Attacks on civilians by the rebels that have wreaked havoc across the region have decreased considerably, according to the Ugandan army. The security situation should improve even more rapidly if the cessation of hostilities agreement between the rebels and the Ugandan government lasts. However, the humanitarian effects of the conflict are still evident across the region.

In the aftermath of the Lebanon disaster you can open up the Israeli press, particularly the Hebrew language editions, and find fierce assaults on the country's elites from left, right and center. The overall panorama is one of chickens of all ages coming home to roost. Small pustules highlight larger rot.

The Sanctions Against Israel Coalition hereby pledges our unconditional support for the national strikes in the cleaning sector and at Shoprite. The rampant super-exploitation in these sectors reflect the crisis of capitalism and its inability to meet the basic needs of the majority. The massive income gap at Shoprite is one of the contributors to making South Africa the exploitation capital of the world [the Gini co-efficient is of the highest].

The government of the Republic of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army/Movement agreed this week to a cessation of hostilities. Click on the link to read the text of the agreement.

On August 24 2006, the minister for public service and information, Themba Msibi, warned the Swazi media against criticising the king, instilling further fear into an already timid press which cannot freely operate due to a perpetually hostile environment that continues to prevail despite the kingdom's new Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression.

The world's largest humanitarian operation in the western Sudanese region of Darfur is on the verge of collapse due to escalating violence, a United Nations humanitarian official warned on Monday (August 28). "Insecurity is at its highest level since 2004, access at its lowest levels since that date and we may well be on the brink of a return to all-out war," the Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, told the UN Security Council on Monday.

Church leaders say that almost nothing has been done to house 700,000 people in Zimbabwe who lost their homes and livelihoods in demolitions last year. Operation Murambatsvina, which the government said was a campaign to clean up cities, was condemned by the UN.

For the Somali refugees who have been in Dadaab longest, the recent takeover of much of southern Somalia by Islamic militants has sapped any lingering hope they had of going home. They watch the new arrivals stream in - 18 000 so far this year - with the air of experience. "The people who come here now, they think they are going back to Somalia very soon, or that they'll be resettled in another country," said Qarad Ismal Sagal, 34, who has been at Dadaab for 15 years.

There are big challenges facing those returnees who fled Burundi in 1972 – some 60,000 since the Burundian government signed a peace agreement with rebel factions in 2000. These challenges – including identity, language skills, and land ownership – are particularly acute for people who fled overseas to escape the first major surge of violence in 1972, and for children born in Tanzania.

Financial constraints on post-conflict reconstruction programmes often lead to the neglect of the educational needs of the present generation in favour of the next. Evidence suggests, however, that improving adult literacy and numeracy levels can help promote peacebuilding and reconciliation.

The banditry activities along the Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic borders are worsening and claiming innocent lives. Jean Paul Manga, a lecturer at Cameroon's University of Yaounde I, told IPS: "The insecurity is a result of banditry activities by former rebel groups, attacks by highway robbers and reprisals by armed forces."

Comprehensive legislation that would prevent child criminals from mixing with adult offenders and provide rehabilitation alternatives remains unenacted nearly three years after its preparation. The Child Justice Bill, which received widespread public backing in 2003 and enjoyed cross-party support, had seemingly dropped off parliament's schedule, child rights organisations said.

The number of children in northern Uganda who take refuge in towns every night from their rural homes for fear of being abducted by rebels has dropped but thousands of children are still vulnerable, aid workers said.

Amnesty was extended to jailed suspects as well as those at large. A six-month amnesty offered by Algeria to Islamic militants on condition of surrender expires on Monday (August 28). There have been calls for an extension since fewer than 300 have come forward. Militants have been promised immunity from prosecution provided they have not been involved in serious crimes such as massacres, rapes and bombings.

The leader of a Democratic Republic of Congo militia has become the first war crimes suspect to be charged at the International Criminal Court. Thomas Lubanga, who led the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia group based in eastern DR Congo, is accused of recruiting child soldiers. International human rights groups argue that charges of murder, torture and rape should be brought against him.

