Tragedy in Uganda: Joseph Kony massacre survivors - in pictures

Nekolina Lakot, a village elder, whose children were massacred by the LRA at Amoko, northern Uganda, on 7 December 1991 Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Deo Komakech is employed by the National Memory and Peace Documentation Centre (NMPDC). Based in Kitgum, and funded by the UK charity Christian Aid, their mission is to harvest information concerning the 19 years in which the LRA preyed upon the people of this region, which is known as Acholiland Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Amoko village in Acholiland. The Acholi suffered the worst of the war’s atrocities. Because they wouldn’t join the LRA’s anti-government forces, its leader Joseph Kony – an Acholi himself – accused them of treachery Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

'Ever since the burials took place,' says Martin Olanya, 'the people in this community have not been settled. We assume it’s the work of vengeful spirits.' Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Deo Komakech gathers testimony from villager Nekolina Lakot. 'There’s no one to listen to our story,' she tells him. 'It’s good you have come.' Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Patrick Okello discovered the remains of his father about eight miles from Amoko, where he’d run into the LRA. 'My brother and I found his body cut up into small pieces,' he says. 'There was a lot of blood. We buried him quickly in a shallow grave with sand near our home. Then we ran away in case the LRA were still in the area. I think my father is still vengeful about the fact that his last funeral rite has not been carried out. He always tells me he needs a proper burial. He is angry.' Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

The people of Amoko are mostly subsistence farmers Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Amoko lies in the lush valley of the Langoro mountain, towards the border with South Sudan Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Among the people here, it’s not unusual to see survivors bearing the LRA’s characteristic butcher marks: missing noses, lips, ears, buttocks and hands Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Nekolina Lakot Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

By 1991, kidnap had become the only way that Kony could sustain numbers in his army. With the Acholi largely refusing to co-operate with him, his soldiers would take children by force, often making them kill their parents so they had no home to escape back to. Estimates suggest that, between 1987 and 2006, the LRA abducted between 25,000 and 38,000 children Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Dorina Adjero: 'I would say that they (the LRA) were not interested in looting. They had come with the intention of only killing.' Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

The whereabouts of the LRA's leader Joseph Kony, who remains wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, are unknown. The people of Amoko fear his return Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Magdelena Lamunu and her family had a plan for attacks by the LRA. 'Every time we heard about the rebels, we made sure we slept in different hideouts, so in case of anything happening, not all of us were taken.' That day, the LRA had come from the east. 'Unfortunately, my child had hidden in that direction. As they were killing people, and moving towards the west, my son jumped out.' From her hiding place at the top of the hill, and with her two other children by her side, Magdelena watched it all happen. The boy tried to escape along the road to the place where he knew he’d find his mother. 'They chased him. Before he could start climbing the hill, they intercepted. Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Even on the day the LRA attacked Amoko, the soldiers went on to commit five further massacres in neighbouring villages Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer

Martin Olanya, like many other survivors, dug a mass grave for his family after the Lord's Resistance Army came through Amoko Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer