Donors supporting the Juba peace talks have said they will not deal directly with the LRA rebels. Speaking on behalf of the European Union countries, including Canada, Iceland and Norway, the Chargée d'Affaires at the French Embassy, Chantal Bès, said the LRA should channel all their demands through the Government of South Sudan, which is mediating the talks. The rebels are demanding $2 million (Shs3.2billion) from donors, without which they say they will not return to the talks. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA has said its negotiators may not return to the South Sudan-mediated talks if they are not given "consultation" facilitation in amounts in excess of $2 million. For $2 million, the rebels want to airlift 500 delegates from northern Uganda to Ri-Kwangba at the Sudan-DR Congo border, as well as facilitate experts to travel to South Africa, Sierra Leone, and Argentina. "Continuing the talks without consultations will be meaningless so we will not engage in any further talks," said acting LRA spokesman David Nyekorach Matsanga said yesterday. However, every donor the rebels have approached, including the United Nations and the Canadian Government, has rejected the request. Read more at The Monitor.

The Ugandan government has said the LRA demand for $2 million for travel is unrealistic. Speaking during a talk show, Stephen Kagoda, a member of the Government peace team in Juba, said consultations with the rebel commanders should instead take place in Uganda. The LRA has requested the money to ferry 500 people from northern Uganda to visit the rebels' base in Garamba and facilitate others to go abroad and research on how to end conflicts. LRA representatives also hoped to visit South Africa, Sierra Leone and Argentina to help them learn how they addressed conflict, justice and reconciliation. Read more at The New Vision.

The resumption of peace talks between the Government of Uganda and LRA originally set to take place next week, has been temporarily delayed due to the rebel group's inability to raise $2 million to fund foreign travel and research. According to LRA spokesman Martin Ojul, the rebel army has been looking to finance a trip for 500 people from northern Uganda to Garamba National Park in easter DRC, where rebel commanders are currently positioned. According to Ojul, the purpose of this visit would be discussions with Joseph Kony about how to achieve accountabiliy without the ICC. The money would also be used to finance trips abroad for LRA representatives, with the purpose of doing research on justice and accountability mechanisms. The head of the government delegation in Juba confirmed the delay and said that a new start date would be communicated. Read more at The Monitor.

President Museveni has ruled out asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) to lift the arrest warrants against the LRA leadership before a peace deal is reached in Juba. "We are not going to ask ICC to lift the arrest warrants. You must leave the warrants alone. If they don’t conclude the peace talks they could be arrested and taken to the ICC or get killed. There is no shortcut," he said. Museveni further said the ICC must be supported because it was created to stop impunity in the world. "One of the international bodies I support is this ICC. It is good because for people to do terrible things and get away with it because the world is not coordinated, is really bad. This court coordinates the world. We should all give it support." Read more at The New Vision.

IRIN News reports that one year of the Juba peace talks has encouraged hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda to return home. Uganda's internal affairs minister, who is also the leader of the government delegation, Ruhakana Rugunda, said, "The year has been well spent. We would have liked to have moved more quickly, but a few factors came up that one could not ignore. We remain determined to [ensure] a more speedy process." The LRA spokesman, Godfrey Ayoo, said the fact that the guns had fallen silent was a major achievement. "For the first time in the history of the rebellion, both ourselves and the government have accepted that there is a political problem which needs a political solution and the entire country is speaking with one voice," he said. Read more at IRIN News.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the start of the Juba peace talks between the Government of Uganda (GoU) and Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Last July, we wrote: "The involvement of such a strategic third party mediator, coupled with the apparent openness of the LRA and GoU to end the war, and mounting pressure on all parties to resolve the conflict, gives this process serious potential to succeed in both ending active violence and providing a framework to address deeper social and political grievances." One year later, though an agreement has not yet been reached, that potential remains and significant progress has been made.

First, of the five agenda items of the negotiations, the parties have signed agreements on three. In August, the parties reached the breakthrough Cessation of Hostilities agreement, later renewed, that has brought relative calm to northern Uganda for the first time in years. As we reported in April, there have been almost no attacks or abductions since in Uganda and the numbers of child "night commuters" have fallen to their lowest levels in a decade. Moreover, an estimated 461,000 displaced people have returned home, and for those remaining in camps, many have begun farming.

