As an organization, we envision a just and peaceful society and believe that it is only by involving and empowering grassroots communities that this can be achieved.
We also believe in the use of commemoration as an important tool. It can be used to help people heal and reconcile. It can also be used to advocate for justice as well as redress for victims and the wider community.
As such, we see the theme of “moving towards economic empowerment amidst torture” as chosen for today, as a call for us all to continue to work together as community members, local and national government, non-governmental organisations and other partners.
As we remember the loss of our loved ones on 20 April 1995, we ask that we all continue to join hands to work for justice and reconciliation. JRP remains committed to support justice, accountability and reconciliation efforts of conflict affected people and we shall always be there for and with victims.
On 15 September 2015, the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) at the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) convened a round-table meeting between 24 local government officials and 16 WAN members. The purpose of the meeting was to explore opportunities for war-affected women to benefit from existing and proposed government programmes as an interim avenue for redress for conflict-related wrongs they experienced during northern Uganda’s longstanding conflicts. The meeting was attended by sub-county chiefs, community development officers (CDOs), district community development officers (DCDOs), chief administrative officers (CAOs) and district speakers from Adjumani district in the West Nile sub-region; Gulu, Amuru, Pader and Nwoya districts in Acholi sub-region; and Lira district in Lango sub-region.
The meeting was supported with funding from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), through a grant from the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women as well as the Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE), Kampala. The objectives of the meeting were to share findings of a recent needs assessment survey conducted by JRP; to explore opportunities for war-affected women under current and proposed government programmes; and to facilitate discussion between war-affected women and their leaders on matters of justice, reconciliation and redress.
This policy brief draws upon the discussions and recommendations that emerged from the meeting and seeks to inform local governments across Uganda on the avenues through which they can work within their existing mandates to better meet the unredressed justice needs of war-affected women through targeted development assistance. It is divided into four sections: a background on transitional justice (TJ) including the major development programmes in the country, conflict sexual violence and the advocacy of the WAN at JRP; the needs and challenges facing war-affected women in northern Uganda; gaps, challenges and opportunities for local governments in meeting these needs and challenges; and practical recommendations for local and national government officials, war-affected women and civil society organisations.
A capacity building workshop is held in Parabongo earlier this year.
With funding support from USAID-SAFE Program, the Community Mobilization department at JRP conducted a series of trainings on themes of memory and reconciliation with 39 members of Community Reconciliation (CORE) teams in seven communities across Lango and Acholi sub-regions. Held in May, 2015, these trainings covered a range of topics including conflict mitigation, peace building, forgiveness and reconciliation, gender mainstreaming in peace building and reconciliation programs, trauma healing and counseling skills, and memory and memorialization. This helped the members of the CORE teams to understand the importance of memorialization and to envision an ideal memory and reconciliation project for their communities.
During the training, the participants examined the following questions in order to come up with an ideal memory project for each of the seven communities:
What are the conflict events that occurred in your areas?
What conflict event do you want to remember?
How would you like to remember it?
What memory projects would promote healing, advocacy and reconciliation for your communities?
What ideal memory project can you implement in your community?
These guiding questions helped the CORE team members to come up with ideas for memory projects in consultation with their respective victims’ communities, which could be implemented within five months in their communities. The seven communities came up with the following innovative ideas for community memory projects which are now nearing successful completion.
Lukodi: The community of Lukodi chose to write a book which documents life before the war, and also emphasizes how culture has been eroded by war and makes suggestions on how it can be rejuvenated. They also chose to legally register the acquired piece of land which serves as the memorial site for the Lukodi massacre of 2004. This would enable the community to transfer a monument for the massacre which is in another area to this land and to develop the site.
Parabongo: The community of Parabongo, with guidance of the CORE team, chose to construct a new memorial stone to replace an older barely visible monument. They envisage having a more visible monument in memory of the people killed by LRA in Parabongo in 2006.
Atiak: Together with the CORE team, the victims’ community in Atiak chose to develop a list of conflict memorabilia to be preserved to document their memory of the war. They also decided to develop a profile of those who were killed in the 1995 massacre, and after verifying the list of names, they will engrave and place it onto a memorial monument. The community also pledged to facilitate a process of community-led documentation through the use of arts to preserve memories of events that became a turning point in the lives of the people of Atiak at the peak of the war.
Burcoro: The community of Burcoro chose to construct a monument in memory of the people killed during the military operation led by NRA in Burcoro in 1991. They wished to preserve memories of state-led atrocities that were never acknowledged.
Odek: The people of Odek also felt they were never publicly acknowledged to have suffered during the LRA war. To them, putting up a memorial monument would communicate what they went through in order for them to also be considered for post-conflict reconstruction services. They, therefore, chose to construct a memory stone in memory of the mass killing by LRA in Odek.
Barlonyo: The community of Barlonyo decided to beautify their memorial site in order to celebrate the lives of their loved ones who perished in the 2002 massacre. They chose to fence and beautify the memorial site with a variety of beautiful flowers blooming in gardens adjacent to well-paved walkways.
