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

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 peacefu l 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