CIAO DATE: 09/2009
August 2009
Centre on Human Rights in Conflict
This article seeks to examine the challenging and complex relationship between transitional justice and peacebuilding. Some scholarly analysts, and indeed some policymakers, continue to view “peace” and “justice” as simply in conflict with each other, while their relationship in practice is far more complex. This article will analyse the relationship between transitional justice and peacebuilding in order to consider how programming and practitioners of each might engage more constructively with each other in pursuit of more just and durable peace. There is a danger that any account of how transitional justice and accountability can or should be part of peacebuilding strategies could be perceived as naïve, unrealistic or failing to recognize the necessities of peacemaking and peacebuilding following contemporary armed conflicts, and particularly security challenges. However, this article seeks to initiate dialogue for greater mutual understanding between the two fields. Despite the obvious intersection between the two, there has not been a great deal of work on the subject. This article identifies a starting point for formulation of strategies for peacebuilding and transitional justice that might help to elide the supposed peace-justice divide, however acknowledging that new tensions may emerge. Strategies would involve refinement of transitional justice practice (including and beyond accountability mechanisms), with peacebuilding tools such as rule of law promotion and with the tools designed to promote security and stability: disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of ex-combatants (DDR), and security sector reform (SSR). Before analysing the possible relationships, we briefly examine the complex context of peacemaking and peacebuilding, and give an overview of processes of transitional justice or accountability to understand how both fields have grown.
Resource link: Beyond justice versus peace: transitional justice and peacebuilding strategies [PDF] - 346K