Durable Solution-Dilemma of Return and Reintegration Northern Uganda

Abstract

The 23 year violent conflict between the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda that displaced over 1.8 million persons has had far-reaching consequences on Northern Uganda. The region faced a daunting effect that destabilized the region characterized by killing, mutilation, abduction of children, forceful recruitment to LRA ranks and sexual violence against women and girls. This project examines to what extent GOU has pursued transitional justice in addressing lasting peace and reconciliation efforts in the Northern Uganda conflict. While transitional justice is often seen to be addressed in post conflict scenarios, Northern Uganda posed a good case where transitional justice would be addressed in an ongoing conflict. The project thus would be looking into the dilemma of justice pursuit in ongoing conflict settings of displacement, return and reintegration. The analysis shall in particular look into the Uganda Government referral in 2003 of the Northern Uganda case to the International Criminal Court, subsequent negotiations and agreements in pursuit of peace held in Juba between 2006-2008 After unsuccessful dual strategy of military intervention and mediation throughout the Northern Uganda conflict, GOU came to term with initiating a holistic approach to transitional justice in its peace building efforts for durable peace and national reconciliation. The transitional justice processes had a number of hurdles that included prosecution failures by ICC and GOU judicial systems of alleged perpetrators of violence in the conflict-both GOU and LRA, inadequacy on the part of GOU to put in place transitional justice policy that recognizes and addresses the plight of victims and lastly tackling the constituent root causes of the conflict namely the socio-economic marginalization and political dis-empowerment of Northern Uganda. While the guns went silent in 2008 ,with existing relative peace in Northern Uganda, most former IDPs have returned to their former places of abode and continue with their efforts to rebuild their livelihoods however, they still face tremendous justice challenges in return and re-integration. The re-creation of national identity, the return of persons formerly displaced by conflict and the re-establishment of pluralistic societies particularly calls for an effective reintegration of those who were displaced.