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A workshop on transitional justice:
where to begin in northern Uganda?
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Jessica Huber, Uganda Fund Project Director |
 On February 20 and 21, 2009, 50 community leaders came together at the Northern Uganda Civil Society Transitional Justice Workshop. The workshop was sponsored by the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) of the Gulu NGO Forum, the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Embassy of Austria. The goal of the meeting was twofold: 1.) to share knowledge and deepen understanding of current developments in the field of transitional justice, and; 2.) to mobilize civil society actors from war affected areas in northern Uganda to engage with key transitional justice actors; namely the Government of Uganda’s Justice Law and Order Sector Working Group (JLOS) and of course the communities and victims of violence.
Transitional justice is a broad discipline and organizers set out to provide a solid conceptual framework for participants to help move them toward an action plan. The first day focused mainly on laying out a basic understanding of transitional justice and relating it to the conflict in northern Uganda. A session entitled
“Is the timing right for Transitional Justice in northern Uganda?” was especially provocative. Entrée and exit points for transitional justice are generally difficult to identify, and this is particularly true in the case of northern Uganda where there has not been a clear end to the conflict. Although attempts were made through the Juba Peace Process to bring this conflict to a negotiated settlement, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) failed to sign a Final Peace Agreement. Subsequent efforts to end this conflict militarily have also ended with no clear results.
Nonetheless, the feeling on the ground in northern Uganda is that the space created by the Juba talks has left most people feeling ready to return to their villages and try to resume “normal” life. Life is far from normal, however, and people are confronted by overwhelming challenges that make progress slow. There are the “hardware” challenges, like trying to cultivate land that has been vacant for a generation or find water points or schools and health centers. There are also the “software” challenges, like addressing years of trauma and fear. While many people are venturing home, they still keep a toehold in displacement camps and struggle to shake free from the shackles of the conflict.
The workshop generated a clear consensus that now was the time to think seriously about a transitional justice process for northern Uganda and especially about a collective civil society effort to help take it forward. Although a final peace may never come, a relative peace over some years has left the community feeling determined to move forward and this determination must be supported. It was noted that it was important to have a civil society complement to JLOS and to the formal prosecution processes being created. In fact, formal prosecutions may not cover the entire spectrum of justice needs of the community, so a broader and more inclusive justice process can fill in the gaps. A strong emphasis was placed on securing a place for reparations and truth-telling. Participants agreed that reparations could come in the form of development activities as long as they include explicit acknowledgement of the transgressions suffered by the victims. Truth-telling was stressed as vital to a sustainable peace in northern Uganda because it could better accommodate the blurring of the lines between victims and perpetrators and would hold all parties to the conflict accountable.
There was initial discussion on the need for a national reconciliation platform to address the LRA war and other violent conflicts that had taken place in Uganda since its independence. However, participants concluded that this is a long-term goal to be preceded by a process for northern Uganda. A working group on transitional justice was proposed to help civil society in the north take such complex ideas collectively forward. 9 regional representatives were selected to form an interim steering committee for the working group. They were tasked to: 1) propose a formal structure for the working group, 2.) generate broader interest from each of the regions represented at the workshop, 3.) bring the Karamoja region into the group, and, 4.) set a timetable for the next gathering of the working group.
As the meeting concluded, one man raised his hand and stated he was willing to donate time on the radio in Gulu to discuss transitional justice and to announce the formation of the working group. His intervention was met with applause and followed by 5 similar pledges for radio airtime across northern Uganda. In a place with such coveted and scarce resources, this was a truly inspired moment. Workshop participants proved deeply committed to the daunting but critical work for reconciliation and sustainable peace.
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