A prominent South African clergyman and opponent of apartheid has told how an apartheid-era minister washed his feet in a gesture of contrition. Rev Frank Chikane survived a murder attempt in the 1980s. He said he was grateful for the gesture made earlier this month by ex-minister Adriaan Vlok.

This assessment two months after the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) shows that there has been no improvement in the situation of human rights in Darfur. The DPA calls on all parties to respect and promote human rights, however the agreement is meaningless if the parties by their actions continue to violate the very principles they are meant to promote.

As the elected leaders of a post-conflict state, the DRC government's top priorities must be to heal the wounds that have been inflicted on many Congolese by colonialism and civil wars in that country. Yav Katshung Joseph writes that: "Victims of serious human rights violations in the DRC are begging for justice and reparations. The new government should place this issue on its agenda in order to grant them reparations. It is true that reparation takes time. However, a step must be taken."

Introduction

Some outbursts of violence between soldiers of the presidential guards "DSSP" and the guards and private army of presidential contender Jean-Pierre Bemba marred the announcement of the election results in the DRC on 20 August. Two hours before the announcement by electoral officials that a runoff is to take place, soldiers from both rival contenders have been involved in a number of attacks. Since none of the 32 presidential candidates who contested in the 30 July elections won 50% plus of the vote, the DRC will hold a runoff election between Joseph Kabila (44.81% of the vote) and Bemba (20.03% of the vote). The fighting left at least 16 victims dead, with many more wounded, but the overall toll is not known and the two sides denied responsibility for the escalation in violence.

The need for unity must take account of the duty to remember and the right to justice necessary to all credible, lasting processes of reconciliation. Accountability for human rights violations is an important instrument in breaking the cycle of impunity, and is an indispensable component of the process of healing the wounds of grave violations committed in the DRC, reconciliation, reconstruction, and peace. It is also the foundation for post-conflict reconstruction based on the rule of law and respect for human rights.

As the focus on a national and international level is towards the post-election period in the DRC, we should also not forget the nightmare in which Congolese citizens have been living from the colonial period till today. The elected government must address the question of reparations for victims of human rights violations in the DRC.

To put this into perspective, over the last decade there have been intense debates internationally and locally about reparation for victims of gross and systematic human rights violations. Discussions arise in post-conflict situations regarding serious violations of human rights, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other forms of injustices of the past. In the DRC, millions of people have been severely affected by the conflicts and violence of the past.

If we are to get over the past and build national unity and reconciliation, we must make sure that people who suffered gross human rights abuses are acknowledged by providing them with reparation. These measures cannot bring back the dead, nor can they adequately compensate for pain and suffering suffered, but they can improve the quality of life for victims of gross human rights violations and/or their dependants. However, one important question is posed: how does a nation like the DRC seek to repair harm, restore rights, and build trust when the number of victims runs to millions over the period from colonial times to the Mobutu regime, and the 1996-1997 Kabila-led war, and the 1998-2003 war and the continuing conflict in some parts of the country? [1]

The question of reparation in the DRC

The Congolese have had to deal with violence and conflict since the DRC's independence from Belgium in 1960 and even before independence. It is for this reason that the questions on when and how to repair the harm inflicted to victims should be put on the agenda. However, this has not been the case in this country and there appears little discussion on the possible processes available and appropriate to secure justice for the victims of the gross and systematic human rights violations.

To ensure that justice translates into accountability and punishment for perpetrators, and, on the other hand, reparation or redress for victims, is not simply a moral imperative. It is a political necessity to combat a culture of impunity stretching unbroken from colonial times through the Mobutu regime, till today. The elected government of the DRC should be pushed to break away from this culture of impunity.

Mechanisms of reparation in the DRC

In principle, at the national level, victims have two mechanisms through which to seek reparation: the judicial and non-judicial mechanisms.

