Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation

Transitional Justice Programme

Introduction

The Transition and Reconciliation Programme of CSVR was established in 1994 with the foresight of engaging with the policy debates and advocacy in relation to the establishment of a Truth Commission in South Africa. Over the past 12 years the programme has engaged in various research and intervention projects which seeks to explore the relationship between conflicts of the past, reconciliation, violence prevention and justice, in order to contribute to building sustainable reconciliation and the prevention of conflict, violence and intolerance in South Africa, on the continent and internationally.

In our current work we continue to evaluate the impact of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as well as to forge new projects which address the continued needs around truth, justice, reconciliation and healing. In addition, we also maintain a focus on understanding the current dynamics of violence in South African society, as they relate to the past as well as new forms which are fomented by the complexity of a society in transition. One of the key objectives in our work is to incorporate the lessons learned on a local level into the regional and global discourses around truth, justice, reconciliation, and violence prevention in transitional societies.

The Programme is currently structured around eight project themes:

For a historical overview, we've included a discussion and links to more than 12 years of engagement with the TRC and with transitional processes more broadly.

Amnesty, Accountability and Ex-combatant Reintegration

Within the Amnesty and Accountability theme we've have been exploring the impact of the TRC's amnesty process on both victims and perpetrators of human rights abuses. At the same time CSVR has developed a broader thematic focus on the reintegration of ex-combatants (including perpetrators) back into communities and society.

Evaluating the Amnesty Process of the TRC

The amnesty process was a unique and contested approach to dealing with transitional justice in South Africa, with its approach of "amnesty for truth", and the encouragement of individuals to take responsibility. CSVR has been involved in various projects that seek to evaluate this process empirically.

The first project involved an Evaluation of the Amnesty Public Hearings, and used both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This project was implemented between 2000 and 2003, in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and with funding provided by the United States Institute for Peace. The project involved analyses of the enumeration of the data available on all the public hearings of the Amnesty Committee, and resulted in an Excel Database containing information on 2281 individuals involved in 890 separate incidents of gross human rights violations, and a research report exploring the findings. The project also involved a qualitative exploration of a sample of 226 individual applications for amnesty to explore the themes of truth recovery, the legal consistency of the process, the way in which perpetrators framed their motives, reconciliation dialogue, and the degree to which victims were involved in the amnesty hearings. This resulted in a Qualitative Database, which is also available for other researchers' use. Two research reports resulting from this analysis have been finalised for publication in a book to be published in 2005 Has the TRC Delivered: Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa, edited by Audrey Chapman and Hugo van der Merwe, University of Pennsylvania Press. The reports are: Jeremy Sarkin: "An evaluation of the South African amnesty process from a legal perspective," and Madeleine Fullard and Nicky Rousseau: "'Who gave the orders': Tracing accountability in the TRC's amnesty process."

The second project, Evaluating the TRC's Amnesty Process, sought to increase understanding of the impact that the TRC amnesty process had on victims and perpetrators of gross human rights violations in order to design appropriate mediation tools to continue and deepen the process of inter-personal reconciliation. This project incorporates research, intervention and advocacy components, and was undertaken from January 2002, and was implemented with financial support from the Development Cooperation Ireland and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The research was undertaken by conducting interviews with key stakeholders in the amnesty process, including victims, perpetrators, legal representatives and TRC staff. The research report (by Sizwe Phakathi and Hugo van der Merwe) on victims' experience of the amnesty process has been finalised for publication in a book to be published in 2005 (Has the TRC Delivered: Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa), edited by Audrey Chapman and Hugo van der Merwe, University of Pennsylvania Press). A second report on the amnesty applicants' views of the process (by Theresa Abrahamsen) is due for release on the CSVR website at the end of 2004.

Reintegration of Ex-combatants

The evaluation of the amnesty process identified the need for further direct dialogue between survivors and perpetrators as a key need from both sides that would help with healing, reconciliation and community reintegration of ex-combatants. Ten restorative justice mediations were conducted in the course of 2004, and an evaluation report on this process will be released on the CSVR website at the end of 2004.

