This policy brief explores the continued relevance of truth‐seeking as an instrument of transitional justice and peace building in Northern Uganda. Over two years after the dissolution of the Juba Peace Talks in November 2008, several questions remain unanswered regarding how truth‐seeking might promote accountability and reconciliation in Northern Uganda.
From November 2010 to February 2011, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), in collaboration with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), organized a series of consultations with victims of conflict in Northern Uganda, entitled ‘Enhancing Grassroots Involvement in Transitional Justice Debates.’ The consultations, held in the Acholi/Lango, Teso, and West Nile sub‐regions, focused on truth‐telling, traditional justice, reparations and gender justice within the context of Uganda’s transitional justice processes.
This policy brief captures victims’ views on truth‐seeking in Northern Uganda. During the consultations it became evident that victims across Northern Uganda want to understand what exactly took place during the conflict and why. They insist that only after learning the truth will they be able to forgive and reconcile with the perpetrators. This policy brief is intended to inform relevant stakeholders of the need for a truth‐telling process in Uganda, the challenges such a process presents, and propose a way forward for the Ugandan truth‐telling process.
After more than two decades of conflict, victims, the Government and civil society in Uganda are grappling with how to implement effective transitional justice (TJ) mechanisms in the country. Informed by widespread consultations with victims across the greater northern region of Uganda, this policy brief focuses specifically on the right to reparations and aims to highlight the most pressing reparations needs identified by victims. The briefing concludes with specific recommendations to concerned parties, namely the imperative need for a national framework to guide reparations processes in Uganda.
From November 2010 to February 2011, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), in collaboration with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), organized a series of consultations with victims of the conflict in Northern Uganda, entitled ‘Enhancing Grassroots Involvement in Transitional Justice Debates.’ The consultations, held in the Acholi/Lango, Teso and West Nile sub‐regions, focused on truth‐telling, traditional justice, reparations and gender justice within the context of Uganda’s transitional justice processes.
The purpose of this briefing is to share the consultations’ findings on reparations and inform stakeholders on specific policy and programming needs which will best assist victims and their families. By highlighting the issues identified by victims and making specific recommendations to concerned parties, unique insight is provided into the right to reparations and the specific reparations mechanisms needed to support efforts for sustainable peace and reconciliation in Northern Uganda.
The title of this policy brief is derived from an emotional response of a participant at the West Nile regional consultation (held 24-25 November 2010) when discussing the topic of reparations. Although compensation forms one part of the reparations process, this phraseology reflects the state of mind of many victims and affected communities in Northern Uganda. They view compensation as a key component of justice.
This policy brief assesses the continuing relevance of traditional justice in Northern Uganda. Over two years after the dissolution of the Juba peace negotiations in November 2008, several questions continue to remain unanswered regarding how traditional justice mechanisms can be utilized to promote accountability and reconciliation. More specifically, questions persist as to whether traditional justice can be utilized to address war crimes and crimes against humanity. There is still uncertainty in the field as to how traditional approaches can complement the wider national and international processes of transitional justice.
Between November 2010 and February 2011, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), in collaboration with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), organized a series of consultations with victims of conflict in Northern Uganda, entitled ‘Enhancing Grassroots Involvement in Transitional Justice Debates.’ The consultations, held in the Acholi/Lango, Teso and West Nile sub‐regions, focused on truth‐telling, traditional justice, reparations and gender justice within the context of Uganda’ s transitional justice processes. Based on views from grassroots communities, this policy brief notes that traditional mechanisms are still considered by many in Northern Uganda as mechanisms that can promote reconciliation and healing within war‐affected communities. It concludes with a series of recommendations to the Government of Uganda, cultural institutions and the International Criminal Court.
Have you seen this boy? Nevil has been missing since September 2002.
This month, JRP is pleased to introduce a new quarterly newsletter, Community Voices. The newsletter aims to provide a series of brief and simple narratives from victims of conflict in northern Uganda and is compiled by our Community Mobilization department.
This first edition focuses on West Nile and profiles two women who were affected by ambushes on the highway en route to Arua. On September 19, 2002, the LRA attacked a Nile Coach bus travelling northwest from Karuma. Norah’s son, Nevil Washibra, was abducted by the LRA and has not been heard from since. Jane survived death during the same incident and now lives with a scar of bullet fragments, an amputated arm and loss of sight in her left eye. Norah and Jane’s stories are told in their own words. In addition to profiling Jane and Norah, this edition highlights community theatre in the Lukodi community in Gulu district.
We invite victims and survivors to send in their individual or group stories for publication in future editions of the newsletter. For more information, please email info@justiceandreconciliation with “Community Voices” in the subject line.
To view the first edition of Community Voices, please click here.
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.
LRA war victims want the report on the attacks to be made public.
Victims of the LRA rebels’ massacre in Lukodi village, Bungatira Sub County in Gulu district want government and the International Criminal Court to share findings of forensic investigations into the attack in the area by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.
This is contained in a report that was presented by Justice and Reconciliation project – JRP at a function held on Wednesday to remember the victims of the 2004 attack.
More than 60 people were massacred and dozens more injured and abducted from Lukodi when the LRA rebels attacked the area on May 19th 2004.
