Graduate School of Development Studies
THE WAR CRIMES COURT:
A RIGHTS-BASED RESPONSE TO THE CONFLICT IN NORTHERN UGANDA?
A Research Paper presented by:
Beatrice Stella Atingu
(Uganda)
in partial fulfilment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of
MASTERS OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Specialization:
Human Rights, Development and Social Justice
(HDS)
Members of the examining committee:
Supervisor’s name (Professor Karin Arts)
Reader’s name (Doctor Jeff Handmaker)
The Hague, The Netherlands
November, 2011
Disclaimer:
This document represents part of the author’s study programme while at the Institute of Social Studies. The views stated therein are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute.
Inquiries:
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DEDICATION
This research is first dedicated to God, the giver and taker of life and its blessings, who has been both my earthly and heavenly father; to my late parents; Mr. and Mrs. Michael & Priscilla Amenu; to my guardian Maria Catherine Maw who took care of me through childhood to adulthood.
Acknowledgments
I acknowledge the power and work of God in my life, who has taken me through the ups and downs of life by using different people to aid me through the stages of life to this very achievement.
Secondly, I want to acknowledge the professional and moral support that I received from my supervisor Professor Karin Arts who has been so understandingly dedicated to teaching and guiding me throughout the stages of coming up with this final report. I also acknowledge the professional support by my second reader and HDS convenor Doctor Jeff Handmaker who throughout the course encouraged me and has tremendously contributed to the realization of this final report.
I also specifically acknowledge my fiancée Onesmus Bitaliwo who helped and encouraged me throughout the exercise of writing this paper and during data collection and my siblings who equally encouraged me.
My sincere thanks go to: both my discussants; Grace Angeline Chelimo and Moreblessing Mbire; all my respondents in Gulu, Lira, Amuru and Kitgum who spared their time and were willing to give me all the information that they possessed; ARLPI; Acholi Traditional Leadership; the GNWVPN; the busy government officials, that is; the DPP, court officials and JLOS officials who, though very busy with the court and other business, were willing to spare the time to give me the information that I needed; the nongovernmental organizations; and civil society networks that provided me with information.
I knowledge my employer, the Judiciary of Uganda for their support and encouragement that they gave me
Finally, my acknowledgement goes to the Netherlands government which set up the Netherlands Fellowship Programme under which I got support to study my whole MA as well as support to facilitate my travel to the field in Northern Uganda to collect field data
Contents
DEDICATION iii
Acknowledgments iv
Contents v
List of Tables vii
List of Figures vii
List of Maps viii
List of Acronyms ix
Abstract xi
Relevance to Development Studies xi
Key Words: xii
Chapter 1 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Introduction 2
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT 4
1.4 RELEVANCE AND JUSTIFICATION 6
1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 6
1.6 MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION 7
1.7 THE SCOPE OF STUDY 7
1.8 METHODOLOGY 7
1.8.1 Population of Study 8
1.8.2 Sampling Techniques 8
1.8.3 Data Collection Methods and Instruments 9
1.8.4.1 Secondary Data: 9
1.8.4.2 Primary Data: 9
Challenges: 13
Chapter Two: 17
Chapter 3 The War Crimes Court: Record and Stakeholder’s Views. 34
4.1 Conclusions 53
References 57
Appendices 60
APPENDIX A (RESPONSES FROM QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONDENTS) 60
APPENDIX B (RESPONSES FROM KEY INFORMANTS) 75
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Age bracket of respondents
Table 1.2 Gender of respondents
Table 1.3 Level of education of respondents
Table 1.4 Directly affected respondents
Table 1.5 How the respondents were affected
Table 1.6 Respondents knowledge of the war crimes court
Table 1.7 How the respondents knew about the court
Table 1.8 whether the respondents knew the activities of the court
Table 1.9 whether respondents were complainants in the court
Table 1.10 whether respondents were witnesses in the court
Table 1.11 who the respondents think should be tried by the court
Table 1.12 whether the victims expect justice from the court
Table 1.13 Why the respondents expect justice from the court
Table 1.14 Respondents opinion on the most desirable venture of redress
Table 1.15 Respondents opinion on remedies expected from court
Table 1.16 Respondents view of an adequate remedy
Table 1.17 Respondents views on the remedies that the court offers
Table 1.18 Accessibility of the court to the respondents
Table 1.19 Challenges faced by respondents in accessing the court
Table 1.20 Respondents opinion on how to improve the court towards
addressing human rights violations and war crimes
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Age bracket of respondents
Figure 1.2 Gender of respondents
Figure 1.3 Level of education of respondents
Figure 1.4 Directly affected respondents
List of Maps
Map of Uganda showing districts of post war conflict Northern Uganda.
