Transitional justice and gender in Uganda: Making peace, failing women during the peace negotiation process

Uganda’s long history of militarism and extra-judicial killings has been marred by widespread impunity for the gross human rights violations committed in the country, particularly those committed against women. A range of transitional justice mechanisms has been discussed in the region but it is important to consider if and how these will confront the gender-based human rights violations that have been endemic to Uganda’s history. The complexities of the conflict must also be considered: for instance, the large number of children as well as adults who were forced to commit atrocities such as killing family members or raping their female relatives. These situations have created questions over criminal responsibility and concerns over how best to achieve reconciliation. Northern Uganda’s rebellion by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) against the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government has witnessed multiple deaths as well as the abduction of at least 25 000 children to serve as soldiers, porters or sex slaves. Uganda’s conflict has become notorious for the widespread perpetration of sexual and gender-based violence in forms ranging from gang rape, sexual slavery and reproductive violence to less obvious gender-based crimes such as the exposure of women to anti-personnel mines during the execution of their daily economic roles. The long-term impact in the region has been the systematisation of sexual violence and the stigmatisation of abused women. Fear of repercussions from perpetrators has also undermined access to justice for women by breeding a culture of impunity. Following a violent past of colonialism, the post-independence era has been replete with regimes acquiring power through aggressive means. Cycles of violence have been perpetrated by a series of military coups including the ousting of Milton Obote in 1971, Idi Amin Dada’s overthrow in 1979, Milton Obote’s second deposition in 1985 and Tito Okello’s fall in 1986. Zachery Lomo and Lucy Hovil (2004:15) have detailed how the militarisation of Uganda’s politics lies at the root of why the LRA’s protracted conflict has been accepted as part of normal political business.