The second agreement, signed in May, was on 'comprehensive solutions to the war'. Then, surprising most observers, the parties quickly agreed in June to an agreement on the contentious third agenda item: 'reconciliation and accountability.' This agreement provides a framework to use both traditional and formal justice mechanisms to deal with war crimes committed during the conflict's 21-year history. It further sets in motion an attempt by the parties to circumvent the warrants issued for the top four commanders of the LRA by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The LRA leadership has said it will not sign a peace agreement until the ICC warrants are withdrawn. Equally, the ICC Prosecutor has spoken against withdrawing the indictments. Yet, if these politics can be managed to reach a suitable deal, agreement #3 presents a framework to bring a final agreement one step closer.

When peace talks resume later this month, the parties are left with two agenda items: 'disarmament, demobilization and reintegration' and 'permanent ceasefire'. The framework for both of these has largely already been established, but the parties will need to be trustful of the processes. The importance of external actors to build confidence and ensure accountability will be critical. The presence of observers from five other African countries, along with the African Union ceasefire monitors, will help to this end. Yet, the U.S. government, thus far relying on private consultations with the GoU, could assist by showing more public support and commitment to the peace process.

Finally, though we celebrate what Juba has achieved and is poised to achieve in the months ahead, we cannot lose sight of the priority: peace and return home for the people of northern Uganda and the wider region. Though many have returned home, over 1 million people in Uganda remain in squalid displacement camps without access to basic resources and services. In southern Sudan, there continue to be attacks and abductions, reportedly by LRA elements. Across the borders, there is still a generation of children who have known abduction and never peace, and an entire population forced to endure the lasting legacy of over two decades of conflict. Even if an agreement is reached, the will to address these issues will be critical. The promise of Juba will not be fulfilled by a piece of paper, but by meaningful peace for all people.

With the one-year anniversary of the Juba peace talks tomorrow, the Ugandan government spokesman Capt. Ba-Hoku Barigye writes that Juba may be remembered as "the city of peace." He writes, "And peace indeed and surely seems to be returning to these sub-regions as a result of several of factors...From north and northeastern Uganda stories abound of IDPs returning to their villages, at least up to their parishes, hardships and uncertainties notwithstanding...On the other hand, gallant UPDF and other security agencies report that acts of human rights violations (abductions, murders, rapes, robberies) by the LRA have not been witnessed for about a year." Read the full article at The Monitor.

The ICC Prosecutor has spoken out against lifting the arrest warrants against the top commanders of the LRA, insisting that they must face trial. Louis Moreno Ocampo said the evidence they had collected against LRA leader Joseph Kony and his commanders was overwhelming. He explained that if the government of Uganda or the LRA came with a different solution and presented it to the judges, they would decide on the way forward. "To withdraw the warrants there has to be a legal challenge by Uganda or the LRA," he stressed. Ocampo admitted there were fears that the rebels could take advantage of the peace talks to re-group in DR Congo. Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA has invited about 500 people for a major meeting this month in Ri-Kwangba, their assembly point under the Cessation of Hostilities. The list includes northern Uganda politicians, church leaders, relatives of the LRA top commanders, the rebel sponsors in and outside the country and Ugandans in the Diaspora. LRA peace delegation spokesman Godfrey Ayoo confirmed the meeting in Ri-kwangba but said the delegation has been let down by lack of resources. Read more at The Monitor.

The Washington Post today has an article on Betty Bigombe, "the woman behind Uganda's peace talks." The feature story describes how Bigombe's initiative in 1993-1994 and then 2004-2006 was critical to establishing the groundwork for the current peace talks. Read the article at The Washington Post.

The LRA has said its fighters will remain in hiding even if a peace deal with the government is reached, unless ICC indictments against four of its leaders are lifted. "The ICC remains a big stumbling block to peace in Uganda," LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayoo said. "Unless and only when the matter of the ICC is settled, none of our soldiers will get out of the bush and government should forget about any signature," he said. Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, who is also the government's lead negotiator, said he believed the ICC would only consider lifting the indictments if the issue of justice was adequately addressed under the envisaged peace agreement. Read more at IRIN News.

