Suchergebnisse

The processes of transitional justice and social reconstruction aim to repair the social elements of a society. Countries devise mechanisms for handling past and current human rights violations. The manner in which these kinds of mechanisms have been used in addressing such crimes as well as the appropriate order in which these mechanisms should be used is considered here. A myriad of mechanisms have been applied to the case of Uganda and are examined. Adapted from the source document.

The requirements of international criminal law in the aftermath of human rights violations & conflict are clear. The perpetrators of such crimes must be held responsible for what they have done. Complications arise, however, when putting this kind of law into practice in fractured & conflict ridden societies because the effective prosecution of such criminals can sometimes sound the death knell for the signing of a negotiated settlement as the basis for the resolution of conflict & the cessation of hostilities. Adapted from the source document.

Retribution and Reparation in the Transition to Democracy,
Jon Elster, ed., New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp. 341.Retribution and Reparation in the Transition to Democracy is
a useful addition to the burgeoning scholastic field of transitional
justice. The essays in the book are authored by several well-known and
other lesser-known scholars, including Luc Huyse, Claus Offe and Alex
Boraine. Collectively, the essays tackle two of the major themes of
transitional justice: retribution and reparation.

In the aftermath of prolonged civil conflict, social repair is essential. Countries like Uganda, various parts of which have been at war since 1962, are in need of healing and renewal. This paper explores the use of customary mechanisms, instead of trials and truth commissions, to bring about societal acknowledgement of what has happened, and it offers ideas as to how these traditional practices might augment the rebuilding process in Uganda. Adapted from the source document.

In the aftermath of a period of mass atrocity at the hands of the state, many societies struggle to find a way to repair the damage caused to the physical infrastructure in terms of things like roads, hospitals, and schools. Yet the social infrastructure is also often badly damaged. One mechanism often employed in such cases is the truth commission, which can act to foster sustainable development on many different levels, as well as social trust.
When Yoweri Museveni and the NRM acceded to power in Uganda in 1986, one of their first acts was to establish the Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Human Rights to look into the abuses which had been perpetrated from 1961 until that time. The Commission, however, was endowed with neither proper funding nor political support. The social infrastructure, therefore, was left in a state of flux. This paper provides an analysis of the many constraints faced by the Commission and of its relative failure to provide a platform for improving the social infrastructure.

The truth commissions of South Africa and Guatemala were important
in bringing global attention to the subject of truth-seeking. This
article presents some of the key observations and recommendations made
by commissioners and staff directly involved in these commissions about
the official truth-seeking process which evolved in both countries. These
reflections provide practical lessons as to the structure and mandate of
the truth commission, data collection and public hearings, information
management and reporting to the public, from which future commissions
might draw ideas.