Reintegration of Amnestied LRA Ex-Combatants and Survivors’ Resistance Acts in Acholiland, Northern Uganda
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Date
2019
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Transitional Justice
Abstract
This article examines the social dynamics among survivors and amnestied Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) ex-combatants living together in Acholiland, asking how and if
Acholi survivors have forgiven Acholi LRA returnees, forgotten past violence and
moved on, as stated in northern Uganda’s amnesty framework. The amnestied LRA
ex-combatants interviewed stated that they wanted and needed to reintegrate among
Acholi survivors. Yet, after two decades of amnesty, the magnitude of the brutality of
the war remains etched in survivors’ minds. My ethnographic findings suggest feigned
compliance as well as resistance to amnesty by-laws. Many practise what I call survivors’
acts of resistance, which includes name calling, attributing misfortune to the presence of
ex-combatants, stigmatization and stealing. In short, survivors make returnees’ lives unbearable.
My analysis is framed in reference to and critique of conventional transitional
justice mechanisms and I underscore the importance of memory in the cessation of war
violence and the restoration of peace.
Description
Keywords
Amnesty, Forgiveness, Survivors, Lord’s Resistance Army, Remembering, Uganda
Citation
Akello, G. (2019). Reintegration of amnested LRA ex-combatants and survivors' resistance acts in Acholiland, Northern Uganda. International Journal of Transitional Justice , doi: 10.1093/ijtj/ijz007