Alongside the research and mediation intervention, CSVR has also been involved in facilitating referrals between ex-combatants and psychologists, skills development and job creation opportunities, particularly in the Western Cape. The pilot mediation and research intervention was implemented with financial support from the Development Cooperation Ireland and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

This restorative justice process has also been integrated with broader CSVR involvement in the ex-combatant sector. Since 1999, CSVR has undertaken various research and intervention activities to explore and engage with the reintegration of ex-combatants. This focus on ex-combatants seeks to integrate CSVR's mediation work with broader initiatives around psycho-social support, research on ex-combatants and violence and the involvement of ex-combatants in peacebuilding.

CSVR has also been involved in regional research and discussion on the challenges of (and for) ex-combatants in the process of peacebuilding.

For more information on these projects please contact Hugo van der Merwe (hvdmerwe@csvr.org.za).

Memory and Memorialization

Memory, as perpetuated through processes such as memorialization seen in national monuments, re-naming of streets, commemorative celebrations etc., can assist divided societies to re-write the narratives of the past; recognise and assist survivors of human rights violations to begin the process of healing; and assist the previously divided society in processes of reconciliation. Various truth commissions, including the South African and Chilean commissions, have recommended that memorialization initiatives be implemented as a form of symbolic reparations.

Memory, be it social, cultural or personal, is inherently linked to issues around identity. It allows groups to develop a sense of sameness over time and space through either selective remembering or forgetting. While what is remembered and forgotten can create a positive group identity, competing claims to, or the contestation of memory, can also create various conflicts.

In recognising the ambivalent potential of memory processes in either forging reconciliation or becoming a faultline for conflict, as well as CSVR's expertise around community approaches to memorialisation and community empowerment through memory processes, CSVR has embarked on various memorialization projects that have aimed to ensure community empowerment and rebuild the social fabric of previously divided societies.

Constitution Hill

Constitution Hill is located in inner city Johannesburg and is the site of South Africa's new Constitution Court. As a historical site that housed the Old Fort prison complex, the site in itself holds numerous memories of South Africa's divided past, and today symbolises the bridge between South Africa's past, present and future.

CSVR played a significant role in the conceptualisation and initial business-planning phase of the site. Graeme Simpson and Tracy Vienings were both representatives on the Heritage, Education and Tourism (HET) committee.

CSVR also played an instrumental role in the feasibility study and Ereshnee Naidu managed the research component that focused on the Associative Communities as well as contributed to the education research report for a 'school on the hill'. The feasibility study aimed at understanding the heritage, education and tourism needs of the surrounding communities as well as encouraged processes of ownership of, and participation in, the development of the site. Associative communities included a range of stakeholders: constitutional court judges, migrants, sex workers, informal traders and academic institutions. For further information on the research conducted at Constitution Hill contact Ereshnee Naidu (enaidu@csvr.org.za).

Kliptown

The Kliptown development project is one of three urban development projects that are being implemented by the Johannesburg Development Agency. As the birthplace of the Freedom Charter, Kliptown has historically been a place that housed diverse groups of people who lived beside each other - celebrating both their unity and diversity. Not only was Kliptown amongst the first places to defy the various segregation policies imposed by the Apartheid state, but it was also the first town of the broader Soweto region.

Kliptown is essentially a place of memory. It reflects the nostalgia of a community that longs for the days gone as it attempts to use the memories of the past to re-build the social fabric of a slowly fracturing community. CSVR was invited as a partner to conduct the initial phases of the community feasibility study for the Kliptown Ecomuseum Development. The aim of the feasibility study was to understand the interests of various stakeholder groups in relation to the development as well as allow the community to participate in shaping the development and content of the site (crucial components of building an ecomuseum). CSVR was central in developing a community participation strategy for the next five years; a community survey report; a community safety strategy and a fundraising strategy for the development of the ecomuseum. For further information on the research conducted in Kliptown contact Oupa Makhalemele (omakhalemele@csvr.org.za) or Ereshnee Naidu (enaidu@csvr.org.za).

Symbolic (Memorialisation) and Financial Reparations Project

Reparations are an essential element in the process of healing and reconciliation; representing as they do a needed form of justice and acknowledgement. The adoption of a comprehensive reparations policy which addresses the need for justice as well as furthers the developmental goals of the new state, will go far to achieving sustainable reconciliation underpinned by social justice.