Abia: In Abia, the community chose to erect a monument in the form of a statue of a helpless woman which depicts their plight in the aftermath of the massacre of 2004. They also decided to make a painting on the wall of memorial school in memory of their war experiences.
JRP pledged to support the seven communities in the implementation of their respective community memory projects, which have been shaping well over the last five months. As the projects near completion, JRP is proud to reaffirm its support to showcase community-relevant approaches to justice, healing and reconciliation.
Families of the Missing perform a song during a dialogue in Lamogi sub-county, Amuru on 26 August 2015.
As northern Uganda transitions amidst post-war recovery and reconciliation efforts, the issue of enforced disappearances and missing victims of mass atrocities during the war stands as a key obstacle in the process of healing, social repair, and advancement of transitional justice in the region. Working in collaboration with families of the missing, JRP has been instrumental in implementing The Right to Know campaign which spearheads efforts at documenting and promoting awareness of the plight of the missing persons and the anguish of their families.
Furthering its commitment to advocate for the marginalized needs of missing persons and their families and seek redress for their issues ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30, 2015, JRP has partnered with several key civil society organizations to undertake a series of focused activities in the last week of August, 2015. Seeking to embed advocacy at different levels of the society in northern Uganda, these activities open unprecedented spaces for dialogue and collaboration with diverse stakeholders including traditional and religious leaders, civil society organizations, community members, victims groups and local leaders across different sub-regions.
As part of these efforts, a community dialogue was facilitated in Lamogi sub-country, Amuru district, on August 26, 2015, by JRP in partnership with Refugee Law Project (RLP) and Justice and Peace Commission (JPC). The community dialogue brought together 150 community members, constituted primarily by families of missing persons, from across eight parishes in the region. It also witnessed the participation of prominent officials including LC-I, LC-III and members of Peace Committees in Parabongo. A group of professional counsellors offering psychological support services during the community dialogue were also mobilized by RLP. The objective of the dialogue was twofold:
To elicit participation of families of missing persons to assess their current needs for redress and lay strategies to effectively advocate for accountability for the missing persons and raise awareness about their issues;
To sensitize local leaders and sub-county-officials to the challenges faced by families of missing persons so that they are equipped to ably represent and respond to their needs and collaborate in advocacy for redress.
Creating a safe space for expression of repressed emotions and sharing of key issues by families of missing persons, the community dialogue addressed several pertinent questions. These included the families sharing the circumstances under which their loved ones went missing at the peak of the armed conflict and the subsequent effects on them which brought to the fore myriad unaddressed psychological, legal, administrative, social and economic challenges experienced by the families. Discussions around community-led search efforts highlighted their attempts to visit reception centers and use radio talk shows to urge the return of the missing persons. The role of other stakeholders foregrounded documentation efforts by sub-county officials at profiling the missing persons and updating the lists, although they were inadequate and required proactive follow-ups.
Echoing their demands for justice, the families voiced the need for livelihood and economic support for themselves, along with pressing for concerted efforts at documentation of the missing. They also expressed eagerness to form “Community Task Force” groups to raise awareness of their issues and advocate for redress. The need to make visible and prioritize the issues of families of missing persons in the national agenda, which has so far marginalized their concerns, also emerged as a key point as they charted the way forward.
Lamogi sub-county official speaks during a community dialogue with the families of missing persons in Amuru on 26 August 2015.
Underscoring the need to synergize local and national efforts on this issue, the next event is a Sub-Regional Dialogue which will bring together families of the missing, civil society organizations, and religious and traditional leaders from Teso, Lango, Acholi and West Nile on 28 August for a procession demonstrating solidarity with families of missing persons and a multi-stakeholder dialogue in Lira.
Shilpi Shabdita is an intern with the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s Community Mobilisation team. She is pursuing a Masters’ degree in International Peace Studies with a specialization in Grassroots-level Conflict Analysis and Transformation at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, USA.
A woman speaks during a dialogue held in Abia, Aleptong district as part of JRP’s Regional Reconciliation project, 5 June 2015.
The Justice and Reconciliation Project’s Regional Reconciliation initiative is a one year program designed to foster social cohesion and reconciliation in northern Uganda following the growing tension among communities in the north. Northern Uganda went through a number of conflicts and the most recent was that of LRA war that left a land mark effect on the population: the violent nature of the war caused tension among ethnic groups in northern Uganda as some ethnic groups are accusing other ethnic groups for their suffering during the war. To improve on the fragmented social fabric of life in northern Uganda, JRP’s project seeks to reconcile the people of Acholi and Lango sub regions by combining the effort of every stakeholder in peace building processes.
With funding support from USAID’s Supporting Access to Justice, Fostering Equity and Peace program, JRP worked in four districts in northern Uganda (Amuru, Gulu, Lira and Aleptong) to foster social cohesion and reconciliation among the Acholi and the people of Lango sub-regions. In enrolling the project in the four districts, we introduced our organization and the project to districts, sub-counties, cultural institutions and civil society offices to help them understand the initiative and to seek their collaboration in fostering reconciliation within communities and between the people of Acholi and Lango. With great enthusiasm, local government officials in the districts and sub counties, CSOs, cultural and religious leaders, peace committees and victims and survivors of war all embraced the program and joined together to support regional reconciliation initiative.
