Browsing by Subject "Transitional Justice"

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    Lessons in Ethnic Reconciliation: A Case Study of Kosovo
    (2017-05-10) Davies, Hannah
    This study uses case study analysis to determine best practices for ethnic reconciliation in Kosovo – a country still experiencing stark ethnic divide between Albanian and Serbian populations after the genocide in 1999. Case studies include Guatemala and Burundi, both nations that endured and struggled to rebuild after their own ethnic conflicts. The study specifically targets the policy areas of United Nation (UN) involvement, host government reform, truth commissions, and transitional justice. Comparative analysis of the cases draws on documents like UN reports/resolutions, national laws, peace agreements, truth commissions, and court cases. The findings indicate that UN involvement in Kosovo was initially successful in implementing a ceasefire, however could have been more effective by involving citizens in inter-ethnic round tables. Additionally, Albanians and Serbians successfully co-exist and co-govern through power-sharing structures within the government. The findings also suggest that a truth commission could be beneficial to reallocate blame from an ethnicity as a whole to specific individuals. Finally, international transitional justice efforts have been more effective in Kosovo than in prior conflicts, yet witness corruption remains a pressing concern.
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    Restorative Justice and Political Forgiveness: A Comparative Study of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
    (2016) Ayee, Gloria Yayra Ayorkor

    This research project involves a comparative, cross-national study of truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) in countries around the world that have used these extra-judicial institutions to pursue justice and promote national reconciliation during periods of democratic transition or following a civil conflict marked by intense violence and severe human rights abuses. An important objective of truth and reconciliation commissions involves instituting measures to address serious human rights abuses that have occurred as a result of discrimination, ethnocentrism and racism. In recent years, rather than solely utilizing traditional methods of conflict resolution and criminal prosecution, transitional governments have established truth and reconciliation commissions as part of efforts to foster psychological, social and political healing.

    The primary objective of this research project is to determine why there has been a proliferation of truth and reconciliation commissions around the world in recent decades, and assess whether the perceived effectiveness of these commissions is real and substantial. In this work, using a multi-method approach that involves quantitative and qualitative analysis, I consider the institutional design and structural composition of truth and reconciliation commissions, as well as the roles that these commissions play in the democratic transformation of nations with a history of civil conflict and human rights violations.

    In addition to a focus on institutional design of truth and reconciliation commissions, I use a group identity framework that is grounded in social identity theory to examine the historical background and sociopolitical context in which truth commissions have been adopted in countries around the world. This group identity framework serves as an invaluable lens through which questions related to truth and reconciliation commissions and other transitional justice mechanisms can be explored. I also present a unique theoretical framework, the reconciliatory democratization paradigm, that is especially useful for examining the complex interactions between the various political elements that directly affect the processes of democratic consolidation and reconciliation in countries in which truth and reconciliation commissions have been established. Finally, I tackle the question of whether successor regimes that institute truth and reconciliation commissions can effectively address the human rights violations that occurred in the past, and prevent the recurrence of these abuses.