Judicial mechanisms
The judicial reparation mechanism in the DRC is mostly based on reparation proceedings associated with the criminal prosecution of individual perpetrators, with victims participating and seeking reparation as civil claimants. The challenge here is that many victims of violence and atrocity may not have access to the courts or the resources needed to undertake lengthy and costly prosecutions that are not guaranteed to culminate in the payment of reparation.
The judicial reparation mechanism should be strengthened by the International Criminal Court (ICC). If not, the victims' prospects for achieving judicial remedy and reparation will remain minimal. The case of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo [2] proves this point. Dyilo, a founder and leader of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC), was arrested and transferred on the 17 March 2006 to the International Criminal Court. He is accused of committing war crimes as set out in article 8 of the Statute. However, so far, no one else has been brought to justice for serious human rights abuses and war crimes perpetrated in DRC - a situation compounded by a shattered justice system.
We hope that the Court under article 75 of the Statute will provide reparation to the victims, if Dyilo is found guilty. [3]

Non-judicial mechanisms

There are a wide variety of non-judicial mechanisms and the Congolese Truth Commission is one of them. The work of a truth commission, when properly carried out, should automatically lead to some form of reparation. However, in the DRC, despite the fact that the truth and reconciliation commission was established in July 2004, it is unable to conduct investigations into human rights abuses. The Congolese TRC was not created and is not operated transparently in order to sustain democratic legitimacy and therefore, to work for reparation. There is a clear lack of citizen involvement in the creation and functioning of the TRC, and a lack of openness to ensure domestic legitimacy. Moreover, there are many criticisms because commissioners come from different factions previously or currently involved in the conflict and were not chosen by means of a transparent process which espoused a democratic spirit,practice.

Therefore, it seems that the purpose of such a commission, is to become a Truth Omission instead of a Truth Commission. As such it cannot satisfy the quest for reparation in the DRC.[4] There is also the question of source of funds, given the vast number of victims who may claim reparations.

Trends towards reparation in the DRC

The question arises: how should reparation be done? The whole process can become a difficult task especially when emerging from a protracted conflict, with ethnic divisions. It should be noted that not all perpetrators can be brought to book if such prosecutions both outstrip available resources and risk a dangerous frailty, further divisions, possible balkanisation and instability.

Also, one delicate question relates to contributions from foreign governments and individuals. How possible is it for foreign countries and individuals being held accountable for their roles in the civil war to pay reparation? For instance, in the recent judgement by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Uganda was found liable to compensate the DRC for violations of public international law, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. The amount of money to be paid in reparation is still to be determined through bilateral negotiations between Uganda and the DRC. It is unlikely that victims will benefit from it.

On a positive note, on 12 April 2006, the Military Garnison Court in Songo Mboyo [5] in the DRC sentenced seven military officers of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) to life imprisonment. This after the FARDC battalion based in Songo Mboyo(troops of the ex-Liberation Movement of Congo), rebelled against its commanders who they accused of withholding their army salaries, robbed almost all the houses in the villages of Songo-Mboyo and Bongandanga and then committed collective rape of at least 119 women and girls on 21 December 2003. Many of the women were less than 18 years old.
As a form of reparation, each victim's family will be paid compensation of 10,000 US dollars. The other victims who were raped will each receive 5,000 US dollars Compensations ranging between 500 to 200 US dollars are to be set aside for businessmen and villagers who were victims of robbery. This is the first sentence against military personnel of the FARDC for crimes against humanity. The same verdict stipulates that the Congolese state must ensure that the victims are compensated. This court's decision is a significant step that will help advance the fight against impunity and provide reparation. However, more still needs to be done.

Conclusion

Victims of serious human rights violations in the DRC are begging for justice and reparation. It is true that reparation takes time. However, the new government must take a step in the right direction by placing this issue on its agenda.

Erik Doxtader says that “in the face of a history that will not 'end', reparation requires close attention to the question of how to craft a present for the future. Much more than an ideal to be achieved in some vague time yet to come, its hope for transformation is a call to act right now. The fact that reparation can neither erase history's pain nor fully compensate for its losses is not a reason to conclude that what is past is past or that legacies imply an inevitability which defies correction. But, this is not to say that there are ready-made solutions. Much more that just a set of policy decisions or court judgements, the power of the reparative may reside in an attitude, a willingness to see historical deprivation and inequality as a common problem that demands the struggle for a future in which things can be made otherwise.” [6]

* Yav Katshung Joesph is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo and an Advocate at the LubumbashiBar Association. He is the Executive Director of CERDH, and Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Peace, Conflict Resolution and Good governance. He has published numerous articles on human rights, law and transitional justice in scholarly journals. For contact: [email][email protected] or [email][email protected]

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

References:

[1] There is a debate in the DRC on the responsibility of Belgium for the barbarity and humiliation associated with the past oppression during the colonial period. Congolese civil society are demanding compensation from the Belgian government. As it is true in the world, there has been an increase in the incidence of claims for reparations related to injustice committed long time ago, including those related in colonialism.

