Expert witness testifies about spirituality in the LRA movement

Prof. Kristof Titeca a lecturer and researcher based at the Institute of Development Policy (University of Antwerp) testified as an expert witness at the ICC in the case of Dominic Ongwen on November 19. He testified about spirituality and how it is being used in the LRA. The witness has done research in governance and conflict in spaces where the state is only weakly present, particularly in Central and Eastern Africa. He has researched about conflict and rebel movements in the DRC and Uganda, notably the LRA and ADF in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as conflict dynamics in Western Uganda and he has closely collaborated with Gulu University and Uganda Christian University.

Prof. Kristof Titeca’s expert report was admitted into evidence in line with ICC rule 68 (3) regulating the admission of a prior written report and related evidences. He told court that he did a research titled ‘Growing in the Cosmological Space’ on request of Ongwen’s defense team- in which he interviewed about 500 respondents including 120 LRA ex-combatants on how spirituality is being experienced by individual LRA combatants and the meaning they give to it as well as the impact of spirits on combatants.

The witness told court that the LRA has several different aspects including spirituality and religion. He said spirituality is a manifestation of cosmology in Acholi land in general. He defined cosmology as the study of the origin and the future of the Universe. He further explained that the LRA uses this cosmological space to control combatants through believes.

“It doesn’t matter the belief but the impact of the belief on individuals…some had extreme belief in the power of spirits and Joseph Kony,” the witness said.

Prof. Titeca added that this spiritual space serves a range of strategic functions for the LRA as an organization, but also is a profound lived experience for the LRA fighters themselves. He further mentioned that in the LRA, Kony is the messenger who talks to the spirits and then gives orders.“So if combatants say spirits have said…it actually means Kony has said,” he explained. He also said some of the ex-combatants he spoke to had supernatural experiences such as dreams which had tendencies of becoming true, speaking to animals and birds et cetera and some of them continued believing even after leaving the LRA movement.

While responding to Beth Lyons- one of the defense Lawyers who cross examined him in-chief, Prof. Titeca told court that spirituality serves a range of control; from protection during battles, sickness and living in the bush in general. “Spiritual rules have to be followed, you can die if you don’t,” he said. He further explained that the level of belief depends on the length of time and experience in the bush. He  said that some respondents had reached a time when they saw miracles such as bullets not being able to shoot them. “Spirituality in the LRA took elements from the Roman catholic church, Islam and the Acholi Traditional religion,” he said.

While responding to Beth Lyons’ question regarding child abductees, the witness said children grow easily into the spiritual space. As to why somebody becomes part of the spiritual space, Prof. Titeca said there are ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors. He argued that when people are cut-off from normal environment they easily adopt; and that spiritual elements help abductees as means of inclusion into the LRA. “It helps abductees to survive in the bush…they have to behave, otherwise they will be killed,” Prof. Titeca explained.

He went ahead to explain that the LRA movement uses these spiritual elements as a means to survive as an organization and hence the life of a combatant is very thoroughly regulated by Kony who is constantly visited by spirits. He stressed the fact that many rules come from spirits and others from Kony as well as through dreams, but Joseph Kony has a final say on dreams and spirits.

While responding to Beth Lyons, Prof. Titeca said spiritualism in the LRA was more prominent in the beginning than later especially after ‘Operation Iron Fist’ and the Juba peace talk era.

Defense phase of presenting their witnesses is still going on and they are basing their presentations on spiritualism in the LRA in defense of former commander Dominic Ongwen.