A key question facing countries emerging from civil conflict is how best to deal with the perpetrators of past – and in many cases, all too recent – violence, while at the same time maintaining the fragile social harmony that often characterizes post-conflict societies. Should priority be given to bringing the perpetrators of past human rights violations to justice, thereby combating the culture of impunity that has come to characterize many civil conflicts? Or is it more important to start by focusing on measures designed to ensure that peace and stability - and with them the prospects for a country’s longer-term recovery - are bolstered?
In Africa in particular, one undervalued conflict management resource lies in the sphere of traditional social mechanisms. The International IDEA project ‘Reconciliation and Traditional Justice: Learning From African Experiences’, funded by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims to rectify this gap by examining the role played by local/traditional justice mechanisms (TJMs) in addressing the legacy of large-scale, violent conflict in countries across the African continent. A core component of the project is a set of country specific case studies on the role and functioning of TJMs in six countries - Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Mozambique, Burundi and Rwanda.
The project will result in a final report that will be presented at a major international conference hosted by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, due to be held in Brussels at the end of 2007. Read more
