ICTJ in the News

September 19, 2005

Punish Impunity in Northern Uganda

New Vision

by Anouk Batard

Accountability for crimes committed by all sides is a priority. This view is contained in a report entitled Forgotten Voices, compiled after a population-based survey on attitudes about peace and justice in northern Uganda. The report was released last week by the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Human Rights Centre (HRC).

The report reveals that three-quarters of respondents said both the LRA rebels and the UPDF should be held accountable for their crimes in northern Uganda.

Nevertheless, 58% think it is unnecessary to hold low- rank LRA accountable.

Many LRA soldiers are abducted children: Thus they are both crime perpetrators and victims, says Phuong Pham, one of the authors of the new report."

A former World Food Programme (WFP) worker in northern Uganda, Caroline Opok, asks, "At what point will you be held accountable when you stayed in the bush for 20 years and you are 42? Are you going to bear no responsibility just because you were abducted 20 years ago? They must take responsibility to a certain level. The type and level of punishment can be discussed, but impunity must be punished."

Despite their support for amnesty, some respondents felt that some form of acknowledgement and/or retribution should be required of those who benefit from it. "Amnesty without punishment is not fair to people who are hurt," says Opok. When respondents were asked whether they would accept amnesty if it were the only road to peace, 29 % said no. This led to a recommendation to the Government to reform the amnesty law.

Actually, "lower-rank fighters are easier to reintegrate into their communities than their bosses. But the case of Brig. Sam Kolo and Brig. Kenneth Banya, who embraced the amnesty and are now free, remains a problem. They committed atrocities and their acceptance by their communities is still an issue," says Pham. A genuine reintegration of former LRA fighters into their communities depends on expanding the amnesty to include truth-telling.

"Northern Uganda has a culture of reconciliation involving a crime cleansing ceremony. But given the level of atrocities committed, it is debatable whether such a cleansing is effective, says Pham."

"First, the LRA is brutal and destructive. And traditional justice is not for such crimes hence it cannot stand alone, says Caroline Opok.

Secondly, there are crimes committed by the UPDF. Since UPDF does not subscribe to the Acholi traditional justice system, it will have to be subjected to a legal system that tries similar crimes the LRA commits.

How do you harmonise? We need to define crimes that the community can deal with and those that can be referred to the legal system.

Many respondents said they preferred financial reparations for the victims of violence. "But who pays the victims, is a major question policy makers must answer in case they choose to pursue the traditional justice system," Pham."

How to deal with such a bloody past? Will policy makers be able to to take up the challenge of a fair justice, a successful reconciliation and a sustainable peace? "Some people said they wanted trials, but others said they were willing to tell their stories and also to hear the confession of criminals," researcher Adrian di Giovanni, says. According to Pham, "a public holiday in honour of the victims is what some people want."

The report carries interviews of 2,585 residents in Gulu, Kitgum, Lira and Soroti, who narrated their ordeal and expressed views on how peace and justice can be achieved. In Gulu and Kitgum, where up to 95% of the population is displaced, respondents were in IDP camps.

In Lira and Soroti, where there are less displacements, teams conducted surveys both in IDP camps and in sub-counties.

The amnesty, traditional justice and the legal system, should all be relevant to policy makers working towards peace in northern Uganda.

As the International Crisis Group (ICG) recently argued, there is need on the one hand for "a more robust reintegration strategy and on the other, "a better coordinated reconciliation strategy that supports community-based initiatives."

To avoid derailing the reconciliation process, people in the north must participate in transitional process.

Since the survey shows only 27% of respondents have heard about the International Criminal Court ICC), the report recommends the ICC to engage in dialogue with the public to foster greater awareness among Ugandan's of the ICC mandate and operations. The court should fulfil the victims' expectations.

Finally, the ICC should recognise that the majority of people in the north prefer trials in Uganda and not outside. Indeed, few people who have heard about the ICC's involvement are impressed by it. Actually 91% of them believe the ICC will contribute to peace, while 89% believe it will contribute to to justice. "As the ICC has broader jurisdiction than national courts, people believe that involvement can hold the government of Sudan accountable for its alleged complicity with the LRA," says. But the ICC will not satisfy all people's expectations because it only deals crimes committed after 2002. Besides, the ICC's investigations depend heavily on the cooperation of the Government. Indeed, the Court can only issue arrest warrants. Contrary to what respondents believed, the ICC does not have its Police.

That is why the Government is supposed to implement decisions and judgment made by ICC.

Controversy surrounds the ICC intervention. Those who support it say that the ICC has contributed to a renewed focus on the conflict. The ICC may have prompted the LRA to start negotiations in late 2004. Besides, it forced Sudan to stop aiding the LRA.

But critics argue that peace must preceed justice. According to the peace-mediator Betty Bigombe, many Acholi local and religious leaders, the ICC's arrest warrants will kill the peace process because it will prevent LRA from coming out to embrace the amnesty.