Publication Date
January 2013
Abstract
The majority of Acholi recognize that most combatants in the Lord 's Resistance Army (LRA) were fo rcibly abducted and have themselves been victims. This creates a moral empathy with the perpetrators and an acknowledgement that the formal justice system is not sufficiently nuanced to make the necessary distinctions between legal and moral gu ilt. This has generated a remarkable commitment to reconciliation and a peaceful settlement of the conflict rather than calling for retribution against the perpetrators of serious abuses. The Acholi religious, cultural. and local government leaders have advocated for traditionally- based ritual processes for war-related justice, reconciliation, and reintegration, particularly mato oput, the ritual climax of an Acholi justice process bringing reconciliation in the wake of a homicide within the community
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