Voices is looking for contributors to its next issue. This issue is centred on children born of war whose needs, while important, are often ignored and overlooked.
In this issue we hope to explore opportunities and challenges for children of born of war by providing a space for previously unheard voices.
We welcome a variety of content for this issue including standard articles and essays, photographs and photo essays, poetry, drawings, paintings and any other creative contributions.
To contribute
If you want to contribute to this issue, please get in touch with the Voices editorial team via email at voices@justiceandreconciliation.com to share your ideas.
Please bear in mind that we use a three-stage process for accepting, reviewing and editing submissions:
Submission of story ideas to the editorial team based on the given theme an issue is based on. This may be in the form of a brief (150-200 word) title and abstract, or simply in the form of a proposed title.
Submission of a first draft after a story idea is approved by the editorial team.
Liaising with editors and submission of final draft.
Voices is a publication of the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) which provides a space for victim-centred views on transitional justice. It aims to be a regular, open platform for victims and key stakeholders to dialogue on local and national transitional justice developments. Past issues have dealt with thematic areas such as amnesty, reparations, truth-telling, accountability and sexual- and gender-based violence. We welcome the submission of articles from conflict-affected community members, academics, civil society and government representatives on each issues’ given theme.
A decade after the publication of “Roco Wat I Acoli”, JRP’s flagship report on traditional approaches to reintegration and justice, we’ve published a special issue of our magazine Voices to look back on the past ten years and look forward to the future.
The November issue of Voices, which happens to be the tenth issue of the magazine, is tied into JRP’s celebration of the ten years of work it has done with war-affected communities in northern Uganda.
This issue features articles by Vincent Oyet, a member of the Lukodi Massacre Memorial Association, as well as by members of the Mukura Memorial Development Initiative, which JRP has worked closely with over the years. Other highlights include articles by Sylvia Opinia on the contributions of the Women’s Advocacy Network to transitional justice discourse, Philipp Shulz on the importance of victim-centric research, as well as a special interview with co-founder Erin Baines.
This special issue of Voices looks back at the past 10 years of transition, justice and reconciliation in northern Uganda and at the Justice and Reconciliation Project.
Articles include features from members of the Lukodi Massacre Memorial Association, the Mukura Memorial Development Initiative and JRP.
‘Memory as a tool for redress, healing and reconciliation’. Voices, August 2015 issue.
2015 marks ten years since the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) began working towards victim-centred transitional justice in northern Uganda. As we celebrate this landmark, I am excited to invite you to contribute to a special issue of JRP’s magazine Voices.
Articles featured in this forthcoming issue will:
Examine the relevance of transitional justice in 2015
Highlight the accomplishment of groups and communities in the past decade, and
Discuss best practices in justice and reconciliation in the context of JRP’s work with conflict-affected communities across northern Uganda over the past ten years.
A wide range of stakeholders in JRP’s work –from community group members to academics to civil society and government practitioners – are asked to share their views on past efforts in and the future of achieving justice and reconciliation in northern Uganda.
If you would like to contribute to this issue or request further information, please contact Oryem Nyeko at onyeko@justiceandreconciliation.com. Please note the deadline of 25 September 2015 for the submission of story ideas.
UPDATE, 28 September 2015: Please note the deadline of 2 October 2015 as a the deadline for article drafts.
Since 2012, Voices has featured over 130 articles on victim-centred views on a range of timely transitional justice issues including amnesty, reparations, truth-telling, SGBV and accountability. Limited copies of the magazine are available for free in print and online. To view past issues visit http://voices.justiceandreconciliation.com.
Submission guidelines for Voices magazine
28 September 2015
Voices is a publication of the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) which provide platforms for victim-centred views on transitional justice. Past issues have dealt with thematic areas such as amnesty, reparations, truth-telling, accountability and sexual- and gender-based violence. Wewelcome the submission of articles from conflict-affected community members, academics, civil society and government representatives on each issues’ given theme.
Writers should keep the following in mind the following as they prepare to contribute to the magazine.
JRP’s working definition of ‘transitional justice’
According to JRP’s working definition, transitional justice (TJ) is a response to widespread human rights abuses for situations of conflict transitioning to situations of peace. It aims to prevent such atrocities from happening again includes processes such as criminal prosecution, reparations, truth-telling and traditional justice.
Article requirements for Voices
Articles may be in the form of opinion, feature, interviews or news pieces, depending on the subject matter and the interests of the writer in identifying the most effective way of presenting their writing.
