The Ugandan government and LRA have reportedly signed an agreement on agenda item #3 (of 5) on "reconciliation and accountability." "We signed the agreement on reconciliation and accountability late last night, which moves us one step closer to a final peace agreement," Martin Ojul, head of the LRA delegation said. The third agenda item is supposed to set out principles for dealing with war criminals -- a thorny subject for a rebel group notorious for beating civilians to death, mutilating victims and kidnapping children. Ojul said the agreement set out a framework for dealing with war crimes under Uganda's own law that they hoped would appease judges in the ICC. Read more at Reuters.

The Justice & Reconciliation Project has a new website and has released two new reports. The first, "The Cooling of the Hearts: Community Truth-Telling in Acholi-land," examines community-level mechanisms that might facilitate a process of truth-telling at that level in northern Uganda. The report says, "Indeed, a community-level truth-telling body could have a much more positive long-term affecte on the afflicted than the trials of only 4 men." The second report, "Remembering the Atiak Massacre: April 20, 1995," recounts the struggles faced by northern Ugandans in coping with the aftermath of the atrocity in the absence of justice. On that day, the LRA under the command of General Vincent Otti marched hundreds of people out of their village and opened fire, killing over 300 civilians. Read these reports at the Justice & Reconciliation Project.

A Commissioner of the Uganda Human Rights Commission met with the LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti last Friday in a bid to secure the release of the women and children still in captivity. Veronica Bichetero, who is in charge of internally displaced people, met the rebel leader at Ri-Kwangba. She discussed with him the education needs and social concerns of the non-combatant women and children. She described the meeting as a success, held in a friendly atmosphere. "He (Otti) encouraged me to make a follow-up. So the door is open for further discussion and consultation," she added. Otti reportedly reiterated the LRA's commitment to ending the rebellion through the Juba peace talks. He described the women and children as LRA's civilians. He welcomed steps to give them humanitarian aid. Bichetero's meeting was part of a bigger mission by the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team. Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA has accepted responsibility for war crimes it committed in northern Uganda over the past twenty years. The acceptance of responsibility came as negotiations continue between the rebels and the Ugandan government over reconciliation and accountability. Both sides are pushing for an agreement that combines Uganda’s domestic legal system and traditional reconciliation mechanisms as alternative to prosecution of top LRA commanders by the International Criminal Court. Read more at The New Vision.

The head of the Ugandan government’s delegation to the Juba peace talks said yesterday that Uganda will "engage" the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek a review of its indictments of top LRA commanders. Rugunda said that current negotiations between the Ugandan government and LRA in Juba are focused on developing an alternative to ICC prosecution. The alternative would combine Uganda’s domestic legal system and traditional justice mechanisms to address reconciliation and accountability for crimes committed by both sides during the twenty years of conflict. Read more at IRIN News.

In a similar development, an LRA position paper released yesterday called for the Ugandan government to pass legislation to incorporate elements of traditional justice mechanisms into formal law. Under Article 17 of the Rome Statue, the ICC’s legal framework, ICC investigations and prosecutions can be dropped if national legal systems can offer a complementary alternative that meets ICC legal standards. Read more at The Monitor.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni agreed yesterday to meet with the LRA delegation to the Juba peace talks in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. Ruhakana Ruganda, chief of the Ugandan government to the peace talks, said that Museveni had agreed to the meeting as a confidence-building measure. Read more at The New Vision.

Ruhakana Rugunda hinted yesterday that the Ugandan government is willing to hand over politicians or military officials accused of crimes in northern Uganda to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if they were not tried in Uganda’s court system. Rugunda, chief negotiator for the Ugandan government in Juba, was reacting to recent comments by LRA commander Vincent Otti. Otti expressed the willingness of ICC-indicted LRA leaders to face trial at The Hague if Ugandan government or military personnel suspected of similar crimes were also tried there. However, recent negotiations in Juba have focused on developing a framework of formal Ugandan judicial structures and local reconciliation mechanisms that would substitute for trials at the ICC. Read more at ReliefWeb.

