Mukura Massacre of 1989
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The Mukura Massacre of 1989 JRP Field Note XII, March 2011 www.justiceandreconciliation.com 2 | JRP · The Mukura Massacre of 1989 Front cover: The railway tracks at Okungulo Railway Station on which the train wagon used for suffocating the victims of the Mukura massacre was situated. Photo Credit: Lino Owor Ogora. About JRP The Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) has played a key role in transitional justice (TJ) in Uganda since 2005 through seeking to understand and explain the interests, needs, concerns and views of communities affected by the LRA conflict. JRP promotes locally sensitive and sustainable peace in Africa’s Great Lakes region by focusing on the active involvement of grassroots communities in local-level transitional justice. Vision The Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) will pioneer new understandings of how transitional justice can be designed and implemented at a local level to maximise its impact in terms of reconciliation, peace-building and accountability. Mission To empower conflict affected communities by preserving memory, acknowledging loss, and promoting healing through participatory research, capacity-building, advocacy and documentation. Motto Working for justice and reconciliation with grassroots communities. Objectives • To document the experiences of communities related to war; • To advocate on behalf of conflict-affected communities; • To build the capacity of communities to undertake documentation and advocacy; • To conduct research on local-level transitional justice issues crucial to emerging national debates and policies; • To create a centre of excellence in relation to local-level transitional justice. Contact Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) Plot 50 Lower Churchill Drive P.O. Box 1216 Gulu, Uganda, East Africa Tel: +256 (0) 471 433 008 Email: [email protected] Web: www.justiceandreconciliation.com Acknowledgements This report was written by Lino Owor Ogora, with research assistance from Evelyn Akullo Otwili and Harriet Aloyo. Special thanks goes to the JRP team for comments, advice and input that guided the entire research process. Thanks also to Chris Tenove for his advice in the initial stages of the research, and to the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kampala for funding. Special thanks also to Mr. Martin Ononge, the Kumi Network for Development Organizations (KUNEDO) and the Mukura Massacre Survivor’s Association for cooperation and provision of information. For a copy of our research reports and more information on JRP, visit www.justiceandreconciliation.com or email [email protected]. 3 | March 2011 Table of Contents About JRP ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Vision ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Mission ............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Motto ................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Acronyms ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Summary .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 6 The Massacre .................................................................................................................................................. 7 6th July: The First Arrests are Made ................................................................................................................... 8 8th July: The Main Operation Begins .................................................................................................................. 8 Screening at Ajeluk Primary School .................................................................................................................. 9 The March to Okungulo Railway Station........................................................................................................ 10 Into the Train Wagon ............................................................................................................................................ 11 The Aftermath ............................................................................................................................................. 14 An Analysis of the Government’s Response since 1989 ............................................................... 16 Apology and Acknowledgement........................................................................................................................ 17 Decent Burials and Memorials for the Dead ................................................................................................. 17 Truth Seeking and Accountability for Perpetrators .................................................................................. 19 Compensation .......................................................................................................................................................... 19 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................... 20 Appendix 1: List of Victims ..................................................................................................................... 23 Appendix 2: List of Survivors ................................................................................................................. 23 4 | JRP · The Mukura Massacre of 1989 Acronyms FDC Forum for Democratic Change FOBA Force Obote Back Again JRP Justice and Reconciliation Project KUNEDO Kumi Network for Development Organisations LC Local Councillor MP Member of Parliament NRA/M National Resistance Army/Movement RC Resistance Councillor RIP Rest in Peace TJ Transitional Justice UNLA Uganda National Liberation Army UPA Uganda People’s Army UPC Uganda People’s Congress 5 | March 2011 Summary n July 11, 1989, the 106th battalion of the National Resistance Army (NRA)1 allegedly rounded up 300 men from Mukura and other surrounding areas and incarcerated some of them in train wagon number OC521083. These men were suspected of being rebel collaborators against the NRA regime, but there is little evidence to suggest that most of them were anything other than innocent civilians. Trapped in the crowded train wagon, trying not to trample on one another, the men struggled to breathe, and by the time they were released after more than four hours, 69 of them had suffocated to death, while 47 of them survived. Twenty two years after the occurrence of this massacre, the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP) reconstructs an account of what took place, using narratives from survivors, in order to bring the concerns of victims to the attention of the Government and other stakeholders. Through our interactions with survivors of the massacre, we learnt that besides constructing a memorial mass grave in which the dead were buried, the Government also supported the construction of the Mukura Memorial Senior Secondary School and a public library in memory of those who lost their lives. His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (the President of Uganda at the time of the incident to date) visited Mukura in 1989 and promised compensation for each deceased person. A military court martial was also convened in Mbale to try the perpetrators of the massacre. However, after the government delivered part of the promised compensation in 1994, constructed the mass grave and completed the construction of Mukura Memorial Senior Secondary School in 2001, the victims were left in a nearly 15-year-long period of silence and suspense regarding their promised balance of compensation.2 A building next to the mass grave— intended to be a public library—was left incomplete and overgrown by weeds. The mass grave fell into a state of disrepair and was colonized by wasps, lizards and ants. The findings of the military court martial were never released. Some survivors from the train wagon felt they were completely ignored, as many of them did not benefit in any way from the compensation packages that were being given to relatives of the deceased, despite the fact that some of them became physically incapacitated as a result of the suffering they underwent in the wagon. Then, in June 2010, Uganda’s Finance Minister suddenly broke