Two reports highlight effects of war and northerner views on justice and reconciliation

While consultations by the Ugandan government and LRA on justice and reconciliation slowly inch forward, two reports released this week attempt to ensure that the voices of northern Ugandans are given more than token attention. The preliminary findings of a study done by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and academic partners indicate that though accountability is a key concern for northern Ugandans they do not want justice mechanisms to interfere with the current peace process. A majority of those interviewed said that pursuing trials for the LRA now could endanger the peace process and only 10% called for the International Criminal Court to continue its efforts to have LRA leaders arrested and put on trial in The Hague. The study also showed that northerners have endured extremely high levels of violence - 37% of those interviewed said they had been abducted by the LRA and significant numbers reported suffering verbal or physical abuse at the hands of the Ugandan military. Read a summary of the study at ICTJ.

The second study , released by the UN human rights agency, emphasizes that northerners feel strongly that leaders from both the LRA and Ugandan government responsible for crimes must be held accountable. The study also found that northerners view truth-recovery and reparation in the form of compensation as principal goals of transitional justice mechanisms. Many northerners also expressed the need for a range of justice mechanisms (court trials, traditional ceremonies, etc.), reflecting concerns that no single mechanism is appropriate or sufficiently robust to achieve reconciliation and accountability. Read the full report here .