Articles are between 800-1200 words.
Voices uses UK spelling
Citations are important, but as Voices is not an academic publication please do not use footnotes to cite references.
Voices’ sections
Community Voices presents stories from the perspective of conflict-affected communities and individuals. These may be written by or about community or individual experiences, views, aspirations or challenges. Articles in this category are often classified as ‘Feature’ articles, but may utilise any style of writing.
Opinion articles express the writers’ opinions and critiques on a given issue. Writers are encouraged to be solution oriented and to provide recommendations where possible.
The Research Corner highlights on-going transitional justice research and provides a forum for sharing knowledge, feedback, lessons and upcoming research projects. Articles in this section may be in the form of summarised field notes and reflections, book reviews or proposed ideas for further or ongoing research.
News articles present information about recent developments in transitional justice. Writers should take into consideration the timeliness of the publication of the issue to which the writer intends to submit to.
Submission process
The editorial team at Voices uses a three-stage process for accepting, reviewing and editing submissions:
Submission of story ideas to the editorial team based on the given theme an issue is based on. This may be in the form of a brief (150-200 word) title and abstract, or simply in the form of a proposed title.
Submission of a first draft after a story idea is approved by the editorial team.
Liaising with editors and submission of final draft.
Writers are encouraged to submit high quality photographs and a brief biography (60 words) along with their articles. Please ensure that photographs are separately attached in emails (i.e. not placed in a document, but rather attached as a separate file). Biographies may contain links to email addresses or websites of the writers.
Submissions must be made by email to the editorial team at voices@justiceandreconciliation.com.
Copyright and representations
By submitting content to Voices you represent and warrant that you hold exclusive rights to reproduce,
distribute, adapt, transmit, and publicly display that content and the authority to grant publication rights to JRP and Voices.
Other considerations
In submitting to Voices, please note the following:
Voices is unable to compensate writers for their submissions.
Prior to submission, articles cannot have been published elsewhere.
Voices is not obligated to publish a submission
Voices reserves the right to edit articles in order for them to comply with these guidelines
Articles published by Voices cannot be published by the author anywhere else within three months without the express consent of JRP/Voices.
Welcome to this issue of JRP’s newsletter. This month we highlight work JRP’s Gender Justice and Community Mobilisation departments have been doing, including the results of research on the reintegration challenges of children born of war in northern Uganda and reconciliation initiatives in Acholi and Lango sub-regions.
Sharing victim-centred views on justice and reconciliation with JRP’s Voices
Voices is JRP’s platform for victim-centred views on transitional justice.
Since 2012, JRP’s Voices magazine has shared victim-centred views on justice and reconciliation in northern Uganda. The magazine accommodates varied views on transitional justice, peacemaking and post-conflict with issues presenting views on reparations, truth-telling, accountability and more. This month, we are launching the new face of Voices at its own website: http://voices.justiceandreconciliation.com.
You can read all older articles as well as newer articles under the Community Voices, Opinion and News sections. For submission guides and instructions on how you can contribute, contact Oryem Nyeko at onyeko@justiceandreconciliation.com.
JRP launches situational brief on children born of war
‘Children born of war’ are children that were conceived as a result of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. These include children born in captivity and children born of war-related rape or defilement. On 16 June, the International Day of the African Child, JRP launched a situational brief presenting the findings of research into the reintegration challenges of these children and their mothers in northern Uganda. The brief, titled ‘Alone Like a Tree: Reintegration Challenges Facing Children Born of War and Their Mothers in Northern Uganda’, is the result of consultations held with children born of war in Lango, Acholi and West Nile sub-regions of Uganda.
Alone Like a Tree also presents recommendations for stakeholders and government to take steps to address the issues identified.
JRP implements regional reconciliation initiative in Acholi and Lango
A woman speaks during a dialogue held in Abia, Aleptong district as part of JRP’s Regional Reconciliation project, 5 June 2015.
This year, the Justice and Reconciliation Project is implementing an initiative titled ‘Across Regional Boundaries: Promoting Regional Reconciliation in Acholi and Lango Sub-Regions’ with support from USAID-SAFE. The project aims to promote community conflict memory and foster reconciliation at community and regional level through community-based peace structures, dialogues and training.
Read blogs and find out more about this initiative here.
Patrick Odong, a multi-talent
Every newsletter, we’ll be profiling a member of JRP’s team. This month, Patrick Odong, our Programme Driver and Logistics Assistant is our subject.