With this in mind, the reparations project seeks to monitor and assess government implementation of symbolic and financial reparations; evaluate the impact of reparations on victims; and pilot a community-driven symbolic reparations training manual to ensure that communities benefit from, and participate fully in, memorialisation processes. Between 2002 and 2004 the projects were implemented with financial support from the Development Cooperation Ireland and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Evaluation of Financial Reparations Package

On 15 April 2003, President Thabo Mbeki announced that victims who were identified by the TRC were to be given a once off payment of R30,000 each. This amount fell far short of either the TRC or civil society's recommendations or expectations. Research is currently being undertaken to determine the impact of the payment of reparations on the lives of victims and to explore the way in which services are being made available. The research assesses the impact of the grant in helping survivors deal with the consequences of victimisation (restitution) as well as examines the extent of government's engagement with survivor groups, civil society and the broader community about the form and content of a reparations programme. The research aims to provide recommendations in designing a more survivor-centred reparations programme, and will be a component of our ongoing lobbying efforts.

CSVR also continues to be engaged in lobbying and advocacy activities in attempt to hold stakeholders, in particular government and beneficiaries of apartheid, accountable for the responsibilities in making effective reparations to survivors of apartheid.

For further information on the Financial Reparations Research and advocacy contact Oupa Makhalemele (omakhalemele@csvr.org.za).

Symbolic Reparations and Memorialisation

CSVR has consistently explored the role of symbolic reparations and memory processes in transition. Currently our project focuses on research assessing the role of government led memorialisation projects and highlights various challenges regarding these processes. We have also been involved in an intervention to focus on a community centred approach to memorialisation.

The CSVR pilot project in the Vaal included living memory workshops that enabled the group to conceptualise their own memory projects. This has resulted in a manual (Reclaiming our Memory: A Facilitator's Manual for Living Memory Workshops, 2004). The manual uses various interactive and creative techniques to allow a diverse group of people to participate in the workshops. The first part of the manual aims at using memory work to contribute to processes of healing as well as allow participants to understand some of the central issues associated with concepts of memory. The second part of the manual aims at providing participants with generic skills necessary to work in community projects as well as allowing the group to conceptualise their own projects. It is envisaged that the manual will be used by institutions working with memory as a part of their community outreach programmes. CSVR therefore encourages organisations and communities to use the manual and the model as is or adapt according to the needs of the community to promote community level reconciliation and empowerment through memory work.

CSVR will continue to use interactive participatory research methodologies and creative interventions through memory work to encourage communities and marginalised groups to reclaim their narratives of the past thereby promoting reconciliation, empowerment and healing.

For more information on how to obtain copies of the manual, or on the memory and memorialisation project please contact Ereshnee Naidu (enaidu@csvr.org.za).

Continued Truth Recovery Project

CSVR has an ongoing commitment to uncovering the truth regarding the apartheid past and to advocate for access to information for victims to assist in their healing processes. Our Continued Truth Recovery Project has over the past few years developed two strands, one with a focus on working with families of the disappeared, and a broader focus on accessing information obtained and collated by the TRC.

The South African Disappearance Project

This project, implemented with financial support from the Development Cooperation Ireland and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, aims to provide continued truth recovery and healing for victims of gross human rights violations (with a particular focus on the families of the disappeared) by: empowering families of the disappeared through support groups and trauma counselling; ongoing documentation of disappearance cases; conducting investigative case studies to identify and advocate for best practices for post-TRC truth-seeking activities; and building stronger networks to take long-term truth-seeking strategies forward.

We continue to facilitate and provide counselling for the two monthly support groups for families of the disappeared - the Buyela Khaya group in the East Rand and the Siyani Khumbula group in Soweto. These groups were established in 1999. An impact assessment of these groups will be available at the beginning of 2005.

Work also continues in relation to our South African Disappearances Database. An analysis of cases overlapping with cases heard by the TRC was undertaken. The objective of this work is to share lessons for civil society engagement in truth recovery processes, and to assist in targeting our advocacy strategies.

The project manager, Polly Dewhirst was also appointed as the Vice President of the Interim Committee of the African Network against Disappearances (better known by its French acronym RADIF).

Access to Information in the Wake of the TRC

In 2003, the Foundation for Human Rights, provided financial support for a project which explored public access to information collected by the TRC and stored in the TRC archive. Specifically, the project explored means to carry forward the TRC Final Report's recommendations around continued access to information relating to human rights violations and the need for continued initiatives around truth seeking and justice. A key component of this work has also entailed close networking with other organisations who have focussed on accessing information of the TRC, as well as who have engaged in using the Public Access to Information Act, 2000.

