scholarly journals Art and Memory as Reconciliation Tool? Re-Thinking Reconciliation Strategies in the Western Balkans

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-290
Author(s):  
Maja Savić-Bojanić ◽  
Ilir Kalemaj
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Public Monuments ◽  
Geographic Space ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Introductory Article ◽  
The Many

Abstract The violent demise of Yugoslavia and the bloody period that marked most of the 1990s in this region have sparked academic interest in the peacebuilding and reconciliation initiatives which emerged after the conflict. Scholarly literature on the subject went in the directions of transitional justice, social psychology and socio-political approaches. However, an unexplored alley of scholarly interest remains in the role of the arts in these processes. By examining the role of arts and memory creation, this introductory article posits these against the background of a problematic reconciliation process in post-conflict areas of the Western Balkans as its core topic. Situated in a post-Yugoslav geographic space, where ethnic conflicts still hinder development, people rest much on the interpretation of the meaning of lived experiences, and the role of images, arts, myths and stories, which are used to either create or dissemble the path to peace between the many ethnic communities that inhabit this area of Europe. The use of several overlapping, yet differently interpreted themes relating to lived experiences and history shows them as symbolic transitional justice policies. They broadly deal with how such knowledges are interpreted through lived moments, such as cinema, museums and public monuments.

scholarly journals THE EUROPEAN UNION AND TRANSNATIONAL JUSTICE IN THE WESTERN BALKANS: A CASE STUDY OF CROATIA AND SERBIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Rahajeng Mintarsih ◽  
Andika Wijaya ◽  
Inditian Latifa ◽  
Ikhaputri Widiantini
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Nobel Peace Prize ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Transnational Justice ◽  
European Neighborhood Policy ◽  
The Many

Among the many international bodies and organizations that have made transitional justice a precondition for cooperation is the European Union (EU), The Union‟s strong advocacy for human rights, democracy and transitional justice during reconciliation of the Western Balkans is one of the factors that led to the bestowal of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize ("The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 to the European Union”). This article will address the role of the EU in creating security within Europe in relation to the transitional justice that is taking place within the Western Balkans. The Union‟s involvement in the reconciliation process of the Western Balkans through the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) will be explored and the Union‟s European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) will also be brought into focus regarding the policy‟s means of evasion in creating a secure European neighbourhood. In order to understand the breadth of transitional justice measures taken by the Union within the Western Balkans, the case of Croatia will be taken into account, as the first country from the area to be accessed into the Union in 2012, and to some extent compared to the process that is taking place in Serbia. This article seeks to bear out how although the ENP has to a degree succeeded in establishing constitutional peace within „Wider Europe‟, the cursoriness of its role in executing transitional justice in the Western Balkans has led to the obstruction of sustainable peace within the region.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights under the 2010 Constitutional Dispensation

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-226
Author(s):  
Bonolo Ramadi Dinokopila ◽  
Rhoda Igweta Murangiri
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
National Commission ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
National Human ◽  
The Status ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights

This article examines the transformation of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and discusses the implications of such transformation on the promotion and protection of human rights in Kenya. The article is an exposition of the powers of the Commission and their importance to the realisation of the Bill of Rights under the 2010 Kenyan Constitution. This is done from a normative and institutional perspective with particular emphasis on the extent to which the UN Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles, 1993) have been complied with. The article highlights the role of national human rights commissions in transformative and/or transitional justice in post-conflict Kenya. It also explores the possible complementary relationship(s) between the KNCHR and other Article 59 Commissions for the better enforcement of the bill of rights.

Taking Stock

2020 ◽  
pp. 268-288
Author(s):  
Dawnie Steadman ◽  
Sarah Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Forensic Genetics ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Ethnographic Analysis

This chapter explores the evolving role of forensic genetics in human rights investigations and as a technology of postmortem identification for missing persons in ongoing conflict and post-conflict societies. How has DNA’s increasingly privileged place as a line of evidence impacted the field in terms of both medico-legal standards and heightened expectations among surviving kin and their communities? Drawing on interviews with leading figures in the field of forensic science and human rights/transitional justice (e.g., the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense, and the Colibrí Center for Human Rights), buttressed by ethnographic analysis of exhumation and identification efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Uganda, the chapter provides an overview and commentary about the technology’s complicated place in unearthing truths and effecting repair.

scholarly journals Mirroring transitional justice. Construction and impact of European Union ICTY-conditionality

Südosteuropa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niké Wentholt
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
War Experiences ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe European Union (EU) developed a state-building strategy for the aspiring member states in the Western Balkans. Demanding full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the EU made transitional justice part of the accession demands. Scholars have recently criticized the EU’s limited focus on retributive justice as opposed to restorative justice. This paper goes beyond such impact-orientated analyses by asking why the EU engaged with retributive transitional justice in the first place. The EU constructed ICTY-conditionality by mirroring its own post-Second World War experiences to the envisioned post-conflict trajectory of the Western Balkans. The EU therefore expected the court to contribute to reconciliation, democratization and the rule of law. Using Serbia as a case study, this article examines the conditionality’s context, specificities and discursive claims. Finally, it relates these findings to the agenda of a promising regional initiative prioritizing restorative justice (RECOM) and sheds new light on the impact of ICTY-conditionality on transitional justice in the Western Balkans.

