Tag Archives: reparations

West Nile Advocacy Training, February 2011

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From February 1-3, JRP’s Community Mobilization and Documentation teams organized an advocacy training workshop for members of the West Nile Kony Rebel War Victims Association (WNKRWVA) in Jershem Hotel in Arua town. The training included participants from Arua, Nebbi, Zombo, Adjumani, Moyo, Yumbe, Koboko and Maracha districts.

On February 4, the Association put the skills obtained in the training to good use. In a meeting facilitated by JRP, WNKRWVA met with local leaders to create awareness about the challenges they are undergoing in pursuing compensation and reparations from the Government of Uganda for atrocities they suffered throughout the conflict.

A statement written by JRP in consultation with the Association was presented to local leaders by the victims. Local leaders present included the Deputy LCV of Arua, the Deputy LCV of Nebbi, and candidates who were standing for elective positions in Arua.

Since this meeting, the group has continued to seek avenues to advance their advocacy demands to their leaders. They are currently undergoing registration of their members in a bid to solidify their demand for reparations. They have opened official files in the office of the LCV and the DISO in Arua district to update local government about their activities and maintain a conducive working relationship.

“Victims of LRA demand compensation,” Daily Monitor, 7 February 2011

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“Victims of LRA demand compensation,” Daily Monitor, 7 February 2011

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1102898/-/c58m75z/-/index.html

By Warom Felix Okello

 

West Nile

Hundreds of people living near Murchison Falls National Park who survived attacks by the Lords’ Resistance Army rebels are demanding compensation from government.

Some of the residents suffered bullet wounds, lost their property while others had their relatives killed during numerous ambushes in the park- the epicentre of the attacks in West Nile.

Under the West Nile Kony Rebel War Victims Association, they are demanding that financial compensation and support be given to them. The association chairman, Mr Sam Buti, said: “Even though we suffered tremendously, we have not received any substantial support from the government which should have ensured our protection,” he said.

Records by the association indicate that Nebbi has 500 victims, Arua 400, Zombo 300, Yumbe 200, Koboko 250 and Adjumani 600. Mr Buti said the over 2,750 war victims are mainly from the urban areas.

“We lack finances to enable us trace those in rural areas. If bomb victims can be compensated within days, why not us?” he asked.

Awaiting return
Ms Norah Fuathuma, whose child was abducted, said she is still waiting for the return of his son whether dead or alive. “I think the ICC should come to our rescue because I think our leaders are not mindful of compensating us. The LRA leaders should in fact be taken to ICC because the use of force is not yielding any fruit,” she said.

Joseph Kony has led the LRA in its guerrilla-style war against the government forces, leaving civilians in northern Uganda caught up in the war. Thousands of people were killed, houses burnt, children and women abducted, as the government sent hundreds of residents into internally displaced camps.

A peace effort between the two groups, mediated by South Sudan’s Riek Machar yielded no fruit in 2006. As the sound of guns fell silent, residents are returning to their villages and rebuilding their lives.

“Reparation need grows in Northern Uganda,” Daily Monitor, 6 December 2010

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“Reparation need grows in Northern Uganda,” Daily Monitor, 6 December 2010

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1067192/-/ckisgiz/-/index.html

By Sam Lawino

 

The need for the government to plan for reparation for people who suffered in the LRA war in Northern Uganda continues to grow with leaders in the region calling for swift action to enable total reconciliation take place.

The leaders said the government’s neglect to include reparation in its program for rehabilitating the region could stagnate other recovery efforts as communities still divisions stemming from the conflict to overcome.

The Assistant Chief Administrative Officer of Gulu, Stephen Oloya, during a conference on justice and reconciliation in Gulu last week said without reparation, the region could again be plunged into more violence.

 “The war is a manmade disaster which means if we do not reconcile there is tendency of recurrence to violence,” Oloya said.

The Arch Bishop of Gulu Arch diocese, John Baptist Odama in a separate meeting said the time has come for the government to do more to help the people reconcile through helping those who lost their relatives and properties recover from their trauma.

Bishop Odama observed that focusing on the well being of the tormented people would not only help them reconcile but can let them sustain peace.

Meanwhile the acting LCV chairman, Makmot Kitara called for both the psychological and economic redress of the people to forget their past gruesome experience to focus on the future.

