Justice, Peace and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Societies: the Case of Sierra Leone
Rodella, Aude-Sophie
2004
- Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: The subject of this thesis between law, philosophy and political science could easily fall into the trap of a scholar discussion of the given subject, away from the daunting realities of the people those subjects are dealing with. Justice and Policy-making in ... read morepost-conflict societies have a face, the one of the victims, perpetrators, 'most responsible ones' and bystanders. One should not forget the crucial human dimension of those issues, as war crimes are born in flesh, heart and mind. This paper aims at reviewing the literature existing on the subjects of peace, justice and reconciliation and their links in the post-conflict agenda and reality. Indeed, it appears that post-conflict has become a field in itself, resulting in the three notions being conceived as concomitant, though very little evidence of the well-founded of this approach has been proven yet. This analysis will attempt to demonstrate that the recurrent association over the past year of those three notions of peace, justice and reconciliation, in the post-conflict locus and agenda, has resulted in its auto-validating use, and the progressive erosion of the necessary prudence its largely axiomatic nature requires. The chosen angle to approach the subject will evaluate post-conflict theory and experiences around the challenge and goal of justice faced by countries emerging from protracted conflicts such as Sierra Leone. Indeed, while justice has long been the victors' prerogative, tainting the very enterprise with selective bias, one has seen with the end of the Cold War the appearance of a new pragmatic paradigm. This new paradigm intends to connect post-conflict justice's implementation with the concomitant challenges of fostering peace and reconciliation. Such a paradigm results from a syncretic association of many trends born out of the identification of justice as the force capable of legitimizing a given peace agreement (not necessarily enforced on the ground) and stabilizing in the meantime, and beyond, the post-conflict transition. From this perspective, the locus of justice is used to frame a comprehensive approach encompassing both peace and reconciliation in post-conflict settings. Moreover, the authoritative use of the legal discourse offers a legitimization of this concomitant approach. Yet, if the limited corpus of endorsed positive experiences should have undermined the high expectations associated with post-conflict justice, the latter seems to have benefited paradoxically from the legal experiments led in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In fact, more than concrete (or rather lack of) successes on the ground, it appears that the repetitive use of the theoretical dimension of this enlarged justice approach has led to its self-validation among the post-conflict agenda's actors. Incidentally, it seems that as for the challenges/ goals of peace and reconciliation, the definition of what should be understood by post-conflict justice remains evasive, in spite of the large consequences it has in the post-conflict agenda's determination, and the very commitment of International Community (IC). As such, I have taken the party to approach the subject of post-conflict justice in exploring the conventional/agreed association of justice and peace (I.) as well as of justice and reconciliation (II.) in order to assess the ground, both scholarly and in reality, that founds the conception of justice currently displayed in on-going post-conflict cases. This analysis will try to highlight the limits of the present definition of post-conflict justice and the lack of realism and clarity of its objectives, through the perspective of past experiences as well as in the light of post-conflict Sierra Leone. Indeed, due to its tragic history over the last ten years, Sierra Leone finds itself at the confluence of these recent evolutions in the 'fields' of post-conflict justice, peace and reconciliation. Sierra Leone (III.) is indeed in the unprecedented situation of having made the choice of an internationalized Court given with the mandate of judging the 'most responsible ones', the Special Court for Sierra Leone (part A.), as well as of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (part B.). Moreover, as a result of the scope of the crimes committed during the ten-year conflict, as well as due to the role played by amnesty in the peace settlement, an important part of the legacy is being left to the respective communities, emphasizing the importance of local processes of dispute resolution and reconciliation (part C.). While an attempt to design a post-conflict agenda that would address the challenge of justice and reconciliation in a coherent, complementary and reinforcing mode has been envisioned, little of this idea has been yet implemented in Sierra Leone. Therefore, Sierra Leone will provide a crucial and much needed reality test to the post-conflict justice-peace-reconciliation approach, through the establishment of both the TRC and the SCSL, and their respective jurisprudence. Additionally, this experience is taking place at the time of the take off of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and could also impact the development of this instance. Indeed, the United States are adamant promoters of Sierra Leone mixed-tribunal, as a counter-strategy against the ICC. Ironically, Sierra Leone finds itself caught up between those divergent dynamics, having signed a bilateral impunity agreement with the United States while being part of the ICC. However, it is important to keep in mind that the 'experiment' dimension of Sierra Leone with regard to the post-conflict agenda should not ultimately prove detrimental to those the populations it is supposed to serve.read less
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