by the Justice and Reconciliation Project known as ‘The Right to Know’ which is aimed at drawing the attention to the views, struggles and initiatives of the family members of missing persons that continue to search for their loved ones. The campaign arose from the realisation that despite the fact that the guns have fallen silent in Northern Uganda, many are still struggling to come to terms with its effects. Statistics published by CAP in 2012 show that in Gulu District alone up to 30 per cent of all people abducted by the LRA are still unaccounted for and 1036 alone are still missing as a result of the conflict in Northern Uganda.

Over 1,000 community members across the region participated in the series of week long activities where they shared stories about their missing relatives/family members and their tireless efforts in search for answers. The main dialogue in Gulu District on 30th of August 2012 was attended by representatives of relatives/family members of the missing from each of the sub-regions, key stakeholders, cultural as well as religious leaders, and civil society organisations, the academia, government representatives and the Guest of Honour, the Paramount Chief of Acholi Rwot David Acana II. During this dialogue, the participants lit candles and held a prayer for their loved ones who are still missing and unaccounted for.

The dialogue was centred around the presentation of a documentary produced by JRP entitled “The Right to Truth and Justice” which presented the point of view of four families of persons that are missing and/or unaccounted for as a result of conflict in the greater North of Uganda (copies of the documentary can be requested from JRP offices or accessed from JRP’s Youtube account) The documentary screening was followed by a public debate with the guests sharing their views on the issue of missing persons, disappearances and the way forward for the ‘Right to Know’ campaign.

 

Key/Emerging Issues

The right to know: Today many people do not know where their relatives are and continue to be held in suspense. The “right to know” however, in this context is not limited to people who are missing, but rather stretches to those who have not been able to conduct proper burials and properly lay their loved ones to rest. The “right to know” also stretches to people who want to know the causes of the conflict in Uganda and to know why certain people treated them “like beasts”. Hence the need for closure in the form of proper burials and knowing how a person’s loved ones were killed. An example was given of Petra’s husband in Amuria District who served as part of the ‘Arrow Boys’ defence militia and was killed by the LRA. Petra’s husband’s body was mutilated with the head cut off of his remains. For Petra, her “right to know” involves having the right to locate her husband’s body parts so she could give him an adequate burial.

 Effects on the families: As discussed by participants, the effects and needs of a family member/relative of the missing are immense ranging from economic, psychosocial, medical, legal, and physical among others. When a family member goes missing, the pain of loss is made worse by the agony of uncertainty. Indeed not knowing the fate of their relatives is a harsh reality for countless families, no matter how many years have gone by, as parents, siblings, spouses and children are desperately trying to find lost relatives.  Dr. Andrew from Medical Cares Mission thus summarised this situation as follows; “If a surgical wound is not healing well the surgeon will re-open it and perform a procedure called secondary repair to aid in faster healing, however this is done in the theatre. In this case, wounds are memories, reopening of the wounds are the “right to know”, getting answers are secondary repair and the theatre are experts”.

 The issue of persons still missing has not made it to the national agenda: The Government through the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) established a Transitional Justice Working Group to bring justice and accountability in the North and the country as a whole in line with the Juba Peace Agreement. As a result, some progress has been registered such  the establishment of the International Crimes Division of the High Court of Uganda (ICD), consultations on other processes such as truth-telling, reparations. However, the issue of persons missing as a result of conflict has not been mentioned or tackled and thus not been acknowledge by government. As Christopher Alebo, a victim from West Nile put it “the ‘battle’ has been left to the parents of missing persons”. 

 The magnitude of the problem is not known: While interaction with communities during the regional activities indicate that many families across the region are dealing with the agony of not knowing where their relatives are, no comprehensive statistics exists to indicate the numbers of those still missing or unaccounted for apart from the survey done by CAP Uganda in Gulu District alone.

 It’s a national issue: Sub regions such as West Nile and Teso felt neglected by most of the post conflict initiatives in the country. They urged for a national strategy on missing persons which would bring all the regions to work together.

 Questions of justice: Participants noted with deep concern that both government and rebel forces should be held accountable for the different circumstances that led family members to go missing. Enforced disappearances are now considered crimes against humanity meaning they are considered a very heinous crime that affects the entire international community. Where crimes like these are committed, thorough investigations must take place and if found guilty the perpetrators have to be brought to justice in order for international commitment to be made to ensure that such crimes are not committed again. Therefore, both traditional and international mechanisms are essential and the ICC should be perceived as an ally in the struggle.

 The relationship between victims’ groups and (local) government agencies is poor: At the local level, participants expressed frustration about how victims groups often receive a lot of resistance from government bodies especially at the district level with LCVs and RDCs when generating information like the list of missing persons which was being displayed at the event. In some instances, this was also true for sub-county and parish-level interactions. Oftentimes, the local leaders did not fully understand the needs of the victims and further stigmatized them.

