In order to mobilise survivor groups to lobby and advocate for issues that affect them, JRP organised a training workshop on basic advocacy skills for 24 representatives of survivor/victim groups from northern Uganda.
The representatives came from five massacre sites across the region, including:
Abia, Alebtong district, Lango sub-region
Atiak, Amuru district, Acholi sub-region
Lukodi, Gulu district, Acholi sub-region
Mucwini, Kitgum district, Acholi sub-region
Mukura, Kumi district, Teso sub-region
The workshop, held from September 28-30 at the Sports View Garden Inn in Gulu, had objectives to empower survivor/victim groups with necessary skills in advocacy and lobbying and to develop advocacy strategies and plans for their specific groups. Over the course of three days, each group identified and analyzed pressing issues facing victims and survivors in their communities and then developed an advocacy plan to remedy the problem.
In addition, the training gave each of the attendees the opportunity to interact with others who have survived similar atrocities and to share experiences and solutions. It also provided an opportunity for groups’ ideas to be heard beyond the workshop. News pieces on the advocacy training ran on both Mega FM and Radio King.
The JRP Community Mobilisation team, in conjunction with radio station Mega Fm, held a community dialogue at Abia Primary School in Abia sub-county, Alebtong district, on July 11. Nearly 300 people attended the dialogue, including community members, the Local Council V vice-chairperson, the woman councillor, and representatives from civil society,
The Abia dialogue focused on truth-seeking and truth-telling, and community members stressed the importance of knowing the truth to allow for healing and reconciliation. They also recommended the establishment of a national framework that allows for truth-telling at all levels and is linked to other programmes for victims, such as compensation programmes. During the dialogue, pupils from Abia Primary School presented a debate on whether or not the LRA deserve forgiveness.
A girl carrying water walks on top of the mass grave at Barlonyo
Twenty-six kilometres north of Lira town in northern Uganda, a quiet displaced person’s camp called Barlonyo lies inconspicuously next to the River Moroto. The tranquil setting belies its horrible distinction as the location of one of the largest single massacres committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army during its 23-year insurgency. In the space of less than three hours on the late afternoon of 21 February 2004, over 300 people were brutally murdered by LRA rebels and an unknown number were abducted.
Camp residents were burned alive inside their huts, hacked to death with machetes, stabbed with bayonets, clubbed with sticks and shot as they fled. The bellies of pregnant women were slit open, their not-yet-formed babies thrown into the fires. Others were abducted and marched north into Acholi-land. Many died in captivity of violence, sickness, or starvation. The ultimate fate of several abductees remains unknown.
This Field Note documents what happened in Barlonyo on that fateful day when LRA Commander Okot
Odhiambo ordered his soldiers to “kill every living thing.” The victims of Barlonyo beg for justice; not only for the unimaginable acts of the LRA, but the lack of protection afforded the civilian population that day, and in the absence of acknowledgment of what happened there. The Government of Uganda must forward a comprehensive justice strategy that addresses wrong doing and heals the wounds that continue to divide the country.
Over the past year, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) has been grateful for the opportunity to work with a number individuals affected by the war in northern Uganda, including people living in internally-displaced persons camps, youth, women and ex-combatants. JRP would like to express its appreciation to those dedicated individuals who have pursued their own stake in justice by persevering through the Juba Peace Talks, in particular the dilemma of accountability and reconciliation, not forgetting the continued persistence by war affected communities in their efforts to employ local coping mechanisms to promote peace, harmony and social coexistence.
2009 was marked by a significant improvement in the humanitarian situation in northern Uganda as the region embarked on the long road to recovery from conflict. In the wake of a failed attempt to sign the Final Peace Agreement in November 2008, and the resumption of hostilities between the UPDF and the LRA marked by the launch of operation Lightening Thunder, the future of northern Uganda hung in the balance. While many across northern Uganda predicted the worst, the security situation improved substantially, allowing thousands of IDPs to return to their original homesteads while many of the displacement camps were demolished as proof of the finality of the return process. The determination to return to former homesteads and rebuild lives and villages stands as a testament to the capacity of those affected by the conflict to persevere amidst challenges such as lacking educational, health and other social services.
On the transitional justice front, the government of Uganda began to implement elements of the Juba peace protocols still considered valid despite the failure to reach a final agreement. Funds for the peace, recovery and development plan (PRDP) were availed and massive reconstruction works were launched. The government, through the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) working group, also began drafting policies and a framework for the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms. Huge strides were made in setting up the War Crimes Division of the High Court, and countrywide consultations were carried out to solicit views on the domestication of the Rome Statute.
