Addressing Armed Violence in East Africa.pdf - Project Ploughshares

Addressing Armed Violence in East Africa4. UgandaThe second major legacy of the LRA insurgency is thedisplacement of civilian populations by the fighting. In theareas in North and East Uganda where the field research wasconducted, internally displaced persons (IDP) camps areeverywhere. It is estimated that between 1.5 and 2 millionpeople were uprooted following attacks by the LRA on ruralhomes and communities as well as efforts by the governmentto centralize people in encampments to isolate them from therebels.The displaced civilians now are returning to their formercommunities and lands, often after an interim stay at a satellitecamp near their homes. One church-based activist told usthat many people wanted to return to their communities but,because of concerns about the failed peace talks, they insteadestablished satellite camps at an accessible distance from theirformer homes. This reluctance to make a commitment to returnis reinforced by recurring incidents of gun violence, includingfrom criminal thugs and government militias.The process of returning is not always smooth, and disputes overresettled land and other issues have led to violence. However,the armed violence experienced in the two districts today isquantitatively and qualitatively different from that experiencedduring the insurgency period. It is less intense, more varied and,as noted above, not identified as clearly. Moreover, unlike theviolence perpetrated by the LRA, the current forms of violenceare amenable to peacebuilding and development intervention.Virtually all people interviewed in both districts agreed that,despite ongoing concerns about the LRA and more recent formsof violence, the people and communities were significantly saferthan they were three years ago. One government official notedthat “people can now travel anywhere, and eat and drink andsleep along the roads and travel routes”, and this view was sharedby many others. A focus group noted that “these days there arefewer soldiers, we don’t hear gunshots and we can move aroundand travel more easily”. Others pointed to the evidence of peoplereturning to their homes after years in displacement camps.The communities in Kitgum and Soroti districts may no longerbear the direct impact of the insurgency but research interviewspointed to the presence of other forms of armed violence.Turning to the second focus of the “armed violence lens”, wenow discuss the perpetrators of armed violence and the factorsof weapons demand that have emerged in Kitgum and Sorotidistricts in recent years.Perpetrators of Armed ViolenceInterviewees identified several forms of recent recurrentviolence that affect individuals and communities in the shadowof the LRA insurgency. Most of this violence is localised andperpetrated by actors living in or operating close to IDP campsor communities. All types may include the use or threat ofuse of weapons, but the violence often occurs without the useof weapons. We consider first the perpetrators of the types ofviolence most commonly involving weapons.Land WranglesSeveral forms of localized violence affecting civilianpopulations were cited in interviews and focus groups, but land“wrangles” were mentioned most frequently. Land wranglesare disputes over contested property, animals and goods. InNorth and East Uganda, as security improved and peoplereturned to their holdings they discovered that the LRA hadnot been the sole perpetrators of abuse and theft. Sometimesfellow community members had raided properties for animalsand household goods or laid claim to the land. This localisedraiding, often combined with a lack of formal documentationof land ownership, has generated many instances of contestedholdings.The process of return for the displacedis not always smooth, and disputes overresettled land and other issues have ledto violence.Accusations of theft were not limited to former land holdings.We heard also that there are “problems of theft in the [satellite]camps” as some camp residents take advantage of the absenceof neighbours who are cultivating land at former homesteads.Some residents who had gone to their fields returned to findtheir houses broken into. Some told us that, as a result of thetheft, their children were unable to attend school.Land wrangles appear to be a pervasive problem in bothdistricts. A government official noted that most local crimes arerelated to land. A participant in the World Vision programmein Kitgum told us that all of his family members were affectedby land disputes because “there is confusion over land36