When the Traditional Justice System is the Best Suited Approach to Conflict Management: The Acholi Mato Oput, Joseph Kony, and the Lord\u27s Resistance Army (LRA) In Uganda

The majority of Acholi recognize that most combatants in the Lord \u27s 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 communit