The Government has invited observers from the African Union to witness the on-going consultations with LRA war victims and stakeholders. The chief Government negotiator, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda,said yesterday that the invitations had been sent to representatives of South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya and the DRC. He said the observers were expected to join them in the second phase of the consultations in Teso, which start today. Read more at The New Vision.

Speaking on Voice of America, the LRA's second-in-command Vincent Otti said it is an error for victims of the rebel insurgency to suggest local courts to try only members of the LRA for alleged war crimes. This follows the Ugandan government's "consultations" with civil society throughout the northern region of the country. Otti said: "From my side, I do see that what the victims are saying, they do not know who has done this one. If any of that is LRA who has done this one, it is okay because during war you do not know who has done this and that. The victims should be even sometimes the LRA or sometimes the government of Uganda that is the UPDF. If both of us are to face the same trial then that is okay." Otti further remarked that the LRA needs its own consultations before making any concrete commitments. Listen to the full interview at Voice of America.

Civil Society Organizations for Peace in Northern Uganda (CSOPNU) has issued a public statement that the Juba peace talks are at "a point of no return." They write, "Sunday 26 August 2007 marked one year of the landmark Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CHA) between the GoU and the LRA that was signed in Juba. Both parties to the peace talks have demonstrated commitment, restraint and flexibility in the interest of peace in Northern Uganda...To ensure that peace and justice are achieved in Northern Uganda all stakeholders have to do everything it takes to avoid returning to the horror Northern Uganda has seen for the last 20 years." CSOPNU then appeals for the Government of Uganda to press the UN Security Council to invoke Article 16 of the Rome Statute, suspending the ICC warrants for 12 months. They also urge both parties to "take heed of the voices of the victims and all affected groups."

Ruhakana Rugunda said today that ongoing consultations with northern Ugandans have shown widespread support for the creation of domestic justice mechanisms to try top LRA leaders indicted by the International Criminal Court. Rugunda, the head of the Ugandan government delegation to the Juba talks, commented, "Very many of them felt that Uganda by using traditional and formal justice systems, will provide a sufficient alternative to handle issues of accountability and reconciliation." The Ugandan government and LRA delegations have been holding consultations on how to address crimes committed during two decades of war after signing a framework agreement on agenda item three of the Juba talks, justice and reconciliation, in late June. Read more at Reuters.

The mainstream Ugandan political parties will attend a consultative meeting with the LRA rebels in Ri-Kwangba, their assembly site in southern Sudan. Party leaders said that they were waiting for invitation letters to name their delegates. DP president general Ssebaana Kizito said it has been his party’s cry for many years to end the 20-year-long rebellion through peaceful means. Each political party is expected to send three representatives. Traditional institutions, government commissions and religious leaders are also expected there. FDC spokesman Wafula Ogutu said party officials participating in the peace talks and attending the meeting would not be out of line. "If (our participation) is going to bring peace in that area, we are going to participate," Wafula said. Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA has reportedly settled for $700,000 for a consultative conference at Ri-Kwangba, their assembly site on the Sudan-Congo border. Both the LRA and the Government agreed earlier to consult stakeholders and war victims following the signing of the third item on the talks’ agenda, 'accountability and reconciliation'. Chief mediator Riek Machar said the LRA delegation had begun preparations for the meeting in liaison with the peace talks’ secretariat in Juba. He, however, dismissed fears that LRA would use the money to re-arm. "We shall ensure a peaceful end to the conflict. We want everyone, the LRA and the Government, to focus on the peace talks," Machar said. Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA have presented a revisted budget for "consultations" to South Sudan Vice President Riek Marchar, mediator in the Juba peace talks. This follows their complaints about $600,000 from the international community as "insufficient" to transport 500 people to meet with them. The LRA is now asking the international community to supplement that amount. Read more at Voice of America.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities agreement in Juba, which has brought relative calm to northern Uganda for the first time in nearly a decade. Today's Monitor includes two articles to acknowledge this anniversary. In the first, The Monitor reflects back on this historic achievement, while documenting alleged violations of the agreement by both the LRA and UPDF. In the second, The Monitor considers the issues surrounding transitional justice that are currently facing the peace process.

