{"title":"Negotiating the Legacies of Intragroup Violence in Timor Leste","authors":"Victor Igreja","doi":"10.1093/ijtj/ijab007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijab007","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The end of the Cold War raised the profiles of international tribunals and truth commissions as official mechanisms for dealing with the legacies of political violence around the world. However, these mechanisms have the tendency to generate somewhat stark accounts of the past and present, and of guilt and heroism, and are thus an inadequate forum for grasping the complexities of protracted, multiple and fracturing intragroup violence. This article is based on fieldwork in Timor Leste. It analyzes the unresolved legacies of Timorese intragroup political violence through a focus on the interventions of political leaders in the Timorese national parliament over time, coupled with an analysis of some of their autobiographies. It reveals how the crisscrossing histories of violence and fluctuating group affiliations have shaped ongoing political struggles, from silence and denial to unsettling voices and deliberations, which constitute sources of enduring political negotiations, mistrust and tension among Timorese leaders.","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47625654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Erratum to: “We Came To Realize We Are Judges”: The Moral Careers of Elected Lay Jurists in Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/ijtj/ijaa025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijaa025","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44616837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Law of ‘Never Again’: Transitional Justice and the Transformation of the Norm of Non-Recurrence","authors":"Maja Davidović","doi":"10.1093/ijtj/ijab011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijab011","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article analyses the transformation of guarantees of non-recurrence (GNRs), the least developed pillar of transitional justice (TJ), and sets a legal and conceptual foundation of the norm for TJ theory and practice. It draws out key characteristics of GNRs including the norm’s various contents and contexts, stressing its exceptional future-oriented nature in international law. The article investigates conceptual origins of preventing non-recurrence in the early developments of TJ and the recent normative expansions undertaken by the UN Special Rapporteur. The main contributions of the article are establishing GNRs as normatively distinct in TJ and identifying transfers of local-level advocacy from Latin America to general norm creation. Finally, the article proposes a tension between decontextualizing the norm content to make it universally applicable and recent attempts to normatively expand the norm and improve its context-specificity, and discusses its potential consequences for TJ practice.","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43475883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Defying the victim-perpetrator binary: female ex-combatants in Colombia and Guatemala as complex political perpetrators","authors":"Sanne Weber","doi":"10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB006","url":null,"abstract":"I N T R O D U C T I O N Over the last few decades, there has been much attention to the different impacts of conflict on women and their role in conflict and peace, leading to increased attention to gender in the fields of transitional justice (TJ) and peacebuilding. Victims, especially victims of sexual violence, have thus come to be at the centre of TJ and peacebuilding. This however risks obscuring conflict-era experiences that are characterized not only by victimization but also by resilience and agency. It moreover neglects the fact that women are not only victims, but also perpetrators of violence. Notions of victims and perpetrators are often simplified and essentialized, victims being represented as innocent and pure whereas perpetrators are represented as evil and guilty. The reality is more ambiguous. The recognition of the complexity of reality, in which victims may not be entirely innocent, and where perpetrators might also have experienced victimization, is crucial for understanding the underlying structural inequalities that lead certain individuals to become perpetrators of violence. More nuanced stories about conflict experiences can help to diversify ideas about gender roles and norms during and after conflict, challenging stereotypes of women as vulnerable victims that eventually uphold gendered inequality. This article engages with debates on the victim–perpetrator binary within TJ literature and practice. Recent years have seen discussions about Bouris’ notion of ‘complex political victims.’ Although an important addition to critical debates about victimhood in TJ, this category is not sufficient to encompass a wider group of actors involved in conflict, who have a crucial role to play in reconciliation: ex-combatants.","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45545771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Territory as a Victim of Armed Conflict","authors":"A. Huneeus, Pablo Rueda Sáiz","doi":"10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB002","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Colombia’s peace jurisdiction has formally accredited the territories of indigenous and Black communities as victims of the armed conflict. But what does it mean for a territory to be treated not as the stage on which a conflict unfolds, but as its victim? The concept of territory-as-victim seeks to give a legal expression to the notion that it is not just human lives that are upended by armed conflict, but also relations with non-humans, including ‘earth beings’ such as rivers and mountains, and the spiritual world. Further, it is a tool through which indigenous peoples and Black Colombians gain greater control over their land. Transitional justice scholars and practitioners are just beginning to consider what the push to recognize non-humans