Local contexts must begin to better inform Western-based approaches to transitional justice; without them, external interventions often fail to resonate with the values, norms and beliefs of victims. To illustrate this point, this edition of Field Notes focuses on the Acholi concept of kiir, or abomination. Kiir is a transgression of the moral order which is believed to cause serious misfortune, including disease, spiritual haunting and death. Not only has the conflict in northern Uganda created the conditions that have allowed these transgressions to occur; the conflict has also been called an abomination in and of itself. A curse on the people of Acholi and consequent mass displacement are thought to have multiplied acts of abomination as well as reduced the capacity to deal with them: a cleansing ceremony must be performed in order to rectify the impact of kiir.
This Field Note attempts to bring the reader closer to an understanding of local belief systems. Gaining insight into these beliefs can aid international justice systems to better reflect the lived realities of the victim population.
On April 20th 1995, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) entered the trading centre of Atiak and after an intense offensive, defeated the Ugandan army stationed there. Hundreds of men, women, students and young children were then rounded up by the LRA and marched a short distance into the bush until they reached a river. There, they were separated into two groups according to their sex and age. After being lectured for their alleged collaboration with the Government, the LRA commander in charge ordered his soldiers to open fire three times on a group of about 300 civilian men and boys as women and young children witnessed the horror. The LRA commander reportedly in charge – the now indicted second in command Vincent Otti – then turned to the women and children and told them to applaud the LRA’s work. Before leaving, youth were selectively rounded up and forced to join the LRA to serve as the next generation of combatants and sexual slaves.
Twelve years later, the wounds of the massacre have far from healed. As the survivor’s testimony at the beginning of this report puts it, “all of us live as if our bodies do not have souls.” Despite the massacre being one of the largest and by reputation most notorious in the twenty-one year history of the conflict, no official record, investigation or acknowledgement of events exists. No excavation of the mass grave has been conducted and therefore the exact number of persons killed is not known. Survivors literally live with the remains of bullet fragments inside them. Although the massacre site is only a few kilometres from the trading centre, a proper burial of those slaughtered 12 years ago is not complete: as one survivor reminds us, “the bodies of some people were never brought back home, because there were no relatives to carry them home.”
This report seeks to provide the first known written record of events leading to the massacre based on the testimony of 41 survivors and witnesses, as well as prominent community members. It does not claim to be complete, but rather provides a partial record in hopes of prompting the Government to begin an investigation into the multiple massacres that have taken place in Uganda. Ideally, this will lead the Government to advance a transitional justice strategy, together with civil society, that will begin to heal the open wounds of Atiak. To this end, recommendations are advanced in the final sections of this report.
As peace talks between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda proceed in Juba, many anticipate the forthcoming discussion of the third agenda item on Reconciliation and Accountability. The LRA leadership has repeatedly stated that no fighter will return home unless the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court withdraws indictments against four of the remaining five commanders still alive.
This paper suggests ways to move beyond the current impasse. It identifies a series of current justice and reconciliation alternatives available. By placing an emphasis on what can be discussed in the peace talks, it hopes to illustrate means of realizing both peace and justice.
This issue of Field Notes focuses on young mothers who have returned from the captivity of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Mothers are a social group that has not figured widely in the justice, reintegration or reconciliation debate in northern Uganda. Yet a number of justice related concerns were raised by young mothers during the course of JRP research, suggesting the urgent need for a more forward-thinking approach at the Juba Peace Talks.
To stimulate this discussion, the Field Note focuses on the following questions: a) What arethe cultural norms, beliefs and practices aroundmarriage in Acholi-land, and how have these beenaffected by the conflict?; b) What implicationshave abduction, forced soldiering and forcedmarriage had on the practice of marriage foryoung mothers who are no longer in captivity?; c)What are the possible justice and reconciliationissues policy makers need to be aware of andaddress in the current peace process?
This inaugural issue of Field Notes focuses on the process of reconciliation at the grass-roots level in northern Uganda through the story of Alice, a 24 year-old Acholi woman living in Anaka camp. Abducted by a group of the LRA rebels in 1996 when she was fourteen, Alice was forced to kill her sister in order to save her own life. She has been haunted by the experience ever since, and believes that her sister will not let her or her family rest until she reconciles with her past.
Alice’s story provides insight into the spiritual dimensions of Acholi culture, unearthing the possibilities of reconciliation through traditional approaches at the grass-roots level. Many of the Acholi people pursue justice and reconciliation based on an intimate relationship to the spirit worlds. Children and youth returning from the ‘bush’ are often stigmatized and considered to be ‘unclean’ until they reconcile with what they have done or experienced. The institution of cultural leaders representing the majority ethnic group in the north (the Acholi), Ker Kwaro Acholi, have begun to lay the foundation for reviving and adapting traditional approaches, holding symbolic cultural ceremonies to foster social trust and build legitimacy in the process.
Yet as Alice’s story illustrates, the impact of the conflict on social relations – including the legitimacy of the traditional leaders – and the requirements of traditional bylaws and customs are difficult to realize in the current setting of extreme poverty and insecurity in displacement camps. This Issue of Field Notes, then, provides an important preliminary insight into the possibilities of Acholi cultural approaches at the grass-roots level, but also highlights the many challenges and paradoxes to this approach, concluding with a set of recommendations to different stakeholders wishing to support the process.
