ICTJ in the News

July 27, 2005

LRA victims want truth commission

New Vision (Uganda)

By Jude Etyang and Anouk Batard

VICTIMS of the LRA war in the north support the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a transitional justice mechanism to resolve the 18-year-long-conflict, a report released yesterday said.

It said peace and justice were not mutually exclusive, adding that three-quarters of the respondents said those responsible for abuse should be held accountable for their actions.

"A majority of the respondents said people in the north should remember the legacy of past abuses," the report launched at the Hotel Africana said.

The respondents said truth-telling would honour the victims, prevent violence and establish a historical record.

The report entitled, "Forgotten Voices: A population-based survey on attitudes about peace and justice in northern Uganda" was published by the US-based International Centre for Transitional Justice and the Human Rights Centre at the University of California, Berkley.

Of 2,585 respondents from Gulu, Kitgum, Lira and Soroti districts, 80% said they wanted to speak publicly about the abuses.

A researcher, Eric Stover, said people in the north were exposed to an extremely high level of violence.

The report found 40% of the respondents had been abducted by the LRA, 45% had witnessed the killing of a family member and 23% had been physically mutilated during the conflict.