Transitional Justice Forum

Thoughtful writings about TJ in Uganda, elsewhere

Joanna R. Quinn of the University of Western Ontario has recently sent me copies of-- and links to-- some of her great work about northern Uganda. Sadly, much of this work requires "registration" with the "publisher" of the periodicals concerned. (Don't get me going on the structure of intellectual property laws in the modern world... ) However, one of the really thought-provoking pieces of work to which she referred me was a monograph titled Peace first, justice later; Traditional justice in Northern Uganda that she co-authored recently with Lucy Hovil, the Research Director of the Kampala-based Refugee Law Project, which publicshed it.

And when I say "published" it, that's exactly what I mean... That is, the presumably not well-heeled RLP has made the full text publicly available to the interested reading public, through their website. So what you see in the above para is a link to the full 59 pages of the work's text.

(I have put references to all of the really interesting oeuvre of TJ-related work that Joanna sent me into the TJF archive for later reference. But sadly, only one other of her items there is fully available in full text... For the others-- on TJ choices and situations in Chile, Guatemala, and South Africa, as well as Uganda-- you unfortunately have to have access to a very expensive "registration" from the publisher before you can read the full text... Maybe I'll try to upload at least the abstracts into our archive if I can... )

Anyway, back to the great monograph on Peace first, justice later. I have only scanned through it quickly, buit it seems to be based on a lot of very thorough and sensitive field-work, as well as informed by a broad and sound theoretical understanding of the issues involved. (It includes an excellent Bibliography.) This is certainly not a hasty or ideologically biased piece of work.

I urge all TJF readers to go to that link and read the whole text. However I thought it would also be useful to highlight Hovil and Quinn's conclusions here. So here... starting from p.50 of their text (52 in the PDF file) is what they write:

The intractable nature of the conflict in northern Uganda means that there are no easy answers – either to the question of how the war might end, or to what should be done in any post-conflict situation. This paper has explored some possible responses to these issues through the lens of transitional justice mechanisms. In so doing, it has sought to carefully define notions of peace, and notions of justice, and has shown the extent to which the two processes have different sets of criteria to be met.

Of paramount importance is the fact that, while there is much diversity of opinion within the conflict zone on many issues, findings indicate widespread consensus over the fact that peace needs to come before justice. Put another way, there can be no meaningful justice while civilians continue to be caught in the middle of a vicious battle between the LRA and government forces. This ‘sequencing’ of events is currently dictating people’s perceptions of mechanisms that are intended to facilitate the ending of the war, as well as people’s understandings of what might happen after a cessation of hostilities. In other words, the current attempts at a peace process, the amnesty, the intervention by the ICC, and the ongoing military offensive are all seen from the perspective of how they might help or hinder an end to the war. Appropriate mechanisms for dealing with the atrocities of the past will then be decided upon once the security of civilians is guaranteed... (contd.)

Thus the fact that the processes of peace and justice are, to a large extent, separated in people’s minds, is vital to understanding current opinion on issues of justice within the conflict zone. For instance, current support for an amnesty that appears, to the outsider, as an easy route for perpetrators of the worst types of war crimes to dodge any form of accountability and punishment, needs to be read in the light of civilians desperate for the war to end. Indeed, it could be argued that what people are demanding through their desire to end the war and then determine appropriate mechanisms for dealing with crimes committed, is not less justice but more – and justice that is more appropriate and better able to deal with the level of mass atrocity that has taken place.

All of this is especially important in the context of rebuilding the social trust that has been destroyed by the protracted nature of the conflict in Northern Uganda – and by the mounting distrust that has been growing in a number of different regions of the country since Independence in 1962. As outlined above, the building of social trust is critical to the rebuilding and reconciliation process. Without this essential element, people will be unwilling and unable to forge meaningful relationships and to get on with their lives in the absence of fear and distrust. Indeed, it is only through a willingness to confront and acknowledge their collective past, and only then if there is a clear trend toward the end of hostilities, that people can begin the process of social reconciliation. The building of social trust must therefore be given priority status, and this must be recognised and incorporated into strategic policies and their implementation beginning immediately – and continuing throughout the resolution of the conflict and beyond.

While many civilians struggle to imagine the possibility of a post-conflict environment, there are indicators of some of the different requirements in a post-conflict reconstruction phase, one that would lead to long-term reconciliation. It is important to note that any successful post-conflict rebuilding must necessarily address a number of elements, above and beyond simply issues of “justice”. For, those living in the conflict zone must be provided with the tools they need to begin again to live a life unencumbered by the devastation of war. As such, the reconstruction process must also take into account economic stability, physical rebuilding of homes, hospitals, roads, and schools, as well as police and military reform, among other things which ought to address social justice needs in a comprehensive and substantial way. Still, many believe that traditional mechanisms of justice should play a pivotal role in this process, although understandings of these mechanisms and their capabilities are sometimes clouded by misinformation. At the same
time, many of these people believe to some extent in the work of the ICC, and support their role in the process.

Much of the debate has become lodged somewhere between these two approaches to justice: restorative and retributive. The international community, with its own origins and preconceived notions resting squarely within the realm of retributive justice, continues to push for the kinds of institutions it has always used: Nuremberg-style trials and tribunals of the kind created to deal with the Rwandan genocide. But evidence has shown and continues to show199 that these kinds of mechanisms are not at all suited to the kinds of violent conflict that has taken place in Northern Uganda and elsewhere. And so it is imperative that a solution be found to the conflict in the north that takes these specificities, along with the ideas of those directly involved, into account.

Clearly, the lessons that are drawn from the resolution of the conflict which now centres around the Acholi, might have broader application within Uganda. Indeed, many different people and groups within the country have begun to explore the possibility of a national programme of reconciliation. These include regions other than Acholi, where the conflict continues – although calls for such a programme are perhaps strongest there. These other regions have never recovered from the abuses suffered at various times from 1962 to the present. These, too, are calling for reconciliation both within and between particular regions. And a good number of these are interested in the inclusion of traditional acknowledgement as a main focus.

But first, there must be peace.