Driven by the desire to pursue justice and reconciliation in Uganda, JRP continued to monitor developments in transitional justice and contribute to policy debates through action oriented research and advocacy in 2009. JRP’s advocacy strategy was dual in nature; at the national level targeting policy makers, donors, and other government organs including the Judiciary, the Amnesty Commission and the Parliament of Uganda; while engaging with grassroots communities at the local level to improve documentation among war affected communities and empower communities to advocate for appropriate justice and reconciliation mechanisms.
JRP has done this using community based approaches, such as community dialogues, dissemination of research reports at the grassroots level, research and documentation of local level transitional initiatives and various other efforts to ensure that the views of grassroots people are included in transitional justice debates. This annual report presents a summary of all activities implemented by JRP in the year 2009. Special thanks go to our donors: the Norwegian Embassy, who made all of these achievements possible.
July 2007 marked the one-year anniversary of the initiation of peace talks between the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda, hosted in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba. JRP has taken an active role in bringing the concerns and demands for justice and reconciliation from the grassroots to the bargaining table. The June signing of Agenda Item Three on Accountability and Reconciliation was in part the result of weeks of JRP’s preparation of original research findings into a comprehensive presentation made to delegates. The seminar, entitled Towards a Common Understanding of Traditional, National, and International Justice Options, was co-organisedby JRP with the International Centerfor Transitional Justice and convened Ker KwaroAcholi on June 2 in Juba.The past year of research has uncovered a plethora of issues that must be addressed in order for lasting peace to be attained in Uganda.
From January through March, the JRP team conducted a major research phase in 9 IDP camps, examining community-level mechanisms that might facilitate a process of truth-telling at the local level in northern Uganda. The ensuing report, The Cooling of Hearts: CommunityTruth-Telling in Acholi-land examines the desires and fears of the war-affected populace in learning the truth about the now 21-year-old conflict. In an ongoing strategy of community consultation, this report was translated into Luo, brought back to the camps, and discussed in local papers, international forums, community dialogues, and on the radio. Consultations with local leaders were sought in order to refine the report to truly reflect the opinions of Acholi. It provides important new insights into current debates in the country and at the Juba peace talks on how justice can be served in northern Uganda.
Throughout the course of the truth-telling research, staff also uncovered a desire amongst residents that certain massacres be documented and that their consequences be discussed. JRP responded and produced Field Note 4: Remembering the Atiak Massacre of April 20,1995, released in April. A JRP representative visited the community for the memorial ceremony; the site of one of many as-yet undocumented scars on the populace of northern Uganda. JRP continues to document other major atrocities and several similar reports are forthcoming in 2008.
A fifth Field Note entitled Abomination: Local belief systems and international justice waswritten by JRP in order to emphasize the needfor policy-makers to understand the importanceof understanding local spiritual beliefs in Acholiwhen considering transitional justice strategiesin the region. In the spirit of previous JRPreports such as Roco Wat I Acholi (2005) andAlice’s Story (2006), this Field Note bridged thegap between indigenous and internationalmotives for justice in Acholi.
JRP continues to lead its colleagues locally, nationally and internationally in the unification of local voices aiming to affect positive change in Juba, Garamba and Kampala. JRP was instrumental in to the release of the August 11thLira Declaration on Agenda Item Three of the Juba Peace Talks by Cultural and Religious Leaders, Women and Youth from Madi, Teso, Lango and Acholi Sub-Regions. The Lira
Declaration is the result of a consultation attended and signed by the leadership of traditional and religious institutions, including women and youth representatives.
Project staff actively built upon their capacities as researchers and advocates throughout 2007, attending numerous workshops and presenting solutions to justice and reconciliation issues on behalf of JRP’s community partners. JRP will continue this important work in 2008 and beyond.
Between the 20-30 August 2007 CSOs working on peace, justice and reconciliation activities in Northern Uganda held four consultative meetings in the regions of Acholi, Lango, Teso, and West Nile to reach a common position on the ongoing consultations on accountability and reconciliation.
A draft committee consisting of three representatives from each sub-region met in Gulu from the 6-7 September 2007 to come up with a common position for CSOs in Northern Uganda.
It is from the proceedings of this meeting and based on regional consultations that we derive the contents of this memorandum, which we hereby declare as a common position for CSOs in Northern Uganda.