A team of officials from the ICC are said to have conducted investigations immediately after the massacre but the findings have never been shared. The victims say they don’t know who to hold accountable for the attack because of the absence of the report.
56-year-old Doreen Abalo, who lost her husband and many other relatives in the massacre says it is still a pain to wake up to the memories of the gruesome murder. She recalls that on that day, all family members were sleeping in a hut when they were woken up by the cries of people being butchered by the rebels at around 4:00am.
Abalo says a child rebel attacked the house ordering them out. Her husband was hit several times on the head with a panga and he died instantly.
She adds that three of her children were abducted and she has never seen them to date.
Another victim, Nelson Oloya Ibango-loch breaks down while narrating how he narrowly escaped as rebels fired several bullets at him.
Yesterday, JRP launched its latest report, The Lukodi Massacre: 19th May 2004, through a community outreach event in Lukodi Training Center. The event was attended by dozens of community members, JRP staff, women from Child Voice International, and the Rwot of Patiko. Details of a policy-level launch in Gulu Town are forthcoming.
On May 19, 2004, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) raided the village of Lukodi and carried out a massacre that led to the death of over sixty people. Lukodi, a village that is located 17 kilometers north of Gulu Town, is one of the many villages in northern Uganda that suffered from persistent LRA attacks. After the massacre, the community was displaced to Coope IDP camp for three years and only began returning home after the dissolution of the Juba peace talks in 2008.
This report reconstructs a narrative of the Lukodi massacre and the major events that unfolded on that day. The documentation centers on learning the experiences of the community prior to and during the massacre, the impact the massacre has had on the population, and the transitional justice (TJ) challenges they continue to face today.
This week victims from conflict in northern Uganda will be remembering the past and honoring the dead through annual memorial services.
On Thursday, May 19, the community in Lukodi will host memorial prayers at the sub-county headquarters. On Friday, May 20, Arua will host the 1st Annual Memorial Service for victims of conflict in West Nile, organized by the West Nile Kony Rebel War Victims Association.
For more information on both events, contact Sylvia Opinia at +256 471 433008.
Update 21 May 2011: The memorial prayers in West Nile were cancelled by the office of the District Police Commander (DPC) in Arua for security reasons the night before the event, as it allegedly coincided with on-going countrywide demonstrations over rising costs of food and fuel (‘Walk-to-Work’). Another date for this event has yet to be decided and communicated by the district.
The memorial monument stone in Lukodi remembers those who died in the massacre
On the 19th of May 2004, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) raided the village of Lukodi, and carried out a massacre that led to the death of over sixty people. Lukodi village is located seventeen kilometers north of Gulu town, in Gulu district. It is one of the many villages in northern Uganda that suffered from persistent LRA attacks, leading to the death of several people. Northern Uganda has been under conflict for over twenty years, as a result of a civil war waged mainly between the rebels of the LRA and the Government of Uganda (GoU). The impacts of the conflict have been devastating, characterized by the displacement of over 1.8 million people into IDP camps, loss of lives, and abduction of over 38,000 children by the LRA to serve as child soldiers and sex slaves.1 Lukodi, like many other villages in northern Uganda, was severely affected by the conflict, leading to the displacement of the inhabitants of the village who were forced to seek refuge in the congested camp of Coope2 for three years. The people of Lukodi were able to begin returning to their homes as a result of the relative peace which ensued in northern Uganda after the conclusion of the Juba peace talks in November 2008.
This report reconstructs a narrative of the Lukodi massacre and the major events that unfolded on that fateful day of 19th May 2004. The documentation centered on learning the experiences of this community prior to and during the massacre, the impact the massacre had on the population and the transitional justice challenges they continue to face today. It tells the story of a people that suffered from a horrible attack on their village in 2004, and were subsequently displaced for almost three years. It further looks at the current reintegration challenges faced by the people of Lukodi, now that the people are returning from displacement and trying to rebuild their lives, but in the process have to struggle with daunting resettlement challenges, in addition to complex questions on how to approach issues of reconciliation between victims and alleged perpetrators within the community. Many war affected communities in northern Uganda are faced with a similar scenario as they struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives in the wake of the conflict, characterized by difficulty to cope with their trauma, and challenges in the pursuit of their justice and reconciliation needs, specifically the need for accountability and reparations.
This report also briefly reflects on the visit and investigation carried out by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Lukodi. As revealed by respondents, the Office of the Chief Prosecutor and the Ugandan Police visited Lukodi several times in the wake of the massacre, with the aim of gathering evidence for the case against the LRA. The report shows that, however well intended this intervention may have been, it has failed to serve the justice needs of the people in Lukodi. Rather than providing them with a solution, the ICC intervention has left the victims with more questions than answers regarding how to approach the question of accountability for perpetrators. Giving the victims a voice, this report therefore makes suggestions to the policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholders on how to address accountability issues using more appropriate means.
The report finally concludes with recommendations to the Government of Uganda and other stakeholders, in line with views and opinions gathered from the people of Lukodi. The people of Lukodi call for reparations, sharing of the findings of the official investigations carried out after the massacre, support for community reconciliation initiatives and a truth-telling process in which the community, the LRA and the Government of Uganda will take part. These views are shared by many war affected people all over northern Uganda, and therefore require the attention of the stakeholders in question.