 

Recommendations and Suggested Strategies

Following the issues identified the following recommendations and strategies were given to address the issue of missing persons as well as the way forward for the ‘right to know’ campaign;

 

To the Government of Uganda

Acknowledgement

Through the Justice Law and Order Sector and the Ministry of Justice and constitutional affairs’ appreciate the magnitude of the problem of missing persons by putting it on the agenda for discussion. When this is done, then discussions on how to address the issue should kick off with practical strategies with constant consultations of the relatives and families of the missing.

 Documentation

Conduct comprehensive documentation of missing and unaccounted for persons with lists produced for every region. This would serve as an acknowledgement, a way of remembrance as well as a common hub for information gathering to help families who are in search for answers. An independent commission on missing persons should be instituted to with technical/funding support from civil society organisations and international agencies.

 Avenues for peaceful resolution of the conflict

To draw lessons of the 2006 to 2008 Juba peace talks in order to resume further talks and to finding other peaceful forms of ending the conflict, because as it has been acknowledged without ending the war it will be difficult to know the truth about disappeared persons.

 Amnesty

To reverse their decision on amnesty to extend its application on a case by case basis not only to motivate those still in captivity to return home and for them to confirm information about those still in the bush and those who have died. 

 A comprehensive transitional justice strategy

Through the Justice Law and Order sector needs carefully incorporate how the different TJ mechanism can suitably address the issue of missing or unaccounted for persons. The mechanisms that were most cited by participants include truth-telling, memorilisation and reparations among others.

 

For the ‘Right to Know’ campaign

Partnerships

The ‘right to know’ campaign requires strategic partnerships and collaboration between victims and other key stakeholder at different levels is required. Civil society organisations that are working on the issue of missing persons were urged to come up with a joint strategy to tackle this issue, coordinate with like-minded organisations in Southern Sudan, DRC and CAR.  Even though the campaign involves a complex idea, there are some international institutions such as the ICRC who have worked in this area and have expertise should join in with support from donor agencies.

 Support groups for relatives/families of the missing

To further support the families and relatives of the missing to form association where they could benefit from peer support and together use it as a platform advocate for government to acknowledge and appreciate the magnitude of the issue of missing person. This could also be an avenue for these families to receive expert help to deal with such ambiguous loss.

 Role of the traditional leaders

As part of their role to reconcile communities, the Acholi Paramount Chief was urged to Rwot Davis Acana II was urged to meet with other traditional leaders in Northern Uganda to encourage greater involvement is such initiatives as dialogues and meetings. The cultural institutions to further facilitate children born in captivity to trace their families and unite them with their relatives. ▪

 

Missing Persons: Towards A Victim Centred Approach

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By Simon Robins

The conflicts over the last three decades in Northern Uganda have left many impacts, some better understood than others. The large-scale LRA abductions that have come to characterise the war in the Acholiland and beyond have produced a multi-faceted response targeting returnees, their families and communities. Returnees have benefitted from counselling in district-based reception centres, support on their return home and assistance packages. In some sense however these returnees and their families are the lucky ones: many families of those abducted have heard nothing about their loved ones and remain torn between the hope that they will return and the despair that they may be dead. The emphasis in the north on returnees, and the apparent neglect of those missing and their families is finally beginning to be addressed, and it is hoped that this special issue of Voices can be the catalyst for both an understanding and addressing of the many issues that the families of the missing face.

The issue of missing persons is one relevant to almost all contemporary conflict, with families globally facing the challenges of living with no knowledge of what has happened to loved ones. In the Balkan wars mass executions and unmarked graves left more than 20,000 missing, and conflicts ranging from those in the Caucasus, Libya, D.R. Congo and Nepal have left a legacy of thousands of families seeking information about relatives. In all these contexts families seek to know the fate of sons and husbands, and to retrieve remains where they are dead so that they can be honoured and dignified according to local traditions.   

The International Committee of the Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has a mandate enshrined in international law to protect and assist victims of conflict. Integral to this work is maintaining family links torn apart by conflict, including through providing phone access to those separated from loved ones, and collecting Red Cross Messages from prisoners of war and detainees. In contexts where war is over and persons remain missing, ICRC reminds the authorities of their obligations to provide information to the families of those unaccounted for, and intervenes directly to support the families of the missing. ICRC has acted on the basis of its mandate in Uganda since 1979, and its tracing work continues today, notably with refugees arriving from the DRC and with unaccompanied Ugandan minors linked to the LRA who have been recovered in neighbouring states. Where possible such children are reunited with family members in Uganda.