The government has budgeted for nearly Ugshs30bn under the Peace, Recovery and Development Program (PRDP) for Northern and Eastern parts of Uganda, with no specific attention on reparation for families of those who lost their lives in the wars.

“Compensate northern war victims,” Daily Monitor, 4 December 2010

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“Compensate northern war victims,” Daily Monitor, 4 December 2010

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1065988/-/ckk0twz/-/index.html

By Sam Lawino

 

Gulu

The government has been asked to take the views of war victims in Acholi and Lango Sub-region for urgent reparation.

The call was made by the Gulu assistant Chief Administrative Officer Steven Oloya on Thursday while closing a two-day dialogue on Justice Peace and Reconciliation in Gulu.

He said said without reparation for the people of northern Uganda, the region could still slip back into war because people’s memory of loss of their property and lives of their dear ones is still fresh in their minds. “The war was a manmade disaster which means if we do not reconcile there is tendency of recurrence to violence,” Mr Oloya said. He said forgiveness among the affected communities and paying for lives and property destroyed would bring lasting peace in the region.

The meeting was aimed at enhancing grassroots involvement in transitional justice with support from the South African-based Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. “If government insists to go ahead with building schools, hospitals and roads as a collective life repair of its citizens who suffered in the war without addressing the reparation aspect, the region could recede into more problems in the near future” he noted.

Ms Milly Amoi, the chairperson of Rwot Lakica, a group of 23 formerly abducted women in Lira said government should apologise and address collective needs of its citizens. “We need land to erect houses and keep orphans born in captivity but we have been made poor,” she said.

“Former LRA Victims Still Rejected by their Communities,” Uganda Radio Network, 3 Dec. 2010

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“Former LRA Victims Still Rejected by their Communities,” Uganda Radio Network, 3 Dec. 2010
http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=29959

By James Owich Ochora

A group of women, who were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army when they were teenagers, say reintegration into their societies is a hard and arduous task. They say they are shunned by their families and stigmatized by their communities because of their perceived role in the rebellion.

It is not known exactly how many girls the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted during its protracted war in northern Uganda. The number ranges anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000.

Most of the girls, who were prepubescent youth or teenagers at the time of their abduction, were forced to become sexual slaves of LRA fighters. Those who managed to escape returned with children. They came back traumatized and hardened by the war.

Amoi is a young woman in her early 20s who bore three children while in captivity. She is still fearful of retribution for the war and only identifies herself by her middle name.

Amoi says that when she returned to Uganda in 2002 she expected a warm welcome from her family. She says she was shocked by what awaited her. She was banished from the family land in Lira and is now forced to rent a small plot of land to grow food for her young family.

Amoi says her situation was desperate for several years. She only received a break recently when she obtained a loan from a micro finance organization.

Amoi is a member of Gen Obanga, an association formed by former LRA abductees.

Another member, who requests anonymity, says that like Amoi, she too has no access to land to build a house or cultivate. She says she and her children were rejected by their Bungatira sub-county in Gulu and are forced to live on handouts.

She says her children are regularly the subject of ridicule in her village and she cannot escape the shame of her captivity by the LRA.

The stories of the two women are included in a new compilation called ‘Ododo Wa.’ The compilation is a project of the Our Stories Program, which is documenting the experiences of women in captivity.

Ketty Anyeko, the program officer, says ‘Ododo Wa’ was initiated to give prominence to unrecorded experiences of war. She says that through the stories, the plight of the LRA victims will receive national prominence and cause a meaningful debate on post-war recovery. 

Anyeko says it is hoped that the project will also encourage affected communities to reconcile with the victims and aggressors of the war.

“New Hope for Northern Ugandans Seeking Reparations from Government” Ugandansabroad, 13 October 2010

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“New Hope for Northern Ugandans Seeking Reparations from Government” Ugandansabroad, 13 October 2010

http://ugandansabroad.org/2010/10/13/new-hope-for-northern-ugandans-seeking-reparations-from-the-government/

 By Samuel Ouga

 

KAMPALA, Uganda–

A team of researchers and lawyers will offer free legal services to thousands of survivors and victims of war conflicts in northern Uganda that are seeking reparations from the government.