[2] Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a Congolese national, has been the president of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) since its inception in 2000. In September 2002, he established and led the Forces Patriotique du Congo (FPLC), a military group affiliated with the UPC and dedicated to carrying out its goals using violence. He is alleged to have enlisted and conscripted children to serve as soldiers in this organisation. The UPC/FPLC is based in the Ituri district of the DRC, one of the most violent regions in the country. During the war in 2000, Lubanga's organisation is alleged to have been responsible in part for many of the massacres and other abuses that took place in the Ituri region. More recently, his group has been involved in disputes to gain control over the mineral wealth of the region.

[3] The benefits of victims from reparations under the ICC may not be linked to finding a perpetrator guilty. The Court is yet to pronounce itself on this.

[4] "The relationship between the International Criminal Court and Truth Commissions: Some thoughts on how to build a bridge retributive and restorative justice", by Josephy Yav Katchung. Available at: http://www.iccnow.org

[5] In the northwestern province of Equateur, precisely at 600km northeast of the provincial capital Mbandaka.

[6] Erik Doxtader, "Reparation" in Charles Villa-vicencio and Erik Doxtader, Pieces of the Puzzle, 2004, p 32

The ongoing Juba Peace Talks in Uganda between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army are the first step in the right direction. So much is at stake: The 20 year civil war has claimed thousands of lives, the war has brought misery to the Ugandan people, and it has caused destruction and displaced millions of people in their own country. Richard Akum argues that: "If the talks break off with the commitment toward further consultation between both parties, it would have provided a window of opportunity to right the organizational, participatory and temporal frailties of the current effort. A return to arms is definitely not an enviable option"

A complex combination of time, situation and opportunity, have united to create an enabling environment for the ongoing Juba Peace Talks (JPT) between the Government of Uganda (GOU) and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Snapshots from the past 20 years reveal an asymmetric conflict which has spanned three countries - Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries have witnessed egregious violations of human rights - including recorded cases of forced abduction and rape, attacks on civilian populations, the recruitment and retention of child soldiers, and the killing and displacement of millions in Northern Uganda. The current peace talks have far-reaching implications - the local and regional security depend on the JPT, and whether agencies will continue developmental projects in Uganda, as well as in the region, also depends on the peace talks.

To piece together the puzzle of Northern Uganda's peace prospects, consideration ought to be given to regional involvement in the peace talks, the level of representation of the parties to the talks, their positions on the issues, and the time frame for dialogue and agreement.

Over the past couple of years, the conflict dynamics in Northern Uganda have been altered by a number of factors which include the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end Sudan's 23 years Civil War in January 2005 and the unveiling of International Criminal Court arrest warrants for the LRA's Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen, Raska Lukwiya in October 2005.

Yoweri Museveni's re-election to the Ugandan presidency in February 2006 also contributed to the change of conflict dynamics that make up the two decade long civil war. It is fair to say that all these events have invariably shifted strategic decision-making choices towards the management and sustainable resolution of the conflict in Northern Uganda. Hence the high expectations, coloured by cautious optimism, surrounding the ongoing Juba Peace Talks. It would be remarkable to cap off this series of stabilizing events with a sustainable and comprehensive peace deal in Northern Uganda. However, a few pieces of the peace puzzle remain elusive.

Given the regional implications of the sustained conflict in Northern Uganda, the Juba Peace Talks need to be located within a broader regional organizational mandate. The African Union has a stake in the current peace process, given that the conflict in Northern Uganda is currently Africa's longest running cross-border intra-state conflict. Meanwhile a strong Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) presence at the peace process would show the commitment of regional actors to see a deal emerging from the ongoing talks. These organizational actors would, through their participation, provide leverage to others involved to reach consensus by providing security and monitoring guarantees where they are needed. They would also provide the bridge to trust and confidence-building between both parties. These are all intangible elements that would bolster the current effort being undertaken by the Government of South Sudan.

