Realising Transformative Institutional Reforms via Civil Society
Posted: 11 February, 2025 Filed under: Andrew Songa | Tags: advocacy for reforms, African Union Transitional Justice Policy, civil society, democratic transformation, divisions, human rights violations, inequalities, institutional reforms, National Council for Administration of Justice, past violations, public opinion, public pressure, public symposiums, reform processes, socio-economic transformation, Transformative Institutional Reforms, Transitional Justice 1 CommentAuthor: Andrew Songa
Strategic Advisor, Alt Advisory
If institutional reforms are meant to positively and fundamentally transform our state structures and society, then civil society must play a key role in developing, implementing and monitoring them. In defining transitional justice as policy measures and mechanisms that are implemented to overcome past violations, divisions and inequalities, the African Union Transitional Justice Policy emphasises that these measures should enable the forward-looking goals of democratic and socio-economic transformation. A key measure that underpins this transformative potential of transitional justice is institutional reforms. This is because, if properly designed and implemented, institutional reforms transcend temporary or symbolic measures. They address past violations by introducing state institutions that are competent, ethical, independent, accessible, well-resourced and a reflection of the communities they serve.
Relearning conflict-related sexual violence: expanding the lens of violence
Posted: 16 January, 2025 Filed under: Lesego Sekhu, Namatirayi Ngwasha | Tags: conflict-related sexual violence, gender-based violence, human rights violations, humanitarian crises, intimate partner violence, IPV, militia, Palestine, peacebuilding efforts, post-conflict IPV, rebels, sexual violence, soldiers, South Sudan, Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Transitional Justice, Uganda, Ukraine 1 Comment
Author: Lesego Sekhu
Research Assistant, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
Given the severity of conflict-related sexual violence during intra-state and inter-state conflicts in the last decade, transitional justice and peacebuilding efforts have directed resources to investigating this form of sexual and gender-based violence. They aim to create measures to both prevent and address the consequences of these atrocities. Notwithstanding the intention, the conventional understanding of conflict-related sexual violence is flawed and neglects the continuities and diversity of violence that permits continued impunity for sexual and gender-based violence during conflict.
Judicial mechanisms as a complement to reconciliation efforts in transitional justice settings: Exploring opportunities in the Burundian context
Posted: 19 March, 2024 Filed under: Lyse Nathalie Menyimana | Tags: Arusha Peace agreement, Burundi, human rights violations, judicial mechanisms, judicial processes, mass graves, national reconciliation, post-conflict, right to justice, Transitional Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Ubushingantahe, victim-centered approach, violations Leave a comment
Author: Lyse Nathalie Menyimana
Researcher and independent consultant
Transitional justice
Transitional justice is a set of mechanisms established in post-conflict settings to deal with massive violations, acknowledge victims’ claims and attempt to deter violations from happening in the future. While recognising the lack of a perfect formula, whether in the definition or sequencing of the mechanisms, transitional justice (TJ) leaves space for every society to find its own way to deal with massive human rights violations (African Union Transitional Justice Policy, 2019).
While TJ is essentially based on four complementary pillars –truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition– inspired by Louis Joinet, this brief article addresses the importance of the right (access) to justice, with regards to long term reconciliation in countries engaged in transitional justice processes such as the Burundi context. The author believes that the right to justice is fundamental and complementary to the right to truth, to reparations and that it can be seen as a precondition for national reconciliation.
Integrating gender-inclusive approaches in transitional justice processes in Africa
Posted: 26 February, 2024 Filed under: Mary Izobo | Tags: African countries, conflict-related sexual violence, displacement, diverse sexual orientations, empowerment, enforced disappearances, femicide, forced marriages, gender identities, gender norms, gender perspectives, gender-inclusive approaches, human rights violations, patriarchal systems, rights of women and girls, societal transformation, socio-economic discrimination, Transitional Justice, unconstitutional changes Leave a comment
Author: Mary Izobo
International Human Rights Lawyer, Gender Equality Advocate and Governance Expert
During conflict, gender perspectives reveal the divergent impacts felt by all individuals –women, men, vulnerable and marginalised people, and those with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. As a result, transitional justice in African countries must not only acknowledge but also actively engage with these gendered realities, particularly focusing on the experiences of women and girls. In the pursuit of reconciliation and healing, it is crucial to recognize the unique impact of conflicts on women and girls, exacerbated by patriarchal systems. By embracing gender-inclusive approaches within transitional justice, we pave the path towards a fairer, more inclusive society for all.
Judicial Independence and Transitional Justice in Cameroon: A Pathway to Sustainable Peace in the ongoing Anglophone Crisis
Posted: 10 May, 2023 Filed under: Bobuin Jr Valery Gemandze Oben | Tags: African Union’s Transitional Justice Policy, Anglophone crisis, Cameroon, conflict, constitutional enactment, constitutionalism, corruption, extrajudicial killings, inadequate resources, independence, judicial independence, OHCHR, orced disappearances, political interference, reconciliation, socio-economic transformation, sustainable peace, transformative constitutionalism, Transitional Justice 1 Comment
Author: Bobuin Jr Valery Gemandze Oben
Advocacy Specialist, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
Introduction
Since 2017 Cameroon has been faced with a separatist insurrection widely referred to as—the Anglophone crisis. It has had devastating effects on the country, and over its bloody course, has been considered the most neglected conflict in the world, with thousands of lives lost and about a million others displaced. Transitional justice tools can provide a pathway for addressing the underlying causes of the conflict and promoting reconciliation and sustainable peace. The OHCHR defines it as, ‘‘the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale past conflict, repression, violations and abuses, in order to ensure accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation’’. While in the African context, the African Union’s Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) defines it as ‘‘the various (formal and traditional or non-formal) policy measures and institutional mechanisms that societies, through an inclusive consultative process, adopt in order to overcome past violations, divisions and inequalities and to create conditions for both security and democratic and socio-economic transformation’’. However, as would be subsequently seen, the success of these measures is largely dependent on the independence of the judiciary.
Transitional Justice and Women in Africa: How the Material Turn is still difficult to be seen?
Posted: 28 November, 2022 Filed under: Cristiano d'Orsi | Tags: Africa, African countries, community courts, compensatory assistance, crime against humanity, customary law, domestic instruments, domestic level, gender-based violence, Maputo Protocol, military tribunals, popular culture, rape culture, sexual violence, traditional justice systems, Transitional Justice, violations, violence, violent crime, women, women’s rights Leave a comment
Author: Cristiano d’Orsi
Research Fellow and Lecturer at the South African Research Chair in International Law (SARCIL), University of Johannesburg
As envisaged in the 2003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), transitional processes should recognize the gendered nature of conflicts in which women are affected disproportionately, both directly and indirectly, by violence (see, for example, Article 10 –Right to Peace- and Article 11 –Protection of Women in Armed Conflicts-).[1] However, gender concerns in Africa have been rarely incorporated into Transnational Justice (TJ) through mainstreaming gender as a crosscutting issue. The nature of the violations to which women are usually subjected on the continent, and the impact of such violations on them, means that the issue of women and TJ should be treated on its own. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go to comply with this measure. Normally, states emerging from conflicts or authoritarian repression should ensure women’s representation and participation at all stages of TJ processes by writing women’s participation into peace agreements and TJ laws and policies. Nevertheless, seldom has this been the case in Africa.
AfricLaw 