The team, part of the network of the Northern Uganda Transitional Justice Working Group, hopes to help the victims demand compensation without any fear.

One of these lawyers is Charles Toolit Atiya, the coordinator of the group and a human rights lawyer.

“It’s obvious that after the wars, the structures, pillars and elements of justice got eroded like any other sector,” he told Ugandans Abroad. “Police work was objurgated to the military.”

The group is a large network of 120 organizations in Teso, Lango, Acholi, and West Nile regions.

Collectively, they hope to promote post-conflict justice mechanisms among survivors.    Many hope the government will compensate them for the destruction of their communities, the loss of their relatives’ lives, and disabilities they acquired during the war.

The survivors include those from massacres in Atyak, Mucwini, Mukura, and in West Nile. During the Atyak massacre alone, more than estimated 250 people were killed. Many want the government to also compensate them for when the UPDF occupied their land during the insurgencies.

The group recently set up a survivors’ membership desk, which helps them register their concerns for redress, as well as document their experiences from the conflict.  Atiya would like Ugandans in the diaspora to know that as much as government stepped in to re-establish the pillars of justice in the war-ravaged regions, a lot has to be done in settling offences and damages from recent conflicts.

One major problem is that survivors who are rewarded damages by the Uganda Human Rights Commission die before getting their benefits from the government, and face serious delays in the reparation process.

“We shall work days and nights to ensure that this process is expedited and made shoryer to serve the interests of the victims,” Atiya said.

Lino Owor Ogora, the research and advocacy team leader for the Justice and Reconciliation Project,  which is part of the larger network, told Ugandans Abroad that although guns have gone silent, war is not over for the victims.

“There are overwhelming demands for reparations by survivors and victims of the conflicts,” he said.   According to Ogora, the survivors of the 1989 massacre, have not been compensated by the government.

“In the West Nile, [the] Kony massacre survivors’ association also want compensation from the government,” he said. Many victims of the wars want to know how their friends and family died. Traditional justice can also help in settling some of the conflicts in the villages, which the organizations in the network can help facilitate.

Unfortunately, many of the survivors lack the financial resources and media coverage to pursue justice, since they are primarily impoverished relatives of those who were massacred, or victims trying to live with bullet wounds and amputated limbs.

Free legal services can be an important step in the right direction, since successfully seeking reparations is an expensive and time-consuming undertaking. Victims need support.

“These are not just straightforward cases,” said Toolit. “They are complicated and need a lot of research. And one of our fears is that of intimidation of the victims.”

The network is also pushing for a special reparation program to be created in northern Uganda to address the post-conflict needs of the region, and hope it can be coordinated with those seeking justice for war survivors in other parts of the country.

Samuel Ouga is a Ugandans Abroad reporter based in Kampala, Uganda.

“Families of Mucwini victims want reparation,” Daily Monitor, 20 August 2010

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“Families of Mucwini victims want reparation,” Daily Monitor, 20 August 2010

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/980774/-/x3sbey/-/index.html

 By James Eriku

 Families who lost their dear ones in Mucwini massacre in Kitgum District at the peak of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebellion in 2002 have asked the government to consider compensating them for the loss.

 The bereaved relatives said it is through compensation that they would feel government’s commitment in redressing the plight of children and women orphaned and widowed by the raid.

 “We ask the government to join hands with the cultural institution to compensate the families of those who died, to foster reconciliation and healing,” a statement read by the victims during a memorial prayer at the weekend, reads in part.

 In the early morning of July 24, 2002, the village witnessed one of the bloodiest attacks by the LRA on civilians when 56 people were massacred.

The women and children were massacred as a deliberate act of retaliation by the rebel outfit.

This is after they claimed that one of the sons of the village who had been abducted escaped and returned to the area with their gun.

The rebels allegedly rounded up the community and randomly selected some of the friends and family members to be murdered by axes, hand hoes, machetes and logs.

 Unfair act
They said although they appreciate government’s efforts to compensate lives of people killed by the July 11, 2010 twin bomb blasts in Kampala and those killed in Mukura massacre in 1989, they are not happy that there is no attention directed to survivors of the massacre in Mucwini.

 The most affected parishes in Mucwini by the LRA raids were; Pajong, Yepa, Pubec, Pudo, Ogwapoke, Agwoko, Akara and Bura.