The Impact of the Disarmament Process On Human Rights in Karamoja

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ............................................................................................ i

APPROVAL .................................................................................................. ii

ACKNOWLEGEMENT ...............................................•..................................• iii

DEDICATION ............................................................................................................... iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................... ix

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................... x

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................... xi

CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................ I

GENERAL INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... I

1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Background to the Study ....................................................................... I

l.l.lThe people of the Karamoja Region ...................................................... 3

1.1.2 The Bokora and the Matheniko of Moroto District ................................. 5

1.2 Statement of the problem ...................................................................... 5

1.3 Objectives of the study .......................................................................... 6

1.3.1 The Major objective of the study ......................................................... 6

1.3.2 Specific Objectives of the study .......................................................... 6

1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................... 7

1.5 Significance of the study ........................................................................ 7

1. 6 The scope of the study .......................................................................... 8

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................... 10

2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ I 0

2.0 Historical Over View of the Military in Uganda ....................................... 10

v

2.2 The Historical background and trends in the armament of the Karamojong

during post colonial governments (Historical back ground of armed cattle

raiding and insecurity in Karamoja) ............................................................ 11

2.2.1 Human Rights ................................................................................ 13

Abuses by Ugandan security forces ............................................................ 19

2.3 The Human Rights Violations coming up as a result of disarmament in

Karamoja ( Unlawful killings and excessive use of force/ Torture and ill

treatment during the cordon and search operations/ Arbitrary Searches) ..... 20

2.4 Accountability for Human Rights Violations by Security Functionaries ...... 23

2.5 The Legality of the UPDF Law Enforcement Operations in Karamoja ....... 25

Conclusion ................................................................................................ 26

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................... 27

3.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 27

3.1 Research Design ................................................................................. 27

3.2 Study Population ................................................................................. 28

3.3 The Study Area .................................................................................................... 28

3.4 The Sample Design ............................................................................. 28

3.5 Data Collection Methods and Tools ....................................................... 29

3.5.1 Observation ..................................................................................... 30

3.5.2 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) .................................................................. .30

3.5.3 Documentary Analysis ...................................................................... 30

3.5.4 Interview guide ................................................................................................ .31

3.6 Limitations of the Study ....................................................................... 31

CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................ 33

RESEARCH FINDINGS, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ........................... 33

4.0 Introduction ........................................................................................ 33

4.1 Characteristics of the Respondents ....................................................... 33

4.1.1 Age and gender of the Respondents ........................................................ .34

4.1.2 Education levels of the Respondents .................................................. 34

VI

4.1.3 Marital Status of Respondents ........................................................... 35

4.2 How disarmament is carried out in Karamoja ....................................... 37

4.2.1 Forms of Enforcing Disarmament in Karamoja .................................... 37

4.2.2 Guns recovered in the Karamoja region since 2001 to date 40

4.2.3 Challenges Faced During Disarmament.. ............................................ 40

4.2.4People's Attitudes Towards Disarmament ............................................ 42

4.3 Disarmament process on human rights on the people of matheniko and

bokora ..................................................................................................... 43

4.3.1 How the Methods Used have Affected People's Human Rights ............. 44

4.3.2 Respondents Attitudes towards Government Disarming the People of

Karamoja ................................................................................................. 45

4.4 Human Rights Violated as a Result of Disarmament in Karamoja ............ 47

4.4.1 Human Rights Abuses People have been Faced with Directly ............ 47

4.4.2 Number of times Respondents have been Faced Directly with Human

Rights Abuse ............................................................................................ 48

4.4.3Aiternative Programmes the Government put in Place for the Disarmed

Communities ................................................................................................................ 49

4.5Assessing the Contributions of Disarmament to Peace and Security in

Karamoja ............................................................................................ , ......................... 50

4.5.1 Whether disarmament has led to peace and security in Karamoja ........ 50

Conclusion , .................................................................................................................. 53

CHAPTER FIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................... 54

5.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................... ,54

5.1 Summary of the Research Findings ...................................................... 54

5.3 Recommendations ......................... , ..................................................................... 56

5.3.1 Recommendations to the Government of Uganda ............................... 56