With or Without You?

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-218
Author(s):  
Frédéric Vairel
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Arab Country ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Similarities And Differences

Frédéric Vairel offers a comparison between transitional justice processes in Tunisia and Morocco. He shows how the Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission established in 2004, the first in an Arab country, inspired and partly informed Tunisia’s Truth and Justice Commission. He discusses the similarities and differences between the two entities and their actions. While in authoritarian Morocco, the top-down process through which the commission was created allowed it to work reasonably well, though with quite limited results, its Tunisian counterpart followed a much more ambitious roadmap but was not able to function efficiently due to the politicization of transitional justice in Tunisia’s new democratizing context.

The role of Constitutional Courts in Transitional Justice: Colombia and South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadiehezka Paola Palencia Tejedor
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
Political Background ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation

This work focuses on a compared analysis of the South Afri- can decision related to the “peace and reconciliation act” of this country’s Parliament, and the Colombian decision regarding the amendment of the constitution called “The juridical framework for the peace.” Turning to the structure, it is developed in three major topics: 1. It provides a brief of the historical context, political background and an overview of the two decisions.2. It gives a structural analysis of the powers that each Court has and the nature of the constitutional mechanism through which both Courts decided the constitutionality of the said norms 3. It presents a critical analysis on the similarities and differences between the two systems and judgments. It presents some con- clusions. 

The pressures of getting it right: Expertise and victims’ voices in the work of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-319
Author(s):  
Anne Menzel
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Victim Participation ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract∞ This article contributes to scholarship on power, agency and ownership in professional transitional justice. It explores and details the relationship between ‘professional’ agency arising from recognized expertise and ‘unprofessional’ voices relaying lived experiences, concerns and needs. I approach this relationship via a microperspective on the work of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2002-2004), specifically its work on women and sexual violence, which the commission was mandated to pay special attention to. Based on interviews and rich archival materials, I show how this work was driven by the notion that there was a right way of dealing with women and sexual violence. To avoid mistakes, commissioners and staff members demanded and relied on recognized expertise. This led to a marginalization of victims’ voices. I argue that, to some degree at least, such marginalization belongs to professional transitional justice and will persist despite improved victim participation.

The Greenland Reconciliation Commission: Moving Away from a Legal Framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 214-244
Author(s):  
Astrid Nonbo Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commissions

This article aims to show to what extent ideas and models from the fields of restorative and transitional justice informed the work of the Greenland Reconciliation Commission. The article demonstrates that the idea of processing the past by articulating experiences of both colonialism and neocolonialism dominated the approach taken, and that consequently the legal aspects were only occasionally touched upon. This sets the Greenland Reconciliation Commission somewhat apart from previous truth and reconciliation commissions.

scholarly journals The Togolese Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission: Lessons for Transitional Justice Processes Elsewhere

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Sarkin ◽  
Tetevi Davi
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Truth Commission ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The World ◽  
Pros And Cons

Certain truth and reconciliation processes around the world remain understudied. This means that valuable lessons for transitional justice processes elsewhere are not learned. This article therefore examines lessons from the Togolese Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission (CVJR). It examines the historical context of violence in Togo in order to understand why the country decided to establish a truth commission and looks at how previous inquiries established the need for such a process. Other issues examined are the CVJR’s mandate, the time period provided to do its work, and the pros and cons of the choices made with respect to these matters. The article looks at the powers of the CVJR, its recommendations, and examines issues related to truth recovery, victims’ needs, and the Commission’s ability to combat impunity. Finally, the Commission’s effectiveness and legacy for the country are assessed. The article argues that for an under-resourced process the commission performed well in some areas but not so well in other areas. It is argued that it was a useful process in some respects, but that more could have been done had the process optimally worked. The article provides lessons that can be ascertained from the Togolese process.

In Pursuit of Policies of ‘Reconciliation’ from an Intransigent State: An Exercise in Folly?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shari Eppel
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
State Violence ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
The Past ◽  
Power Base ◽  
History Of ◽  
Causes Of Violence ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation

Zimbabwe has had only one real transition of power, at independence in 1980. Since then, Zimbabwe has had a long history of (selectively) drawing lines through the past and of extreme political intolerance. The ruling party ZANU-PF has acted ruthlessly against any political opposition—first in the 1980s, when many thousands of civilians in the west of the country were massacred during the deployment of a special brigade, targeted at the support base of ZAPU, then the dominant political party in that region. Systematic repression and torture in this region led to the first semi-transition in 1987, with the Unity Accord. The uneasy peace was broken again in 2000, with the rise of the MDC, and once more violence was unleashed to ensure ZANU-PF retained its increasingly militarized power base. A government of national unity and a coup marked further semi-transitions. These multiple eras of state violence and semi-transitions have all been accompanied by calls for initiatives to promote ‘peace’ and ‘reconciliation’ as well as justice but official truth telling has proved elusive. However, the semi-transition resulting from the coup of November 2017 may have shifted the space to talk about the past: the constitutionally mandated National Peace and Reconciliation Commission finally achieved legislative backing in 2018, and may offer opportunities for transitional justice initiatives. Importantly, the underlying structural causes of violence and repression, dating back to colonial times, need to be addressed. Truth telling alone will not ensure a more tolerant future.

scholarly journals Ominous Inevitabilities: Reflecting on South Africa's Post-Transition Aporia in Achmat Dangor's Bitter Fruit

2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aghogho Akpome
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
National Reconciliation ◽  
Reconciliation Project ◽  
Bitter Fruit

Achmat Dangor's novel Bitter Fruit (2001), nominated for the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2004, is one of several important works of fiction that comment on the imperfections of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), offering a polemical critique of South Africa's on-going transition. In this article, I examine two significant ways in which Dangor's novel questions the work of the TRC. First, I posit that the story represents the TRC's model of transitional justice as being too determined by a “forgive and forget” approach that is inadequate as a means of providing reconciliation and thus fundamentally flawed. Second, I argue that, overall, the novel depicts the national reconciliation project as a mission that has in a way resulted in the appropriation of justice from – instead of its delivery to – some victims of Apartheid-era crimes. The aim of this article is not to present Dangor's fictional text as a one-dimensional reflection of complex social realities, but rather to foreground the practical and imaginative means that his inspired realist narrative offers for dealing with the aftermath of the massive social injustices perpetrated in South Africa during the Apartheid era.

scholarly journals Norm emergence in multiagent systems: a viewpoint paper

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 706-749
Author(s):  
Andreasa Morris-Martin ◽  
Marina De Vos ◽  
Julian Padget
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Multiagent Systems ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Agent Societies ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Norm Emergence ◽  
Future Topics

Abstract Norms are utilised in agent societies to encourage acceptable behaviour by the participating agents. They can be established or revised from the top-down (authority) or from the bottom-up (populace). The study of norm creation from the bottom-up—or norm emergence/convergence—shows evidence of increasing activity. In consequence, we seek to analyse and categorize the approaches proposed in the literature for facilitating norm emergence. This paper makes three contributions to the study of norm emergence. Firstly, we present the different perspectives of norms and their impact on the norm emergence process, with the aim of comparing their similarities and differences in implementing the norm life cycle. Secondly, we identify the characteristics that support norm emergence that are observed in the emergence literature. Finally, we identify and propose future topics for study for the community, through a discussion of the challenges and opportunities in norm emergence.

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