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Ugandan Peace Process is Still Alive, Insist Civil Society Leaders
June 15, 2008: Three Ugandan civil society leaders expressed strong support for the new Survivor Corps program in Africa during a recent visit to the United States and called on the international community not to give up on the Juba Peace Process.
The delegation comprised Chief Achana, Paramount chief of the Acholi People; Bishop Ochola, the retired Anglican bishop of Northern Uganda; and Michael Otim, Director of the NGO Forum in Gulu, Northern Uganda. The three men visited Washington last week to brief the US Congress and American policy-makers.
During a visit to the Survivor Corps (SC) headquarters, the delegation welcomed the launch of SC’s African program. “No one is really helping survivors,” said Mr Otim. “The problem seems so big and overwhelming.”
The three leaders also made a strong plea for continued international support for the Juba peace process, which has provided a forum for negotiations between the Ugandan authorities and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel forces under the auspices of the government of Southern Sudan.
The talks were launched on July 14, 2006, but thrown into confusion when the LRA delegation declined to sign an agreement on April 10 and then again on May 10. The LRA then attacked a Sudanese army compound in early June, infuriating the Sudanese authorities and throwing the Juba peace process into jeopardy.
The Ugandan civil society delegation made a strong plea for restraint and patience, arguing that the past two years have brought calm and peace to Northern Uganda and encouraged displaced persons to start leaving the IDP camps in very large numbers.
Chief Achana said that any resumption of the war in Uganda would be “very costly” and probably backfire – particularly as the LRA continues to hold over 1,500 abducted children.
Asked why the LRA had pulled back from signing the agreement, the delegation said that it appeared to be poor communications between the peace team and their leaders, rather than a substantial disagreement with the content of the agreement.
Mr. Otim agreed that justice will be essential for victims to recover from the trauma during wartime, and that “the rebels understand that there is no way they can run away from accountability.” But, he said, justice must be done in a way that does not derail the overall peace process.
While the indictment of LRA leaders by the International Criminal Court (ICC) has created anxiety at the highest levels of the LRA, both sides have agreed on a compromise that would allow war criminals to be brought to justice and – hopefully – remove the need for any LRA leaders to be prosecuted at the ICC in The Hague.
Under the compromise, Uganda has agreed to create a new division of the Ugandan High Court that will combine conventional justice with “cultural” justice that would place more focus on reconciliation. Once this is integrated into a signed agreement, said Chief Achana, the Ugandan government could ask the ICC to suspend the indictment on grounds that the case is being responsibly handled by Uganda, as allowed under the ICC’s provision on complementarity.
In spite of the team’s optimism, there is great concern over the intentions of Joseph Kony, the LRA leader, who continues to exercise almost messianic powers over his followers. The team also accepted the need to provide greater security for Ugandans against further abductions. The question is how this can be reconciled with a continued commitment to peace and reconstruction.