However, regional participation is legally complicated by the ICC warrants looming over the peace process. The warrants are blamed for Kony's skepticism to directly participate in the talks. As the argument goes, if Kony steps foot in Juba, UN forces on the ground could arrest him, given the outstanding warrants. This once again raises the long-standing contention between peace and justice. With the commitment of the international community, a just peace can be attained. Simplistically, a coordinated effort by MONUC (United Nations Mission in the Congo) and UNMIS (United Nations Mission in Sudan) forces could enforce the warrants executed by the ICC, and bring the leaders of the LRA to justice, thereby opening the way for tier-two LRA leadership to engage the GOU in peace talks.

With these structural deficiencies in the background of the ongoing talks, there remains a need to find common ground between the GOU's push for a narrow agreement which focuses on current strategic calculations, and the LRA's search for a more comprehensive agreement which addresses the root causes of the conflict. The GOU's bargaining position is strengthened by the ICC warrants on the LRA leaders. Hon. Amama Mbabazi, Ugandan Minister for Security, visited the ICC in the Hague on July12th - two days before the start of the Juba Peace Talks - but noticeably did not request a withdrawal of the ICC arrest warrants. The government's stand at the peace talks remains hinged on a narrow amnesty offer for the LRA leadership under indictment by the ICC. For the rest of the LRA fighting force, the GOU envisages for some, reintegration through a security merger with the Ugandan Peoples' Defense Forces (UPDF), and for others, resettlement into Ugandan civilian life. To this government position, Hon. Betty Akech, former Ugandan Minister for State Security, while noting previous failed talks between both parties, cautions that “the GOU should only make realistic, feasible and deliverable commitments to the LRA, not those it cannot implement because of some structural as well as legal difficulties.”

Though the LRA has denied any strategic frailty, their attempts at calling for the talks and Kony delivering his first televised interview in 20 years, are a response to the collusion of forces to bring them to the Juba Peace Talks. The LRA seeks a more expansive peace agreement including compensation for losses incurred during the conflict, a program of national reconciliation and national unity, a completely revamped national army and wealth-sharing and power-sharing agreements similar to those of the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Hence beyond the acrimony accusations and counter accusations that marred their initial encounters on July 14, their positions do not seem so divergent after all. Nevertheless, the devil remains in the details of the puzzle to Northern Uganda's elusive peace.

Overall, there is a need for a peace deal that will positively alter the attitudes and behaviors that have sustained the conflict over the past 20 years. Meanwhile, institutional guarantees need to be put in place for altering structural contradictions and fostering peace with development.

The government's deadline to reach an amicable agreement between itself and the LRA, which is September 12, seems rather condensed given the 20 years of mutual mistrust, fear and uncertainty which separate the GOU and the LRA. Should the current Juba Peace Talks fail to yield peace and understanding, the GOU would consider aiming for an outright military solution by attacking LRA positions in the Garamba forest in the northeastern DRC. Meanwhile, the LRA would resort to the same guerilla tactics that have sustained them as a resilient, close-knit fighting force for the last 20 years. Such a situation would have a direct consequence on the fragile CPA under implementation in Sudan and on the concerted effort by IGAD, IGAD partners, the AU and the UN to bring peace to Sudan. The stakes are much higher than they appear on the surface, thus regional and international partners ought to get involved.

All the pieces in Uganda's peace puzzle may not come together at this point in time. However, the start of high-level talks between the main parties to the conflict is a laudable move in the right direction. If the talks break off, but with a commitment by both parties towards further consultation, it would have provided a window of opportunity to right the organizational, participatory and temporal frailties of the current effort. A return to arms is definitely not an enviable option.

* Richard Akum is a Researcher for the Peace Practitioners' Project at the University for Peace, African Program. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the perspective of the university. He can be contacted at [email][email protected]

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

A dangerous tide of xenophobia in South Africa, which stereotypes people from the rest of the continent as criminals and competitors for scarce jobs, is obscuring the positive impact immigrants are making, according to the government and advocacy groups.