List of Acronyms
ADF Allied Democratic Forces
ARLPI Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative
DPP Directorate of Public Prosecutions
GNWVPN Greater North Women’s Voices for Peace Network
ICC International Criminal Court
ICD International Crimes Division
ICESCR International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
JLOS Justice Law and Order Sector
JRP Justice Reconciliation Project
LRA Lord’s Resistance Army
NRA National Resistance Army
NRM National Resistance Movement
RLP Refugee Law Project
UDHR Universal Declaration on Human Rights
UPDF Uganda Peoples Defence Forces
UPM Uganda Peoples Movement
UVF Uganda Victims Foundation
WCC War Crimes Court
CAR Central Africa Republic
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
UPFI Uganda Peace Foundation Initiative
LCV Local Council V (Five)
IRIN
Abstract
North and North-Eastern Uganda have faced a war conflict situation for over 20 years which brought with it commission of war crimes and other human rights violations by both state (UPDF) and non state actors (LRA). Although the government of Uganda had underestimated the havoc and atrocities that the LRA would occasion on the population, especially on the innocent civilians, the reverse was true. The war persisted and prompted the Museveni government to engage different means including military action, dialogue, referring the situation to International Criminal Court, provision for amnesty laws, establishment of the war crimes court and provision for non- formal justice mechanisms in a bid to address both the war conflict and the post war conflict situation in the region.
The establishment of the war crimes court is a result of the Juba Peace Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation (though not signed by LRA leader Joseph Kony). It raised mixed feelings of both hope and distrust among the victims and stake holders because according to the agreement, the court will only try the LRA and any other person but not state actors (UPDF). The latter will be tried in the military court martial and other existing criminal justice fora. Therefore, the views of the victims and stakeholders on the establishment, role and activities of the war crimes court are divergent.
Considering the circumstances under which the court was established and the limited jurisdiction of the court to, the issue is whether the war crimes court will serve the role of observing the Rule of Law and providing justice to the victims as is hoped and anticipated by many. The views of the victims on the issue are divided based on ideologies, experiences, influence and other factors.
Relevance to Development Studies
Development in itself has been recognised as a right internationally. Marks and Clapham (2005:91) wrote that;
And just as human rights have entered the arena of development, so too development has become a key issue in discussions, activities in norm making within the field of human rights. One manifestation of this is the emergence of the ‘right to development’ embodying the notion that development is the basis of a human right in itself.
Development as a right and human rights are universal and interrelated. Being able to address the issue of human rights by a state would indicate the level of development of that state. Therefore human rights issues are important to development because they are one of the indicators of development. A part from that, understanding the issues of post-war conflict situations in the contemporary world will inform and influence development goals and planning.
This paper is therefore relevant to development studies because it enquires into issues of human rights that need to be urgently addressed. Especially issues of conflict and post conflict.
Key Words:
War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Human Rights Violations, Accountability, Northern Uganda, Remedies, Victims, War Crimes Division Court, International Criminal Court.
.
23
Chapter 1
1.1 Background
Northern Uganda is comprised of over 14 districts which include Arua, Gulu, Apac, Moroto, Nebbi, Adjumani, Lira, Moyo, Kotido, Pader, Nakapiripirit, Yumbe, Kitgum, Amuru, Koboko and others. The region covers an estimated area of 85,392.2 Square kilometres, which is 35% of the country’s total land surface. The total population of Northern Uganda by 2002 was 4,220,700, which is much lower than other regions.