The Monitor has published an editorial this Sunday, titled "Stick with the Juba peace process for now." They write, "The LRA may still pose a security threat to Uganda and other countries in the Great Lakes but it is also a fact that we are in the middle of a peace process that holds the greatest hope yet for peaceful resolution of this long-running conflict. It is important to remain focused on the likely dividends that may accrue from resolving this calamitous issue over the table. This, however, must not be taken by the rebels to mean that they are free to drag the process on for as long as it suits them. Remember that the Juba process is largely informed by the acknowledgement across the board that thousands of Ugandans and south Sudanese must no longer be held hostage by this conflict." Read the full editorial at The Monitor.

At a consultation meeting with the Government peace team, Acholi leaders in Gulu recommended that a Mato-Oput commission be formed to advance reconciliation between the LRA rebels, Government and victims of the conflict. The leaders also recommended that a special jury be established to investigate and try those suspected of having committed serious crimes. They, however, opposed trials by the ICC. The leaders also urged that a truth and reconciliation commission be set up. This has been a major point in several new reports and other consultations. Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA say they have been informed that about $600,000 has been raised by the donor community to enable them to hold "consultations," but the rebels say the money would not be sufficient to meet their demands. They are therefore asking the donor community through peace mediator Riek Marchar for more money. David Matsanga, an advisor to the LRA rebels on ICC matters, said, "To consult widely means you don’t leave any stone unturned. What we have insisted and what we have told the whole world, and which we shall continue to tell the whole world is that this money is not going to the pocket of any individual. This money is to facilitate people who would be airlifted, who would be driven by buses from northern Uganda… and all parts of Uganda. And then from those who are coming from Europe..." Listen to the full interview at Voice of America.

The LRA has received $600,000 to hold consultations before the final peace agreement is signed in Juba. The LRA had demanded for $2m to fly 500 members of the Acholi community to Sudan for the consultations. However, the Ugandan government and the international community jointly raised about $1m for the exercise. They gave the LRA $600,000 and the Government will use $400,000 for internal consultations. Government negotiator Ruhakana Rugunda said, "We think this is an adequate amount of money. We should not allow money, important as it may be, to obstruct us from achieving critical and important benefits and ensuring the success of the negotiations." Read more at The New Vision.

The call to give blanket amnesty to LRA rebels and others perpetrating the northern war should be made with caution, lead government negotiator Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said. This was during a consultative meeting on the peace talks with LC5 chairpersons, MPs, councillors, youth and women leaders, and other stakeholders from Acholi sub-region. "The government cannot offer blanket amnesty because it does not condone impunity and the international community as well as the International Criminal Court do not also accept impunity," he said. He said even if the LRA leaders were offered blanket amnesty without the involvement of the international community, there was no guarantee that others would not proceed against them because they would say the government had failed to punish them. Read more at The Monitor.

The Ugandan government said today that it wants to set up local war crimes courts for LRA rebels after asking their alleged victims how they want trials to be conducted. This comes after both parties signed an agreement of principles on "reconciliation and accountability" one month ago. "We have discussed this with legal experts...there is a possibility of forming a unique legal system to achieve lasting peace and accountability," the chief government peace negotiator, Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, said. "We will be asking the affected communities how best we can deal with the issue of accountability," Rugunda said. In reponse, LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayoo said, "It would be premature to say what position LRA is going to take before we have consulted...We agreed both parties have committed crimes, both parties will be held accountable. This has got no limit; it does not spare anyone at all, including the president of Uganda." Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

The head of Uganda’s Amnesty Commission called for limitations to blanket amnesty, saying that some rebels granted amnesty had returned to the LRA and committed further crimes. The Amnesty Commission, created in 2000 by the Amnesty Act, is mandated to grant amnesty to any rebel who lays down arms and renounces rebellion. Ugandan judge Peter Onega was speaking at a consultative meeting on justice and reconciliation, one of the consultations being held by the Ugandan government and LRA before negotiations on agenda item three of the Juba peace talks resume next month. Onega also argued that domestic Ugandan justice mechanisms were sufficient to replace prosecution of LRA leaders by the International Criminal Court and stressed the importance of national reconciliation across Uganda. Read more at AllAfrica.

Onega’s critique of the current amnesty process in Uganda comes at the heels of two population-based studies of northern Ugandan views on justice and reconciliation. Both studies found diverse views on the importance of amnesty to regional justice and reconciliation, and many respondents expressed desires that that amnesty processes also include mechanisms for truth-telling, compensation for victims and reintegration support for the returned combatants.

Uganda’s foreign affairs minister Okello Oryem announced on Sunday that peace talks between the LRA and Ugandan government will resume in mid-September following consultations with civil society, experts and victims on justice and reconciliation. Oryem announced that the government delegation will hold consultations with northern civil society from August 20-31. Read more at The New Vision.

Government officials in Eastern Equatoria announced that the departure of LRA rebels from the southern Sudanese region has allowed the commencement of disarmament initiatives. Although disarmament was slated to begin in 2005 after Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended decades of civil war in the region, the presence of marauding LRA rebels made authorities reluctant to ask civilians to disarm. However, since June the rebels have moved to assembly points at the Sudan-DR Congo border mandated by the ongoing Juba peace talks. A security official from Eastern Equatoria claimed that at least 300 people have been killed by LRA rebels since 2004. Read more at Reuters.

Plans for the LRA and Ugandan government to begin consultations with northern civil society on reconciliation and accountability, agenda item 3 of the Juba peace talks, are slowly developing. In June the two sides announced a break in the negotiations to hold the consultations after signing a framework agreement on agenda item 3 that called for a combination of traditional and formal justice mechanisms to be developed. Shortages of funding have slowed the consultation process, but the leader of the Ugandan government delegation announced last week that the government will begin consultations with northern civil society this week. In late July the LRA delegation demanded $2 million to facilitate meetings with northern civil society and consultative trips abroad to countries that have dealt with post-conflict justice issues, but donors rejected their request. However, donors have recently offered the LRA team $600,000 to conduct consultations, and chief mediator Riek Machar has offered to work with the LRA to revise their plans.

Archbishop John Baptist Odama recently appealed to the people of northern Uganda to unite in the pursuit of peace in the region during an ordination ceremony for a new priest in Gulu. Odama, a longtime local and international advocate for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in northern Uganda, said, “Reconciliation is the yardstick for peace, unity and development in northern Uganda." Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA has condemned as baseless and unwarranted a statement by the Ugandan government that it has an alternative solution if the ongoing peace talks should fail in Juba. They are calling on the government to retract the statement and reprimand the defense minister for making the statement, which they describe as very offensive. LRA technical advisor David Matsanga said, "We are committed to the peace process, and we want the peace process to be concluded as soon as possible. And there is no need of issuing statements that can provoke the situation where we shall lose peace." Read more at Voice of America.

Dr. Erin Baines of the Justice & Reconciliation Project and Adrian Bradbury of Gulu Walk have co-authored an Op/Ed, titled "Peace in northern Uganda, but whose justice?" They ask, "If the ICC truly is a 'court of last resort', why exactly was the Paramount Chief of the major victims of the this war, the Acholi of northern Uganda, David Onen Acana II, in London, Washington, DC and Ottawa, Canada last month pleading with these governments to play a key role in repealing the ICC indictments?" They continue, "In short, the victims are interested in their justice, not ours. And well they should be. To the Acholi of northern Uganda, justice is not simply putting the perpetrators behind bars in some foreign court. In fact, any such justice would be incomplete...So instead of hopping up on our soapbox and preaching justice, why are we not offering resources, expertise and support to bolster the Ugandan judicial system?" Read the full Op/Ed at The Sudan Tribune.

The Ugandan government will peacefully end the northern conflict, Defence Minister Dr. Crispus Kiyonga has said. He said that in case the Juba talks fails to yield a peace agreement, the Government had another strategy to ensure that peace and stability is maintained. "The Government is very serious and will go an extra mile to ensure that the peace talks succeed." He said 50% of the internally displaced persons had returned to their homes and he expects that with consolidated security, economic revival would soon be on course. Read more at The New Vision.