Dr. Riek Machar, the chief mediator for the Juba peace process, expressed confidence yesterday that the talks were on track. The peace process has been slowed by difficult negotiations concerning agenda item 3 of the talks, reconciliation and accountability for crimes committed during two decades of conflict between the LRA and Ugandan government. Machar said, "We are pressing them to reach an agreement. The people are suffering. But I am convinced the talks have reached a 'point of no return." Read more at AllAfrica.com.

Ugandan and Sudanese clergy have recommended forgiveness, not punishment, as a means to resolve the war in northern Uganda. After inter-denominational prayers held at All Saints Cathedral Juba on Saturday, the religious leaders argued that accountability, repentance and forgiveness would more effective by healing the scars of the war in the region. The acting Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Natalian Deng, said Ugandans needed to reconcile with the LRA just like Jesus reconciled bitter enemies: the Jews and the Gentiles. Ugandan Archbishop Yonah Lwanga said UJCC had recommended alternative (traditional) justice for the rebels instead of the punishment that the International Criminal Court is seeking. Read more at The New Vision.

The Ugandan government and LRA reportedly agreed yesterday on a framework to deal with individuals who have committed crimes during the war. "The parties believe that the national legal and institutional framework provides a sufficient basis for ensuring accountability and reconciliation in Uganda with respect to crimes and violations committed during the conflict," the agreed framework stated. If true, under such an agreement, the LRA top leaders would not be handed over to the ICC on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The negotiators also reportedly agreed that both parties must account for their role in the war. This means the UPDF will also be subjected to scrutiny for possible crimes. The agreement also reportedly provides for alternative justice mechanisms including a truth and reconciliation commission and traditional justice systems in Lango, Teso and Acholi. Read more at The New Vision.

Preparations are being made for a recess in the Juba peace talks to allow the LRA and Ugandan government delegations to consult with northern war victims and affected communities in northern Uganda concerning reconciliation and accountability. Captain Ba-Hoku Barigye, the government delegation spokesman, said, “We will also consider a wide spectrum of justice systems including the Acholi Mato Oput justice ritual, the Langi Kayo Chuk system and the Iteso one Aliuc.”

The parties are currently negotiating a set of principles to guide the consultations. Reconciliation and accountability is the third item on the agenda of the Juba talks, which will mark their one year anniversary next month. Read more at The Monitor.

LRA second-in-command Vincent Otti said yesterday that LRA rebels have not started assembling in Ri-kwangba, though the South Sudanese government communicated safe routes to the LRA last week and gave them three weeks to assemble there. With barely two weeks left, Otti said yesterday that the LRA had not begun to assemble because it had not received official permission to do so from the South Sudanese mediators and wanted to avoid potential clashes with the Ugandan army. The gathering of the LRA in the Ri-kwangba assembly point is considered a key element of cessation of hostilities agreement signed last August and would provide a significant boost to the Juba peace talks. Read more at The Monitor.

UN peacekeepers from the UN mission to the DR Congo (MONUC) have deployed near the remote camp of LRA leader Joseph Kony in the country’s northeastern Garamba National Park. Uganda’s Defence Minister Ruth Nankabirwa said that the deployment was intended to “convince the LRA to assemble in Ri-Kwangba” in South Sudan as part of the ongoing peace talks between the rebels and the Ugandan government and also “help in protecting the population surrounding Garamba National Park. ” In January 2005 8 MONUC peacekeepers were killed by LRA rebels during a failed attempt to force the LRA to leave the park. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA delegation to the Juba peace talks has requested the help of three prominent Ugandan lawyers, one a former judge on Uganda’s High Court. LRA delegation head Martin Ojul said that their expertise was needed in upcoming negotiations concerning accountability and reconciliation. Read more at AllAfrica.com.

An op/ed in today’s Monitor argues that prosecution of indicted LRA commanders by the ICC cannot fully satisfy the demands of northern Ugandans for either justice or peace. Written by Chris Dolan, executive director of the Refugee Law Project, the op/ed states that the ICC’s investigations, which have not addressed crimes committed by government security forces, is too narrow. The op/ed argues that other justice mechanisms are required to ensure that justice promotes a sustainable peace and ensures that all victims’ grievances are addressed to deter future violence. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA has said that it is willing to open up to an investigation and, if obliged, to surrender its fighters alleged to have committed atrocities during the 20-year war in northern Uganda. In their latest position paper in Juba, the rebels insist, however, that such a move would only be possible if the government reciprocates by turning in UPDF soldiers they say have also committed atrocities against civilians. Government delegation spokesman Barigye Ba-Hoku said yesterday they are not in Juba to "review Uganda's history but to negotiate peace" with the LRA. Meanwhile, an LRA high command meeting on Saturday resolved to demand the post of vice president on top of other ministerial positions as part of a power-sharing agreement. The government has repeatedly said the LRA cannot make power-sharing demands on it. Read more at The Monitor.

