Access to justice by war victims in Northern Uganda : A case study of Apala Subcounty, Alebtong District

Abstract

This research basically looked at the plights of the war victims in northern Uganda taking Apala sub-county as a case study , and it gave clear perspectives of the feelings and intentions of the victims regarding justice in the post conflict region that lasted for over two decades in the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the government forces, the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) in which a number of people lost their lives, children conscripted into the army against their will, rape, looting, pillage and destruction of property was the agenda of the day. The purpose of the study was to find out the reasons why war victims say there is no justice when the government and the non-state actors are doing a lot to bring justice. With the specific objectives aimed at finding out what the victims understand by the term justice, what has been done to bring about the realization of justice by the war victims in Apala subcounty , assess what has been achieved by people as a result of the measures being taking to provide justice, finding out the war victims complains about the justice mechanisms being provided, whether it is genuine, and to find out what the victims want to enable access to justice. In relation to her past, Northern Uganda has been grappling with issues to find a lasting solution for dealing with the negative implications of the insurgency, but several challenges still remain very strong obstacles ranging from corruption, admissibility, practicability, implementation systems and complementarily, and there still remain ambiguity in issues of responsibility, accountability and forgiveness which still remain very vital and instrumental elements that should be achieved in order to ensure that justice for the victims of the atrocities prevail and is granted to them in order to enable them live in peace and harmony. The study revealed an overwhelming need for reparation, impartiality in court proceedings, proper needs assessments, allocation of more resources, as remedies for the atrocities committed by the LRA and the UPDF.