“This is one area that no one has taken seriously during this post conflict reconciliation era,” said the LC III Chairperson of Agweng sub-county in Lira, “The war left societies torn apart and people are living in fear of each other including people in my area. I’m so much in support of this reconciliation project and I will give full support to the program.”
A man speaks during a community dialogue in Abia, Aleptong district as part of JRP’s regional reconciliation project, 6 June 2015.
In order to make total peace possible in this post conflict period, forgiveness and reconciliation are two things that needs to be emphasized. Having been hurt and violated immensely during the conflict, many individuals, communities and groups still point fingers and blame one another for making them suffer as individuals, community or as an ethnic group.
Since the introduction of regional reconciliation project in Lango and Acholi sub regions, there has been overwhelming positive responses and support from local government leaders, cultural and religious leaders and the community members to contribute to addressing the legacy of war in northern Uganda to avoid re-occurrence of further conflict. In Atiak sub-county, Amuru district, the sub-county Community Development Officer (CDO) expressed with deep sorrow the bitter relationship that exist between the Acholi people of Atiak sub county and the neighbouring Madi of west Nile that escalated due the LRA war. This has affected trade and intermarriages between the two communities. To him the reconciliation process is desperately needed in northern Uganda. While in Abia sub-county, Alebtong District, victims and survivors of war bitterly expressed their anger for bearing the consequence of the war and for not being repaired for the atrocities committed to them. However, they showed the heart to forgive and reconcile and to cooperate with other stakeholders in the social reconstruction process.
The willingness and active participation of various stakeholders in this project is a big boost to the project success and in enhancing sustainability of reconciliation process in northern Uganda. For example, CDOs, Sub- County Chiefs and LC III’s are far playing lead roles in mobilizing for reconciliation processes in each district while traditional and religious leaders are providing technical support to achieve reconciliation within communities and at regional level. Mobilization efforts and technical skills being provided by CSOs in facilitating capacity building workshops on reconciliation themes is also acknowledged in contributing to the success of regional reconciliation.
It is our hope that when this collaboration is enhanced, regional reconciliation will definitely be achieved on a silver plate.
Grace Acan is a Project Assistant with the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s Community Mobilisation department.
“Thank you for bringing our son back to the soil where he was abducted from.” – Richard’s uncle
There was an air of excitement in Pagoro Kal village on Wednesday. On this sunny afternoon in Lamogi sub-county, Amuru District, community members were rushing to put final touches to welcome one of their sons home. Richard was abductedby the LRA in September 1996 when he was about 10 years old his uncle, Mr Latim, told us. Since then, his had parents died and his remaining relatives had heard no news about him.
It was a big surprise, then, when his uncle received a phone call telling him that his nephew had returned from captivity in the Central African Republic. After meeting his uncle at at the Army Barracks in Gulu, it was decided that an Acholi traditional ceremony known as nyono tong gweno (‘stepping on the egg’) would be performed at Richard’s ancestral hometo cleanse him of any evil spirits that he may have encountered during his time away from home.
On the day of the ceremony, the atmosphere was one of a celebration. About 200 people were in attendance, including Richard’s relatives, community members, as well as representatives of the Ugandan army and a few NGOs. People danced to music blaring from a speaker system and apopular local musician, Tam Noffy, performed songs about the value of human rights, forgiveness and the beginning a new life.
Richard’s arrival, though, was an event in of itself. Around 2pm, the excitement reached tipping point when a convoy of vehicles was spotted heading towards the home of hisfamily. There was a flurry of ululation and cries of “latin wa!” (“our child”) as everyone rushed to see Richard. As people gathered around the vehicle, community elders placed a symbolic stick and egg at the entrance to the home, and when Richard exited the vehicle he was given guidance on what procedure he should follow in order to comply with Acholi tradition. After this he was lifted onto the shoulders of the eager crowd and taken to the front of a tent where his hand was shaken by people excited to meet him. Watching Richard’s heroic welcome home was an incredible experience for the three members of the JRP team that attended, as this was the first time to witness this particular ceremony for them.
JRP has done numerous studies examining such rituals and the impact they have. In Roco Wat I Acoli, the adaptation of traditional cleansing rituals for returnees were examined. In Denis’s story,we documented the experience of a young man who went through a ceremony to appease the spirits of the 27 people he killed while in captivity. Also, in Gender and Generation in Acholi Traditional Justice Mechanisms, we documented attitudes of women and youth towards traditional ceremonies. Each of these studies suggest the therapeutic value of them and the marked improvements in the behaviour and attitudes of the people that participate in them. But while the ceremonies have value, these reports also found that their success is not always straightforward. For instance, where participants understand the significance of the ceremonies, a positive change was generally seen, but where they didn’t there was significantly less likelihood of positive change. So while Richard’s community was very welcoming at this initial stage in his return, the complexity of reintegration of the formerly-abducted, former combatants and others like him remains an integral issue.
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.
