Photo by Courtney Chance, AP Fellow 2009. Location: Kotido, Uganda (Karamoja). Partner: CECORE/IANSA

Photo by Courtney Chance, AP Fellow 2009. Location: Kotido, Uganda (Karamoja). Partner: CECORE/IANSA

Unfortunately, food shortage in Karamoja is causing the security situation to deteriorate. Once again, arms and ammunition trading is on the rise. I want to bring attention to an article published in the East African yesterday.

To read the article, please click on the following link: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/DKAN-7WZMV4?OpenDocument#

Photo by Courtney Chance, 2009 AP Fellow. Location: Kotido, Uganda. Partner: CECORE/IANSA.

Photo by Courtney Chance, 2009 AP Fellow. Location: Kotido, Uganda. Partner: CECORE/IANSA.

Joyce Ilukori is a former police officer who now advocates for women’s rights on behalf of Mother Care, a community based organization in Kaabong.  Joyce’s experiences as a police officer revealed to her just how few resources are available to victims of gender-based violence in Karamoja. When I spoke with her, she described an incident in which a relative of hers was brutally raped by five men. The police merely detained and later released the perpetrators without pursuing charges. According to Joyce, when women report violence, it is “typical for nothing to happen.”  In Karamoja, the prevalence and severity of domestic violence and inter-clan armed rape are staggering, yet a lack of infrastructure and an adherence to traditional practices barricade women from seeking justice.

Domestic violence against both women and children is so severe that many are left permanently disabled. Given that the Karimojong are a semi-nomadic pastoralist people, being disabled is a tremendous hardship. During raids, being disabled becomes an extreme liability.  Those who are unable to escape or defend themselves are exposed to a much greater risk of being raped or shot by rival warriors. In addition, disabled survivors face an elevated risk of repeated attacks.

Children also suffer both directly and indirectly from domestic violence. Adolescent boys, charged with watching cattle, may be beaten or even killed for losing an animal or falling victim to a raid. Girls are at risk of being raped while gathering firewood or walking to and from school. Patrick Osekeny of UNFPA recounted a recent incident in which two female students were on their way to school when they were stopped by members of a rival clan. The men used the barrel of a rifle to rape the girls.

Determining the rate of armed domestic violence in Karamoja is nearly impossible because reporting is all but nonexistent, and official structures go unused. Osekeny asserts that “deaths [are] not even reported.” Likewise, Patrick Lomongin of FORDIPOM claims that police records do not reflect the “many cases” of spousal murder in the region. He provided an example of a wealthy cattle rustler from Lotome who shot two of his eleven wives. Lomongin said that despite everyone in town knowing about this man’s crimes, no attempt has been made to bring him to justice or even to ostracize him from the community.

Instead of seeking help from the police or the courts, affected parties usually settle disputes within their community or tribe. Some disputes are referred to the Akiliket, the local council of elders. Oftentimes, the Akiliket dismisses claims of domestic violence outright because wife-beating is considered normal or a private family issue. If the victim’s family protests or the violence results in major injury or death, then the aggressor may be asked to compensate the victim’s family. Once this is done, the case is deemed to be resolved.

Patrick Osekeny recalls a case from last year when a widow was raped in her hut. There were several witnesses, but no one intervened. The woman was so distraught that she hung herself. Police detained the perpetrator, but they released him when his relatives agreed to pay compensation to the widow’s son.

In addition to cultural barriers, survivors must surmount systemic obstacles to justice. There are no resident judges or magistrates in Karamoja. The region’s presiding magistrate oversees Soroti District plus all five (soon to be six) of the districts in Karamoja. The only court in the region is situated in Moroto, and there are no resources available to transport witnesses or plaintiffs to and from Moroto. According to Lomongin, the chief magistrate spent only four days in Moroto during the previous year. As a result, there is a backlog of more than 300 cases. Ironically, the sign outside the Moroto courthouse reads “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

 Furthermore, because the Karimojong are a semi-nomadic people, locating witnesses and following up on cases is very difficult. Ann Grace Namer of Caritas claims that both victims and witnesses fear that they will be harassed or killed if they report violence or testify in court.

In Karamoja, there are few police units, and only a handful of officers have received gender sensitivity training. Currently, UNFPA and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) are training community development officers to collect and manage cases, but this project is still in the early stages. Women’s organizations are also forming more cohesive alliances. At least 80 women’s groups are now registered with the Karamoja Women Umbrella Organisation.  Even though Karamoja is a difficult working environment, community-based organizations, such as FORDIPOM and Warrior Squad, are using innovative methods to reach out to the communities in the region.  I was truly inspired by their enthusiasm and their dedication to promoting peace and gender equality. 

I want to recognize some of the individuals and organizations committed to women’s rights in Karamoja. The following were kind enough to share their time and expertise.