The chief mediator at the Juba talks, Dr. Riek Machar, has officially communicated the route LRA fighters must use to assemble at Ri-Kwangba. "There was some declaration three days ago on the routes to be used by LRA fighters. They need to act and start moving and the monitoring team will monitor them," Machar explained. In his declaration, Machar gave the LRA another three weeks within which they have to assemble at Ri-Kwangba. In a telephone interview, LRA second-in-command, Vincent Otti, advised all his troops in Sudan and northern Uganda to be ready to move to Ri-Kwangba as soon as possible. Read more at The New Vision.

The Acholi Parliamentary Group is to release a dossier on the atrocities committed by the LRA and the Ugandan government since 1986, the acting chairperson Reagan Okumu has said. Addressing journalists at Parliament, Okumu said the dossier, compiled from both local and international organisations, revealed that from 1986 to 1991 the LRA were responsible for 17% and the Government 83% of the atrocities. From 1992 to 2006, he said, the LRA was responsible for 81% of the atrocities and the Government 9%. "Now that truth and reconciliation have been put on the agenda in the peace process in Juba, everybody should take responsibility for the atrocities committed," Okumu declared. Read more at The New Vision.

Ugandan President Museveni renewed his call to the four indicted LRA commanders to avoid prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) by accepting a “soft landing” - a peace deal and local alternative justice mechanisms. International human rights groups have expressed skepticism of such alternative justice mechanisms, saying they will not do enough to combat impunity and provide justice to victims. One such group, Human Rights Watch, recently released proposed benchmarks for national prosecutions and penalties that they say must be met if indicted commanders are not tried at the ICC. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

At the resumption of peace talks in Juba, UN special envoy Joaquim Chissano said that time is running out for LRA to clinch a peace deal with the Government. "I repeat: time is not in our favour," Chissano said. He said it was impossible to satisfy all interests at the talks, but added: "We make an effort to bear the pressure from all corners." Chissano revealed that he had set up an office in Kampala, with a branch in Juba, and that his mandate had been renewed to run until November when a peace agreement is expected. Chissano’s latest concern arose after it emerged that the LRA want two months to organise a conference to discuss post-conflict reconstruction and accountability. Read more at The New Vision.

The UN Special Envoy for northern Uganda, Joaquim Chissano is expected to fly to Juba to open the third round of peace talks between the Ugandan government and the LRA rebels. Chissano was reportedly in Uganda yesterday meeting with the government negotiating team and was slated to hold talks with President Museveni. The Ugandan negotiating team was also expected to fly to Juba today. Read more at The Monitor.

A new report by the Foundation of Human Rights Initiative says the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for the top LRA commanders does not in anyway destroy the foundation for seeking peace. "In dealing with agenda number three, a full set of options that includes the enactment of a national legislation to punish perpetrators, the use of Mato Oput, the continuation of ICC involvement and a truth and reconciliation commission are crucial," the report says. Read more at The Monitor.

Human Rights Watch has said that any proposed alternative to International Criminal Court (ICC) trials for the most serious crimes committed in northern Uganda must include fair, credible prosecutions accompanied by penalties that reflect the gravity of the crimes. In a memorandum directed to parties involved in the peace talks, Human Rights Watch details benchmarks that must be met for any national trial to be an appropriate alternative under the ICC and international human rights standards. Human Rights Watch said that prosecutions for the most serious crimes, along with broader accountability measures for lesser offenses, are essential to ensure justice and a sustainable peace. A 12-month deferral of the ICC's investigation and prosecution by the UN Security Council under article 16 of the Rome Statute, a possibility which has been raised by the LRA, would be inappropriate, Human Rights Watch said. Read more at AllAfrica.com.