95% of the population in Northern Uganda live in the rural areas and Internally Displaced Peoples Camps. About 53% of the population is illiterate. The main economic activity is farming (Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2002).[1]
The period between 1987 and 2005 saw grave human rights violations, commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and North-Eastern Uganda by both state and non-state actors. According to a January 2004 ICC press release on the Situation in Uganda, cited in Ssenyonjo, (2005:411)-: “during the course of the conflict, the LRA had burned at least 1946 houses and 1600 storage granaries, looted at least 1327 houses, 116 villages and 307 shops”.
According to a Human Rights Watch press release (2004), about one thousand children were abducted by the LRA by 2002. The report also indicated that “violations committed by the UPDF include extra judicial killings, rape and sexual assault, forcible displacement of over one million civilians and the recruitment of children under the age of 15 in to government militia.” (HRW,2004). In addition Kathryn Westcott (2003), cited in Kasaija (2005:402), stated that “many of the abducted women and girls are subjected to rape, unwanted pregnancies and risk sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.” Forced abductions, forced pregnancies and rape are all crimes envisaged in Section 7(1) of the Rome statute and were all used against women and girls population of Northern Uganda by the LRA and the UPDF.
Source: http://northernuganda.usvpp.gov/map.html
The regions marked red are districts comprising Northern and North Eastern Uganda region and the ones marked blue are the districts in which most of the researcher’s respondents reside.
1.2 Introduction
Since 1986 with the coming in to power of president Museveni following his bush war, Northern Uganda has been affected by constant civil wars and turmoil for over two decades and was characterized by violence and gross violations of human rights (Uganda Peace Foundation Initiative, 2011). Rebel groups emerged after 1986 in Northern and North-Eastern Uganda and these included the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) under the leadership of Joseph Kony, the ‘Holy Spirit Movement’ under the leadership of Alice Lakwena, the Uganda Peoples Democratic Army/Movement (UPDA/M) and Uganda People’s Army (UPA) all claiming to fight against the Museveni government that had just captured power (Kasaija, 2005:391-392).
Different actors including the government of Uganda, the Lord’s Resistance Army, and the Sudanese government were involved in the conflict (Dolan, 2009: Appendix A). During the war, many crimes were committed including murder of innocent civilians, mutilations carried out on civilians, sexual violence against women and girl children, abductions and recruitment into the militia of children, looting and burning of homes and property (Kasaija, 2005). The government of Uganda, which has the primary responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil human rights (Ssenyonjo, 2005) failed to protect its citizens who were victims of basic human rights violations. Their rights to life, food, housing, health, education, property and others were not protected by the government of Uganda. As observed by Ssenyonjo,( ibid:429) “It is in this respect that the UNHCR, as noted above, expressed ‘regret’ in 2004 that the Ugandan government (rather than the LRA/M) had not taken ‘sufficient steps’ to ensure the rights to life, liberty and security of persons affected by the armed conflict in Northern Uganda, particularly the IDPs.”
Following the above, in 2004, the government of Uganda referred the situation in Northern Uganda to the International Criminal Court whereupon the chief prosecutor commenced investigations in to the matter and subsequently in 2005 issued warrants of arrest against five LRA top leaders (Ssenyonjo, 2005). This lured the LRA towards negotiations with the government leading to the Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation which provided for amnesty leading to enactment of an amnesty act of 2000 (laws of Uganda), traditional justice mechanisms like mato oput and the War Crimes Court. As a result, the War Crimes Court was established in 2008 as a specialised division of the high court of Uganda. In 2010 the same court was redesignated as the International Crimes Division (ICD) and its jurisdiction enhanced to try even crimes of genocide, piracy, human trafficking and all other crimes of an international nature alongside the war crimes and crimes against humanity that the court was originally established for.
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
War crimes and human rights violations were massively committed in Northern Uganda by both state and non-state actors. Although some figures of numbers of people killed by LRA have been recorded by some authors (Kasaija) and international organizations like human rights watch not everything is reflected. For example, Kasaija (2005:400), writes that “in 1995, the LRA butchered 240 civilians at Atiak in Lira district in a single day, in 2004 killed 50 civilians after attacking an IDP camp at Abia in Lira district (...) in the same month attacked Barlonyo camp and left close to 200 people dead.” In October 2003, 1.4 million people were stated to live in camps in Northern Uganda (ibid).