in law could mean for a field that has its origins in the human rights movement. This article contributes to the debate, showing how Colombia’s peace process is transforming territory from an object to a legal subject that suffers harm and is in need of repair.","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47472965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unearthing Ambiguities: Post-Genocide Justice in Raoul Peck’s Sometimes in April and the ICTR case Nahimana et al.","authors":"Anna Katila","doi":"10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB008","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines Raoul Peck’s portrayal of post-genocide justice in Rwanda in his film Sometimes in April (2005). The film, which depicts the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and its aftermath a decade later, resonates with the ICTR case Prosecutor v. Nahimana et al. with its focus on hate speech as genocide. The shared questions connect the two distinct narrative forms that are part of the global social discourse on Rwanda, allowing them to be analysed side by side. Building upon close readings, this article asks: Who is guilty and what counts as a crime? What kind of impact do justice mechanisms have? Whose interests does the ICTR serve? Extending interdisciplinary research on Rwanda across law and cultural studies, I argue that analysing Sometimes in April helps unearth ambiguities within and surrounding the ICTR. Peck’s film and the legal case together communicate a rounded understanding of post-genocide justice to outside audiences, as it is experienced or perceived from local and international perspectives.","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48635916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Revisiting the Politics of Land Recovery Among White Commercial Farmers in Zimbabwe: Implications for Transitional Justice","authors":"K. Batisai, G. Mudimu","doi":"10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB010","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The land question in postcolonial Africa, particularly in former settler colonies, has an enduring legacy. To illuminate the enduring dimensions of the land question, this article explores various land recovery options adopted by (former) white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe as they renegotiate access, ownership and control of land expropriated via the Fast Track Land Reform Programme. Zimbabwe has been fluid in handling these recovery options as it strives to reposition the economy and score political goals locally and globally. A transitional justice approach ensures that the contemporary land question, rooted in a historical racialized struggle, is resolved on an equality basis that transcends the current politicized productivist land recovery discourse. As the transitional justice approach takes cognisance of longstanding marginalization and embraces robust institutions that withstand political whims and the test of time, it ensures meaningful policy and practical interventions that confront the contentious land question in Zimbabwe and beyond.","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44347458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Appraising the Socio-Economic Turn in Reparations: Transitional Justice for Cholera Victims in Haiti","authors":"N. Lemay-Hébert, Rosa Freedman","doi":"10.1093/ijtj/ijab020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijab020","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 After belatedly apologizing for the cholera epidemic in Haiti, the ‘New Approach to Cholera in Haiti’ by the UN and the promise of material assistance to victims through a ‘victim-centred approach’ highlight how the victims turn and the socio-economic turn are increasingly pivotal in the field of transitional justice. In light of these growing calls, we suggest a matrix to clarify the debate made of two separate dimensions: the focus of reparations – collective versus individual – and the means of reparations – symbolic versus material. Based on fieldwork conducted in March 2017 in the communities most affected by the cholera outbreak, this article demonstrates how the tensions between reparations offered by the UN (with a preference for collective symbolic reparations) and the reparations demanded by the victims (individual material reparations) can help understand the current stalemate in Haiti, and hopefully inform the next steps in the process of remedy for the victims.","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45231809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Institutional Reform in Myanmar: Preventing Corporate Land Rights Abuses","authors":"Daniel Aguirre, Irene Pietropaoli","doi":"10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/IJTJ/IJAB003","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In 2011, after five decades of authoritarian rule, Myanmar accelerated its military-guided transition, culminating in partially democratic elections in 2015. While land reform was a central part of protest that led to governmental changes, unlawful land confiscation and forced evictions remain central obstacles to transition in Myanmar. The current government has failed to reform the legal framework, institutions, policy and practice violating Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights. While civil society has called for participatory and accountable institutions, a perceived need to appease the military, to harness the economic power of ‘crony’ businesspeople and to attract foreign investment has left violations of HLP rights inadequately addressed. This article argues that transitional justice’s guarantees of non-reoccurrence are essential to the protection of HLP rights in Myanmar, and that the best method of preventing reoccurrence is through upholding the state duty to protect human rights by reforming laws and institutions.","PeriodicalId":46927,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Transitional Justice","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42941691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}