Patrick does a lot at the Justice and Reconciliation Project: he drives its vehicles, serves as a member of its procurement committee helping with procurement of office assets and equipment, and administers JRP’s asset registry. In addition to all of this, he also helps in coordinating transport at JRP. It was this diversity that has kept him working with JRP since he joined in May 2006 as a driver.
Patrick comes from a family with a rich history of human rights advocacy – including his father who was a human rights activist – which is something that was a contributing factor to his with adapting to the organization. Witnessing JRP’s work first-hand, he says, allowed him to learn about vulnerable people on the outskirts of Gulu as well as “the flow of justice.”
“JRP was [an] organisation that worked with grassroots people so that their problems were heard.”
A highlight of his time at JRP was the exposure JRP had when a petition by the Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) was presented to the Ugandan Parliament. “That was a real fight,” says Patrick.
Other highlights were JRP’s publication of the field notes on massacres in places like Burcoro, Atiak and Lukodi: “To be the first to come out with such things means something.”
Patrick Odong giving Women’s Advocacy Network women’s group in Barlonyo tips on how to use herbicides consignment as part of Redress for SGBV project in 2015.
Patrick has a certificate of defensive driving from Uganda Police in conjunction with Acholi Private Sector and has driving experience with NGOs for 15 years. He also has experience a teacher by profession and studied education at Gulu Core Teachers College and taught in Laroo Adra P7 school which specializes teaching deaf children. He also ran a family business and worked in the Ugandan military during the insurgency as a driver.
As an addition to Patrick’s diverse experience, Patrick has enjoyed the fact that working at JRP has allowed him to develop other skills. “Having come in as a driver I was given access to other opportunities – like communications skills.”
Patrick wants to see the women JRP works with have justice in the future. He wants to live in a peaceful environment. What is Patrick’s goal for the future? “My goal is having peace.”
Photo: Giving women’s group in Barlonyo tips on how to use herbicides consignment in 2015.
Peace and Conflict Calendar – Previous and Upcoming dates
Acholi Pii Massacre, 4 July 1996
Mukura Massacre, 11 July 1989
Mucwini Massacre, 22 July 2002
Namokora Massacre, 16 August 1986
See the rest of JRP’s Peace and Conflict Calendar here.
Connect with JRP
Thank you for reading this update! Continue to connect with us on our LinkedIn page. Also, remember to visit our website for our latest blogs and updates on transitional justice developments in northern Uganda and Africa’s Great Lakes region. You can also participate in the discussions on our Facebook page and on our twitter profile!
On Wednesday, June 24, 1981, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) attacked civilians who had taken refuge at Ombaci College, four kilometres from Arua town in Uganda’s West Nile sub-region. The “Ombaci Massacre” eventually claimed the lives of close to 100 people and left countless wounded.
In 2013, the Justice and Reconciliation Project be- gan conducting research for a report which would document the events of that day, its aftermath and the recommendations of the survivors and their descendants. It Was Only the Gun Speaking, With a Pool of Blood Flowing (see an excerpt on page 18), JRP’s 20th Field Note, details how today the remnants of this massacre still exist for many of the survivors of the massacre: the children that were orphaned on that day live with lost opportunities for education, financial and emotional support, while survivors who lost property continue to seek compensation.
Many survivors also suffer from health complications and injures. As such, it is evident that reparations form a significant part of the call for redress for survivors of the Ombaci massacre, however a recurring theme that surfaced among them was the call for reconciliation and dialogue among the different peoples of northern Uganda.
Many witnesses of the massacre have expressed the belief that the massacre was an act of revenge by the majority Acholi UNLA for the treatment the Acholi people had received at the hands of Idi Amin’s soldiers when he was in power. This was also reflected during a dialogue held at the Ombaci Catholic Mission, as part of the annual com- memoration of the massacre in June this year, many speeches by survivors, community members and political leaders called for reconciliation and dialogue between the people of Acholi and West Nile. This issue of Voices magazine examines the importance, role and implementation of regional reconciliation in the vein of that which was called for in Ombaci in northern Uganda’s transitional justice.
After years of engaging with survivors of conflict in northern Uganda, the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s work has revealed sexual and gender based violence as one of the most complex defining characteristics of the war that took place in the region. As such, addressing the issue has proven to be one of the biggest challenges facing peace-builders. In JRP’s recent Field Note – The Beasts at Burcoro – community members describe the molestation, rape and torture both men and women suffered at the hands of the National Resistance Army’s 22nd Battalion in 1991. Over twenty years after the occurrence, many survivors still harbour the lingering effects of the attack because mechanisms designed to address their specific needs have not been provided for them. This issue of Voices magazine deals with this very relevant aspect of transitional justice today, and examines the ways in which it can be addressed. Read more here (pdf)
Women march in Abuja following the abduction of over 200 school girls by Boko Haram rebels. Picture courtesy of AFP.
Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Lina Zedriga Waru for the next issue of Voices. Lina is a passionate advocate for the greater involvement of women in building and sustaining peace. We talked at length about how during the 2006-2007 Juba peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA she and others rallied to have the then neglected voices of women heard during the negotiations. Eventually hundreds of women of different ethnicity and backgrounds, from different parts of Uganda and other countries were mobilised to travel to Juba and join the talks.
“It was so powerful that when we reached Gulu, the President himself, who had refused to see us, decided to fly to Gulu to meet us,” she said, “The fact that we came from beyond [Acholi] demanding that this war must end and demanding that peace must be given a chance was very powerful.”
The women’s “march to Juba” was an incredible success and eventually culminated with the handing over of a symbolic “peace torch” from the contingent of women to Riek Machar, who was then the mediator of the peace talks. Most significantly, elements of the calls their group made in the “Women’s Protocol for Peace” that they delivered in Juba were included in the final written agreement.
While discussing the value of collective advocacy by women, we also discussed the recent abduction of over 200 Nigerian school girls in the north of the country by Boko Haram rebels as well as the efforts by groups of women, including the mothers of the missing, to draw attention to it. Sympathy has poured out from all around the world and many have observed that it harkens back to the dark times during the LRA conflict when students were abducted from their schools in northern Uganda. The abductions from in St. Mary’s College, Aboke in 1996, Sacred Heart Secondary School in 1993, and Lacor Seminary in 2003, and Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School in 1996, like the Nigerian situation, raised the profile of the conflict and drew scrutiny to the role of governments and other humanitarian actors.
The Nigerian government has been criticised for its lack of action in retrieving the girls, as well as the mixed messages it has given about their being rescued. Lina Zedriga Waru observed that situations like this reflect the importance of utilising collective advocacy to draw the public’s attention to issues and to get governments and other actors to act. A series of activities that can sustainably and continuously draw attention to what is going on is vital, she says. A crucial element, though, is that advocates should make sure that they provide alternative solutions to the problems they are advocating to address, and to ensure that they work to recruit allies with a common vision. Most importantly they should relate the issue to the public as much as possible. Women advocates, she says, act as a support to the government by representing the concerns of communities.
The next issue of Voices (on gender justice and sexual and gender-based violence) will be out at the end of May.
THE JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION PROJECT came into being at a time when the conflict in northern Uganda became the focus of a discussion at the centre of which were two seemingly different points of view regarding the future of the conflict in the country. On the one hand, supporters for criminal justice processes felt the International Criminal Court’s indictments of key commanders in the Lord’s Resistance Army would provide accountability and justice for victims of the conflict. On the other, some advocates for peace negotiations argued that these indictments would prevent the end of the lengthy war. It seemed, on the face of it, to be a battle between peace and justice. Which was more important? Were they the same thing? Most importantly, what do the people that were directly affected by the conflict think? This is where JRP came in. Since 2005, JRP has succeeded in engaging victims of conflict in discussions about their needs and aspirations and played a key role in transitional justice processes and discussions. The organisation contributed to the Juba peace talks, has consistently recorded human rights abuses through the documentation of massacres and other atrocities, assisted vulnerable groups and individuals to advocate for their needs and supported com- munity-led peace-building efforts. Read more
Voices Issue 5, September 2013 – Victim participation in transitional justice
This edition of the Justice and Reconciliation Project’s quarterly magazine Voices deals with an important aspect of transitional justice – victim participation. The extent to which victims of conflict contribute to TJ processes has significant implications for policy development and the lives of grassroots communities that were affected by war. Fortunately, the Government has recognised the importance of victim participation. In May 2013, the Justice Law and Order Sector of the Government of Uganda (JLOS) asked JRP and Avocats Sans Frontiers (ASF) to conduct a victim stakeholder consultation on the recently developed TJ Policy to garner views of victims on a policy that would affect their lives. The result was a wide array of opinions that were shared and which will hopefully shape the policy to be as victim-centred as possible.
In this issue, we have articles dealing with the challenges and successes victims of conflict have experienced in organising themselves. Read more.
