Amnesty or Punishment? Transitional Justice in Northern Uganda

Northern Uganda has seen an atrocious war mainly prosecuted by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) against the Government of Uganda. The brunt of the war has largely been borne by civilians including through abductions, killings, looting and destruction of property including burning down of entire villages. Young children have been abducted and used variously by the LRA to carry looted items, fight as child soldiers and young girls used as sex slaves. Several attempts including fighting, peace talks and amnesty offers did not yield a comprehensive solution to the problem. This book provides an analysis of the situation with a particular focus on the use of transitional justice, not only as a means of dealing with the past in a post-conflict situation but also as an instrument ending an ongoing conflict. Three mechanisms; trials at the International Criminal Court, amnesty and local traditional justice and reconciliation mechanisms are analyzed. This book should be useful to practitioners and academics in the field of transitional justice, mediators, as well as anyone else interested in the subject.