When the Juba Peace Talks between the Government of Uganda (GoU) and the Lord’s Resistance Army/Movement (LRA/M) started in mid 2006, sceptics (both local and international) were concerned about its potential to succeed. After all, previous peace negotiations were only a temporary respite from the long-running conflict. One concern about the Juba peace process is the limited scope. The focus is on the violence committed between the LRA/M and the GoU, even though the conflict in northern Uganda is a manifestation of the cyclical violence around the country, and a major crisis of governance.  

The signing of three items (Cessation of Hostilities, Comprehensive Solutions to the Conflict and Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation) on the peace talks agenda has given rise to renewed optimism, though cautious given the arduous and delicate nature of such processes. Some believe the talks have reached a point of no return, especially after the signing of Agenda Item No. 3 on Accountability and Reconciliation. The subsequent consultations that have occured across the country further support this notion. The parties, conscious of the serious crimes, human rights violations, and adverse socio-economic and political impacts of the conflict, have committed themselves to preventing impunity and to promoting redress in accordance with the constitution as well as international obligations. They have also recognised the need for adopting appropriate justice mechanisms, including customary processes of accountability (see preamble).

In particular, clause 5.1 in Agenda Item No. 3 enjoins the parties to the conflict to, “promote national legal arrangements, consisting of formal and non formal institutions and measures for ensuring justice and reconciliation with respect to the conflict…[and] recognises the need for the parties to make modifications in the national legal system to ensure more effective and integrated justice and accountability responses.’’

This clause suggests a number of transitional justice policy, legal and institutional reforms in the areas of criminal law (for instance, modification of the penal code, possible repeal or amendment to the anti-terrorism law, Amnesty law etc), constitutional law (changes in some constitutional provisions, e.g., reduction of presidential powers, presidential immunity and pardon), domestic relations (marriages, paternity and children), and the rule of law in general (respect for and promotion of predictability of the law, separation of powers etc). 

In preparation for the implementation of this and other provisions in the Agenda Item, the GoU and the LRA/M have concluded nation-wide consultations with a broad range of stakeholders, including Civil Society representatives and academics, to examine different ways of operationalising the Agreement in terms of policy framework, structural/institutional arrangement, accountability mechanisms - including investigations and prosecutions, alternative sentences, and traditional justice mechanisms, in a bid to achieve both accountability and national reconciliation (clause 2:3 of the Agreement).

This situation is too complex to be comprehensively understood in a few months of consultations. The consultations focus almost exclusively on issues of accountability by the LRA/M and State actors, with little focus on the national perspective, the Karamoja questions, and related issues of good governance. Whatever views and reforms the parties in Juba come out with, there is a strong need for continuous research in order to highlight the governance deficiencies and thereby support the ultimate success of the peace process.

Legal and institutional reforms might enhance the whole process of accountability and national reconciliation but there are a lot of justice issues which cannot be addressed through standard legal mechanisms and processes. These must be clearly identified and dealt with (national reconciliation, reparations, civil-military relations, mass/individual trauma, bad spirits/jogi, abomination/kiir, poverty, family breakdown, HIV/Aids, landlessness, etc.). A thorough understanding and knowledge of how existing law is or is not able to deal with the causes and effects of conflict will be essential when designing the legal mechanisms and institutions aimed at facilitating the transition from violence to sustainable peace.

While complementing other elements of the Beyond Juba Project, the research under this component will examine the legal terrain. In close collaboration with the psycho-social element of the research, it will focus on all conceivable laws and themes related to transitional justice. We will focus on some of the key issues that must be addressed by particular justice approaches, including northern and north eastern Uganda, and in the whole country, if sustainable peace is to be realised and national reconciliation achieved.