ICRC has recently begun work with families of the missing in the north, aiming to understand their needs and explore action that can address them. Experience elsewhere allows an appreciation of the needs that disappearance creates, and how it is a novel experience that stands apart from other violations. Answers clearly lie at the heart of families’ demands: there is a need to know the truth of what has happened. Families seek closure above all else. Much of this is encompassed by the ‘right to know’, a demand that families not only have a need but a legal right to the truth, enshrined in both International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law.

Ambiguous loss

Ambiguous loss is the most stressful loss because it defies resolution and creates confused perceptions about who is in or out of a particular family. With a clear-cut loss, there is more clarity – a death certificate, mourning rituals, and the opportunity to honor and dispose remains. (Pauline Boss, Loss, Trauma and Resilience: Therapeutic Work with Ambiguous Loss. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006.)

Much of the work in the north with returnees and others impacted by the conflict has revolved around understandings of trauma, with an emphasis on addressing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Disappearance however is not the same as trauma, and having a missing relative is not a pathology: it is the absence of a loved one and not the event of abduction that characterises their experience. This phenomenon can be understood in terms of ambiguous loss.

Where a family member is absent in an unclear way, the lack of knowledge about the loved one gives rise to a challenge to transform the experience into one with which the family can live. Ambiguous loss occurs where a family member is psychologically present, but physically absent. Ambiguous loss is an explicitly relational perspective, which differs from individualised trauma approaches, such as that of PTSD, in that it characterises the stress as external and ongoing. The impact of ambiguous loss can be seen in the Acholiland: families seek to ensure that the dead are honoured in traditional ways, that the spirits of the dead of the conflict are called back to their homes. For the missing this is impossible as long as hope of return remains and death is unconfirmed. Families talk in indigenous Luo terms of the emotional and psychological impact of ambiguous loss, of the par (worries) and cwer cwiny (bleeding heart) that results.

Resilience

Whilst the rhetoric of truth and the right to know confront ambiguity it is not clear that it does so in a way that can be constructive: even with political will on all sides it seems unlikely that most families in the Acholiland will ever receive answers about their missing loved ones. Driving work with families of the missing around ‘truth’ can reinforce the most negative coping mechanisms in which families become obsessed with achieving closure. In such a situation the challenge is not to promise families an end to ambiguity, but to aid them to live well despite it: the goal is to find meaning in the situation despite the absence of information and persisting ambiguity. Resilience means being able to live with unanswered questions. Instead of the usual question about truth, we ask how people manage to live well despite not knowing.

Families of the missing seek to make rituals for their dead, even where bodies have not been retrieved. Such ritual represents a process that constructs meaning in a socially understood way in society, allowing not just the family to move on from death but the broader community. Such ritual is possible in Acholi culture even without the body, since it is the return of the spirit to the home rather than the treatment of the body that is most important. However, even where death is known (or presumed), many families who lost loved ones in the war have not been able to make appropriate rituals because of a lack of resources to buy the animals that must be slaughtered and to feed the guests. This emphasises that livelihood issues are one of the greatest impacts on families of the missing, as they are on families of the dead. Where husbands and sons are missing, the productive capacity of agricultural families is massively reduced: where a woman heading a household is struggling to pay school fees or simply to feed her family this will be her biggest stressor. Widows who have lost all their sons and are aging and thus less able to work have lost the possibility of economic security.

As returnees have been stigmatised in their communities, so have families of the missing. One father told us when he complained about the family’s poverty, neighbours told him ‘to ask his son in the bush to send him money’: the assumption that those who have not returned are still with the LRA can distance such families from their communities. Where adult men are absent, and households headed by women or youth, they are seen as vulnerable in their community and have been taken advantage of, with land encroached upon or taken altogether. In the fraught environment of the north’s post-conflict land disputes, families of the missing – as other vulnerable families – are losing out.

The need for a victim-centred approach

A victim-centred approach has become a standard claim of approaches to addressing the impacts of conflict and in creating transitional justice mechanisms. It remains however something that, in Uganda as elsewhere, rarely translates into delivering what victims seek. To ensure that approaches to addressing the issue of the missing in northern Uganda are driven by the concerns of victims, abstract and prescriptive external discourses of ‘truth, justice and reparations’ must be challenged by an evidence base of what victims and their communities need to rebuild their lives. Any intervention that targets families of the missing should emerge from the everyday lives of the families themselves and be rooted not only in a universal culture of rights, but in the very local and particular culture of those affected. Wherever possible rather than being implemented solely on the terms of donors and agencies all efforts must be made to ensure that the families themselves have agency in that process. 

Simon Robins was Head of the Gulu sub-delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross from 2004 – 5 and is now working with ICRC on approaches to the missing issue in northern Uganda.  More information about his work can be found at: www.simonrobins.com