This thesis explores the desirability of the transitional justice paradigm and engaging the past to conflict resolution efforts between Israelis and Palestinians. Given the struggle remains one characterised by antagonistic belief systems and national identities, it is submitted that the current conflict-settlement model in the Middle-East is fraught. My PhD demonstrates how transitional justice has the potential to serve as a valuable tool in long-term conflict resolution, and could foster truth-telling, restorative justice and grass-roots reconciliation between the two nations. Ultimately, the PhD designs an unofficial Israeli-Palestinian Truth and Empathy Commission (IPTEC) to address the gross systematic human rights abuses committed by both nations against each other’s civilians.

‘Between Myopia and Utopia’ - Transitional Justice and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Conceiving an Israeli-Palestinian Truth and Empathy Commission

The publications on the modernized gacaca courts dealing with the legacy of the Rwandan genocide are abundant and they often seem to be rife with diverging analysis and conclusions This article argues that the seeming lack of consensus does not signal the impossibility of adequately representing the gacaca courts This article does not dwell on the crisis of representation Instead, an effort is made to provide clarity in a disorder of representations in the context of a political anthropology that works across localized, national and international networks and dynamics The process of establishing a representation of the gacaca courts is scrutinized Numerical legibility, magic syllogisms and performative speech lie at the heart of the process that generates an ideological representation of the modern gacaca courts upheld by the Rwandan regime and its agents In addition, a first generation of academic studies on gacaca is characterized by magical legalism: they depict a theoretical model that is primar

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From model to practice: Researching and representing Rwanda’s ‘modernized’ gacaca courts:

The research on "Records, The Truth Commission, and National Reconciliation: Accountability in Post Apartheid South Africa" was prompted by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SA TRC) was initiated by President Nelson Mandela's post-apartheid government. The aim of the commission was to collect as much information as possible about apartheid transgressions in order to use it for national reconciliation. In order to carry out its mandate the commission established three committees, namely, the Human Rights Violations Committee, the Amnesty Committee and the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee.In line with its mandate the South African TRC collected millions of records and consigned them to the National Archives for maintenance. The transfer of all truth commission records to the National Archives in Pretoria presented this researcher with an opportunity to investigate the two research questions of this study, namely, "How has the National Archives of South Africa managed the records of its truth commissions," and "What problems and challenges have the South African National Archives experienced in preserving and making its TRC records in all media accessible to the public?"Using a historical case study method to answer both research questions this study found out that the South African National Archives has had little problems in managing the paper and audiovisual records of the truth commission. On the contrary, the South African National Archives has experienced major problems managing its truth commission's electronic records. This brings us to the second research question dealing with problems and challenges faced by the National Archives in preserving and making accessible the SA TRC records. This research found that the National Archives of South Africa is not able to provide full access to the TRC records basically because of six problems discussed in detail in this dissertation. The problems of access to TRC records have long term repercussions for accountability in South Africa. However, the true contribution of TRC records to accountability can only happen once the records have been processed and made available to the people.

Records, the truth commission, and national reconciliation: Accountability in post -apartheid South Africa

Retributive criminal justice, as expressed in criminal prosecutions, is not the only way to achieve accountability for criminal wrongdoing. An alternative is provided by the concept of restorative justice. Restorative justice focuses on repairing the harm caused by crime by responding to the needs of all stakeholders, including the perpetrator. It therefore constitutes a particularly well-suited approach to crimes committed by children. However, because restorative justice has been developed for “ordinary” crimes within domestic settings, it needs to be adapted to the situation of “extraordinary crimes”, i.e. crimes under international law, in transitional settings. The fourth chapter develops a new approach to achieve accountability for crimes under international law, which is called restorative transitional justice. The chapter begins with an analysis of restorative justice as a theoretical and practical concept, including its relationship to juvenile justice. It then explores the applicability of restorative justice in transitional settings and its suitability to address crimes under international law. Thereafter it turns towards developing the concept of restorative transitional justice and discussing its practical application. After establishing why restorative transitional justice constitutes an ideal approach to the situation of child soldiers, a variety of restorative transitional justice processes for child soldiers are analyzed on a theoretical and practical basis.

Child Soldiers and Restorative Transitional Justice

At the beginning of this century, restorative justice had come to receive a relatively high degree of acceptance in many jurisdictions. By 2002 it found its way onto the United Nations (UN) agenda, when the Economic and Social Council adopted the Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programs in Criminal Matters. Restorative justice increasingly appeared to be the answer to a range of crime control problems, ranging from local issues like juvenile offending to international crimes and human rights abuses in transitional societies. For problems as diverse as child misbehaviour at school and ethnic cleansing and genocide, restorative justice was seen to offer a viable strategy both for satisfying victim needs and for reintegrating offenders. From seemingly humble beginnings as a localized justice strategy to taking a place on the UN’s agenda, restorative justice appeared as an alternative to retributive justice.

Restorative Justice, Globalization and the Logic of Empire

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Olivia Lin

Papers

Demythologizing Restorative Justice: South Africa's Truth And Reconciliation Commission And Rwanda's Gacaca Courts In Context