Milton Lopiria, Warrior Squad Foundation

Romano Longole, Kotido Peace Initiative (KOPEIN)

Patrick Osekeny, UNFPA Moroto

Mark Can Lain, International Rescue Committee

Anna Lomonyang and Patrick Lomongin, Foundation of Rural Disabled Persons of Moroto (FORDIPOM)

Ann Grace Namer, Caritas

Juliet Achieng, Karamoja Women’s Umbrella Organization (KAWUO)

Joyce Ilukori, Mother Care

Paulina Chepkumun, nurse/midwife and women’s health advocate affiliated with KAWUO

Photo by Courtney Chance, 2009 AP Fellow. Location: Kotido, Uganda. Partner: CECORE/IANSA

I feel guilty for writing a blog about Karamoja without mentioning how stunningly beautiful the region is. Karamoja feels like the ends of the earth-it is vast, flat land dotted erratically by mountains on the horizon. I have never seen the stars so brightly in all my life than under the endless Karamoja sky. Set against this backdrop are the Karimojong people who are arrayed in radiantly colored garments and adorned head to toe in intricate beaded jewelry.  The combined effect is breathtaking and utterly ethereal.

During CECORE’s workshop in Kotido with the Jie, I found it hard to believe that these were members of a belligerent clan. The people were so vibrant, constantly laughing, singing, and dancing.  In the video (trouble uploading–check back soon), you can see how they would recount what they had learned during the workshop through rhythmic chants and songs. I found the same to be true during the second workshop which included members of the Dodoth, Bokora, and Matheniko clans. Interestingly enough, all clans seemed to express similar goals, concerns, and needs. They are physically indistinguishable, yet socially constructed identities have served to perpetuate violence among the groups.

In 2001, the Ugandan government began an aggressive campaign to disarm the Karimojong. The campaign has produced mixed results. No one seems to know how many guns are now in Karamoja. Civil society organizations estimated that there were 80,000 guns in Karamoja prior to the campaign, but the government countered that figure with its own estimate of 40,000. Captain Henry Obbo, a UPDF spokesman, claims that 30,000 guns have been seized, leaving 3,000 in circulation-a figure which doesn’t seem to match up with either of the two previous assessments. When asked about how people’s attitudes on firearms have changed since disarmament began, Romano Longole of Kotido Peace Initiative (KOPEIN) reflected that now, “if you have a gun, you don’t publicize it.”

In any case, everyone seems to agree that buying an illegal gun is very easy. When I asked Francis Lomongin of FORDIPOM whether or not it is easy to obtain a firearm, he joked, “You wanna make a deal?” He told me that as long as you know who to speak to, guns can be procured very easily. In Kangole Parish, for instance, ammunition can be purchased at the weekly market. Lomongin explained that there are three primary avenues for gun trafficking: (1) through the Turkana people of Kenya who facilitate the gun trade from Kenya to Somalia, (2) directly through traders in southern Sudan who sell to buyers in Kaabong and Kotido districts, and (3) from within through UPDF officers or in some cases police officers.

Because UPDF officers receive little (and rather infrequent) pay, they have been known to sell guns and particularly ammunition to supplement their incomes.  Uganda has only one gun factory, which produces guns exclusively for the security sector. A number of the weapons that have been recovered from Karimojong warriors bear the mark from this factory, an indication that UPDF guns are being leaked to civilians. Such corruption and witch hunt tactics have tainted the army’s reputation among the Karimojong who view them with suspicion. While the UPDF deserve credit for reducing gun violence in the area, they have been accused of arbitrarily arresting cattle herders and refusing to release them until a gun is produced. Some officers have reportedly tortured detainees during interrogations to obtain intelligence. Longole claims that seven Karimojong have been killed by their fellow villagers because they were rumored to be UPDF informants.

At the same time, as the UPDF reports that they are slowly handing security over to local police forces, the Karimojong express fear over the pullout. Since the start of disarmament, the UPDF have provided security to communities that have disarmed voluntarily. The UPDF have maintained a visible presence in the area where they can be seen guarding cattle kraals or escorting migrant cattle herders. According to an article in Saturday’s edition of The Daily Monitor, “there have been increasing reports of interethnic clashes in Karamoja, an indication that insecurity caused by the presence of illegal arms in the region is still a big threat.”

As my colleagues traveled to Kangole Parish, they were met by a UPDF security escort who had been tipped off that a raid was anticipated in the general vicinity. Similarly when I spoke to Esther, who facilitates several women’s alliances in Kangole Parish, she told me that during the previous week, the Matheniko had been implicated in a raid in which one woman was shot and killed and several others critically injured. As Moroto Chairman Peter Ken Lochap told The Daily Monitor (5 September 2009), “People still live in fear, their safety is not guaranteed. People are still dying.”

Photo by Courtney Chance, 2009 AP Fellow. Location: Moroto, Uganda. Partner: CECORE/Uganda