Back to the Future? Confronting the Role(s) of Natural Resources in Armed Conflict Through the Lenses of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 373-400
Author(s):  
Eliana Cusato
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Sierra Leonean ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commissions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Conflict Strategies

Abstract Natural resources are critical factors in the transition from conflict to peace. Whether they contributed to, financed or fuelled armed conflict, failure to integrate natural resources into post-conflict strategies may endanger the chances of a long-lasting and sustainable peace. This article explores how Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (trcs), as transitional justice institutions, can contribute to addressing the multifaceted role of natural resources in armed conflict. Drawing insights from the practice of the Sierra Leonean and Liberian trcs in this area, the article identifies several ways in which truth-seeking bodies may reinforce post-conflict accountability and avoid the future reoccurrence of abuses and conflict by actively engaging with the natural resource-conflict link. As it is often the case with other transitional justice initiatives, trcs’ engagement with the role of natural resources in armed conflict brings along opportunities and challenges, which are contextual and influenced by domestic and international factors.

Towards Restorative Sentencing in International Criminal Trials

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 809-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Henham
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Judicial Discretion ◽  
Discretionary Power ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Trial Outcomes ◽  
Trial Structure ◽  
International Criminal Trials

AbstractThis article considers how sentencing might be re-conceptualised if restorative justice became a more integral part of the rationale for international criminal trials. More specifically, it focuses on issues of admissibility and proof; trial structure; procedural justice; the role of victims and trial professionals, and the role of judicial discretionary power in sentencing decisions. The paper concludes by suggesting that change is possible by utilising judicial discretion as a force for developing more restorative trial outcomes and dealing effectively with inconsistency, appeal and the enforcement of sentences. More broadly, such changes should be seen as an opportunity for international trial outcomes to engage more directly with the challenges of facilitating transitional justice in post-conflict states.

scholarly journals 17. Criminology and transitional justice

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran McEvoy ◽  
Ron Dudai ◽  
Cheryl Lawther
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores the intersection between criminology and transitional justice. The chapter begins with a critical discussion on the utility of criminological scholarship from settled democracies to the exceptional circumstances of post-conflict or post-authoritarian societies. It then explores a range of debates related to the punishment of offenders in such contexts including the role of prosecutions, amnesties, the reintegration of former combatants, and the role of restorative justice. The chapter next considers the social and political construction of victimhood in transitional contexts including competing notions of the ‘idealized’ victim. The relationship between transitional justice and social control is then examined including the importance of countering denial, the relationship between deviance and memory and the particular contribution of efforts ‘from below’ to counter elites-level narratives on past abuses. The chapter concludes that a criminology of transitional justice provides the basis for revisiting some of the foundational questions on responding to crime and justice in the most challenging of settings—a sobering but intellectually rich research agenda for years to come.

scholarly journals Introduction FEDERALISM, RECONCILIATION, AND POWER-SHARING IN POST-CONFLICT SOCIETIES

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neophytos Loizides ◽  
Iosif Kovras ◽  
Kathleen Ireton
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Introductory Article ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
Grassroots Level ◽  
Conflict Reconciliation ◽  
The Individual

This special issue examines the interplay between reconciliation in postconflict societies and alternative mechanisms of political accommodation. In our introductory article, we define and explore the central concepts used in post-conflict studies while investigating the potential linkages between reconciliation and federal or power-sharing arrangements. We argue that addressing issues of justice, reconciliation and amnesty in the aftermath of conflict frequently facilitates cooperation in establishing successful institutional mechanisms at the political level. We also examine the degree to which reconciliation at the grassroots level should be seen as a prerequisite of consolidating power-sharing arrangements among elites particularly in the form of federal agreements. Finally, we discuss the individual contributions to the special issue and highlight the importance of incorporating insights from the literature of transitional justice and post-conflict reconciliation to the study and practice of federalism.

Rule of Law, Security, and Transitional Justice in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Societies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Mihr ◽  
Chandra Sriram Lekha
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Security Sector ◽  
The Past ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
The Many

States are expected to provide both security and justice for their citizens; one needs the other in order to work well. Yet when both are damaged or destroyed by war, state actors and outsiders alike tend to treat them as competing post-conflict priorities. Over the past twenty years, numerous processes have emerged to promote one or both, including “transitional justice”—from courts and truth commissions to community reconciliation—and programs to restore rule of law, reform the “security sector” (SSR) and disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate fighters into society (DDR). The many actors involved have just as many, sometimes competing, operational priorities, knowing that change is urgent, but necessarily long-term. This chapter examines the interaction of transitional justice, rule of law, SSR, and DDR, identifying key concepts, actors, processes, and challenges in pursuing change in each of these areas simultaneously.

Performing Transitional Justice

2021 ◽  
pp. 169-186
Author(s):  
Angela Impey
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Fragile States ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Protracted Conflict ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Public Hearings ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Critical Scrutiny ◽  
Societal Problems

This chapter invites critical scrutiny of the role of performance ethnography in development praxis, focusing specifically on the place of ethnomusicology in current discourses about alternative frameworks for transitional justice in post-conflict and fragile states. The paper responds to the increasing appeal in transitional justice literature for legal pluralism and reflects on the challenges and opportunities that traditional justice strategies pose for many of the fundamental assumptions that currently underlie post-conflict rule-of-law work. Taking direction from Brown et al. (2011) and Mignolo (2013), who call for imaginative “delinking” from current epistemic hegemonies in seeking solutions to pressing societal problems, the chapter argues for greater consideration of culture in responding to the multidimensional legacies of protracted conflict (Rush & Simić 2014). Drawing on research on Dinka ox-songs in South Sudan—a country that emerged from half a century of civil war with Sudan, but remains profoundly destabilized by internecine violence—the paper argues that in their capacity as public hearings, ox-songs offer locally embedded judicial instruments or “justice rituals” (Rossner 2013) of narration, listening, and understanding, opening discursive spaces for the expression of multiple public positions and forms of agency. While songs recount individual, clan, or community memories within the context of culturally legitimate expressive spaces, they equally reveal potentially incompatible rejoinders to social justice, forgiveness, and inclusivity, thus supporting new pathways for hybrid or plural frameworks for truth-telling, justice, and reparative outcomes.

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