The LRA leadership has dropped three members of its negotiation team, accusing them of promoting tribalism. "I want to inform the public, on behalf of the LRA, that we have dropped three members of the LRA delegation because they were causing misunderstanding and confusion in the team," LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti announced on Friday. The three, named as Quinto Kidega (Kony’s uncle), Okello Ocii Mission and Obina, falsely claimed that the LRA were fighting for the Acholi, yet they were fighting for the whole of Uganda, Otti explained. Three lawyers had been hired to replace them, he announced. Otti further expressed satisfaction with the progress of the peace talks, particularly the signing of item three on the agenda, concerning reconciliation and accountability. Read more at The New Vision.

Acholi Members of Parliament are compiling a list of crimes and atrocities committed by the LRA rebels and the Ugandan army from 1986 to 2006. Reagan Okumu, the vice-chairperson of the Acholi parliamentary group, said the reports would be submitted to Dr. Riek Marchar, the chief negotiator at the Juba talks. "We are demanding compensation from the Government for the mass killings, destruction and abductions by either the LRA or UPDF from 1986 to last year when the peace talks started," Okumu said. Four memorial centre are to be built in Gulu, Kitgum, Amuru and Pader districts as symbols of reconciliation. The names of those killed will be inscribed on the walls. Read more at The New Vision.

The chief government negotiator, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, explained today that the agreement signed last Friday at the Juba peace talks provided for a fusion of the formal and traditional justice systems. "The parties noted the strengths of the existing formal justice mechanism (which ensures no impunity) and the traditional cultural mechanisms (which are restorative and promote reconciliation)," Rugunda said. Rugunda warned that LRA rebels who were known to have committed crimes but refuse to admit to them would not benefit from the arrangement. Rugunda said consultations would be made in the formal justice sector during the one month recess with the Director of Public Prosecution, the Law Reform Commission, the Human Rights Commission as well as academic and civil society organisations. Read more at The New Vision.

More today on the GoU-LRA agreement on "accountability and reconciliation": The agreement says that "traditional justice mechanisms, such as Culo Kwor, Mato Oput, Kayo Cuk, Ailuc and Tonu ci Koka and others as practiced in the communities affected by the conflict" shall be a main part of the alternative justice framework. Yet, it also reads, "Formal criminal and civil justice measures shall be applied to any individual who is alleged to have committed serious crimes or human rights violations in the course of the conflict." In other words, there will be a hybrid of traditional mechanisms and adapted formal justice measures. The latter may take place in formal courts or tribunals. The agreement also calls for "comprehensive, independent analysis of the history and manifestations of the conflict," seeming to imply a truth commission of some kind. Furthermore, it lists several forms of reparations for victims, including compensation, rehabilitation and symbolic measures like apologies and memorials. Notably, there is a special section focusing on the grievances of women and girls in the conflict.

The parties have reportedly now agreed to return to their "constituencies" for most of July to discuss the agreement and technical details that will need to be worked out. On the Ugandan government side, the details will be crafted into legislation to be passed. The government will also plan to approach the ICC to state its case for the withdrawal of indictments in favor of the adapted justice framework. It is unclear if the ICC will be flexible and willing to consider this case. On the LRA side, there remain questions about whether the military leadership will follow through with this agreement. The LRA's second-in-charge Vincent Otti today said, "Now we've signed this, we want to see progress on the government side with the ICC...We shall go for national reconciliation only after the indictments have been withdrawn. We shall see about penalties and national courts later."

Today there is more information about the agreement on 'accountability and reconciliation' signed Friday night by the Ugandan government and LRA. The agreement reads, "Accountability mechanisms shall be implemented through the adapted legal framework in Uganda." This likely means a hybrid of revitalized traditional practices (Mato Oput) and national legal mechanisms. "Legislation shall introduce a regime of alternative penalties and sanctions which shall apply, and replace existing penalties, with respect to serious crimes and human rights violations committed by non-state actors in the course of the conflict." The Government also committed itself to striking the LRA off the terrorist list as soon as the rebels renounce rebellion and sign a comprehensive peace agreement. Read more at The New Vision.