ICTJ in the News

August 10, 2005

Victims of the LRA War Speak Out On Treatment of Rebels

The Monitor (Uganda)

By Peter Nyanzi

For the last 19 years, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has waged a war against the people of Northern Uganda. Known for its extreme brutality, LRA fighters have killed and mutilated countless civilians and abducted tens of thousands of children and adults to serve as soldiers and sex slaves for its commanders.

Unfortunately, the conflict has received little international attention, even though as many as 1.6 million civilians have been displaced and now languish in dozens of squalid camps scattered all over the region.

The Ugandan government has pursued a dual approach of military action and mediation to bring peace to the region. So far, neither initiative has succeeded in yielding a lasting solution to the problem.

Between April and May this year, researchers from the Human Rights Centre (HRC) in partnership with the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and Makerere University Institute of Public Health, conducted a study in the war-ravaged region.

The study sought to measure the overall exposure to violence in the region, understand the immediate needs and concerns of the people, and to capture opinions and attitudes about specific mechanisms for justice.

At least 2,585 residents of the four northern districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Lira and Soroti were interviewed.

The report titled, "Forgotten Voice: A population-based survey on attitude about Peace and Justice in Northern Uganda," published last month, makes interesting revelations.

Amnesty for LRA

It shows that most people in war ravaged northern Uganda want conditional amnesty to be extended to the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

According to the report, 65 percent of respondents supported the amnesty process for LRA members.

However, only 4 percent said that amnesties should be granted unconditionally, and the vast majority said some form of acknowledgement and/or retribution should be required of all those granted amnesty.

The report indicates that levels of exposure to violence in Northern Uganda are "extremely high."

Of the 2,585 respondents, 40 percent had been abducted by the LRA, 45 percent had witnessed the killing of a family member, while 23 percent had been physically mutilated at some point during the conflict.

It says the extent and nature of the violence would require a variety of mechanisms to be implemented as part of a transitional justice strategy for Northern Uganda.

For example, a majority of respondents (8 in 10) said they wanted to speak publicly about what had happened to them, and many supported reparations measures for victims.

The most immediate needs and concerns of the people include peace and food. Survey respondents named the availability of food (34 percent) and a sustained peace (31 percent) as their top priorities.

Respondents viewed peace and justice as a complex relationship that was not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Indeed, given the opportunity, many would like to have both. More than three-quarters (76 percent) of the respondents said those responsible for abuses should be held accountable for their actions.

But when asked whether they would accept amnesty if it were the only road to peace, only 29 percent said no.

Accountability for crimes committed by all sides was also cited as a priority. When asked how they wanted to deal with the LRA, respondents fell along a spectrum, favouring options ranging from punishment, trial, imprisonment and killing (66 percent), to forgiveness, reconciliation, and reintegration (22 percent), to confronting and/or confessing to the community (2 percent) and granting compensation to victims (1 percent).

Most respondents (76 percent) said that UPDF members should also be held accountable for their crimes. 36 percent of respondents said that the national court system was the most appropriate institution to deal with human rights abuses in Northern Uganda.

Knowledge of traditional justice ceremonies was markedly higher in Acholi areas (Gulu and Kitgum at 55 percent than in non-Acholi areas (19 percent). The majority of respondents (73 percent) knew nothing or very little about the ICC's existence and work. Of those who had heard of the Court, a majority attached high expectations to it, believing that the ICC would contribute both to peace (91 percent) and justice (89 percent).

"Peace and justice will be achieved in Northern Uganda only through an inclusive process that involves a wide range of stakeholders, including victims, bystanders, and perpetrators.

"This requires consulting widely and broadly on the feasibility and applicability of transitional justice measures and, most of all, giving those most affected by the violence a voice in the process," the report reads in part.

Danger of division

As part of their recommendations, the researchers say that the International Community should facilitate a series of meetings involving local, national, and international stakeholders to develop an integrated and comprehensive strategy for peace and justice in Northern Uganda.

It warns that a real danger exists that the current debate of peace versus justice will revert into one of competing, alternative options that divide talents and resources, rather than uniting them around a set of common goals. It says there is also a need to conduct further population-based surveys in Northern Uganda to determine how attitudes about peace and justice evolve over time. The international community should support further initiatives.

It further recommends that the government should reform the amnesty process so that it is more inclusive and meets victims' expectations better.

The report said respondents expressed a level of support for the work of the Amnesty Commission, but they also said some form of acknowledgement and/or retribution - confessing wrongdoing, apologising to the victims and the community, punishment, and/or compensation to victims - should be required of those granted amnesty.

"These elements are key to successfully reintegrating former LRA members into the community. The amnesty process could be expanded to include truth-telling mechanisms, measures for commemoration of victims, and reparations for harm suffered," it says.

To the International Criminal Court (ICC), the report says the court should implement an outreach strategy that fosters greater awareness among Ugandans of the court's mandate and mode of operations.

It says this effort should aim to disseminate more information about the Court and engage the public in dialogue.

It says such a strategy should also seek to manage the expectations of victims and that it should establish a presence in the North so that people will have regular access to ICC staff.

Finally, the ICC should consider holding trials in public to increase public access to its proceedings. In December 2003, President Yoweri Museveni sparked off controversy when he referred the situation in Northern Uganda to the ICC, which is due to issue indictments shortly, against several top LRA commanders.

On one side, it was argued that the ICC's intervention would prolong the conflict and undermine peace talks between the LRA and the government as well as other local initiatives, such as the work of the Amnesty Commission or the exploration of using traditional methods to deal with past crimes.

On the other side, proponents of the ICC argued that pursuing peace at the expense of justice is not a viable long-term option, and that the ICC's activities in Uganda have already drawn greater international and regional attention to the conflict and put pressure on both sides to resolve it.