Peter Nyanzi
8 August 2006
Kampala — THE International human rights group, Amnesty International, has called on the government of Uganda to pay reparations to the victims of rebel leader Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army.
In a public statement issued on Friday, Amnesty International (AI) proposed an "alternative strategy to impunity," which includes "establishing effective mechanisms to provide full reparations to victims to help them rebuild their lives."
"AI calls on the government not to undermine justice and the rights of victims in the course of the political negotiations to end the conflict," the statement said.
"Instead, the organisation urges the government to strive for sustainable peace by addressing the crimes committed by the LRA and government forces during the conflict by establishing a comprehensive national strategy that ensures justice, truth and full reparations to victims, including crimes of sexual violence and violence against children."
The 20-year-old insurgency has left behind thousands of shattered lives which cost the government billions of shillings to compensate.
The AI opposed the amnesty offer President Yoweri Museveni offered Kony and his top commanders wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The AI proposed an "alternative" which it said was a comprehensive strategy to address all crimes committed in the conflict.
"The strategy should recognise that children above the age of criminal responsibility, who committed crimes under international law, were also victims of crimes themselves, including abduction and sexual violence which need to be taken into account in any criminal proceedings," the AI said.
It said the strategy buttressed by proposed traditional justice mechanisms should include measures such as ensuring that all those responsible for crimes under international law committed in the conflict, are brought to justice before national courts, thereby bringing justice to victims and establishing an effective deterrent to future crimes.
The AI said the strategy should develop effective mechanisms to establish the truth about the crimes committed during the conflict by allowing those affected to tell their stories.
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