The project co-hosted a successful workshop with the South African History Archives and the University of the Witwatersrand Graduate School for Humanities and the Social Sciences entitled Information for Justice: Using Access Legislation for Human Rights, in 2003. The workshop was addressed by keynote speaker William Ferrogiarro, Director of the National Security Archive in Washington, DC, who shared his extensive experience in using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for human rights investigations.

A comprehensive report by Dr. Dale McKinley, focusing on the legislative context of access to information, the TRC Archive and broader challenges and opportunities, has been written. The report also contained a list of practical recommendations for government and civil society on how to take access to information work forward. This report will be available at the beginning of 2005.

Institutional Transformation

Reforming institutions during a country's political and social transition is crucial to ensuring that the violations of the past are never again permitted to occur. By exposing and removing the structural factors that facilitated the conflict/oppression/authoritarianism of the past, institutional transformation, also known as institutional reform or sector transformation, is an integral component in securing a sustainable peace. It assists in promoting a sense of justice amongst citizens, and reconstructing the severed relationship between the state and its citizens. As part of CSVR's broader goal of advocating for effective and human rights oriented institutions, our Institutional Transformation Project aims to understand the degree to which Transitional Justice mechanisms, such as Truth Commissions, can engage in transforming institutions.

Previous work in this respect has explored the ways in which the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission impacted on transformation within the legal system, in respect of magistrates, and in the health sector. This research indicated often competing programmes of the sectoral transformation agenda and the TRC, with the difficulties faced by incorporating recommendations by the latter.

In the current phase of the project, implemented with financial support from the Development Cooperation Ireland and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the focus is on understanding the impact of the TRC in the criminal justice and education sectors. This project is also closely linked with the Race and Citizenship Project, which looks at how institutions grapple with racism and discrimination. The reports of this project will be available at the beginning of 2005.

For more information on the current focus on institutional transformation please contact Nahla Valji (nvalji@csvr.org.za) or Bronwyn Harris (bharris@csvr.org.za).

International Learning Exchange

The CSVR has as its mission the promotion of local knowledge, especially from the South, and the incorporation of this into global discourses. As part of this vision, the projects under International Learning Exchange theme has as its objectives the dissemination of lessons shared by Civil Society organisations in South Africa who have engaged with transitional justice and reconciliation. Another key objective is around developing projects to encourage reciprocal learning amongst societies that are considering, or have undertaken different mechanisms of transitional justice. There are various projects which we are currently undertaking in this regard.

Justice in Perspective Project

With financial support from the Development Cooperation Ireland and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, between 2002 and 2004, this project focuses on the development of a multi-media education and training package on civil society engagement with the TRC in South Africa. The "Justice in Perspective Training Package" is targeted at Civil Society Organisations in countries undergoing transition, and who are engaged in research, intervention, and advocacy initiatives in relation to transitional justice and reconciliation. It seeks to address various issues around transitional justice, reintegration, institutional transformation and reconciliation.

The package is structured in the form of 10 participative training workshops which each addresses a specific theme around transitional justice and reintegration - including issues of reparations, accountability, institutional transformation, and community reconciliation. The aim of the package is to assist civil society organisations to grapple with the issues they face in their context, and shares some of the lessons learned by civil society organisations who have engaged in the issues around justice and reconciliation in transition. A video resource on Justice, Accountability and Reintegration of ex-combatants will also accompany the package.

Another component of this project is the Justice in Perspective Website, which provides a porthole into transitional justice processes in the world. The website provides summary information on each of the institutions (Truth Commissions, Investigative Enquiries, Special Tribunals, etc.) established by countries in transition, and access to relevant sources.

For more information on the Justice in Perspective Project please contact Carnita Ernest, at (cernest@csvr.org.za).

Transitional Justice Research Network

CSVR is undertaking a new initiative which aims to provide valuable resources and tools for researchers engaging in the field of transitional justice research. The Transitional Justice Research Network, grew out of the proceedings at the 2002 International Conference on Methodologies and Approaches to Empirical Research on Transitional Justice Mechanisms (co-hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science), in which the need for a more sustained focus on increasing research and advocacy in the field of transitional justice was identified.

During 2004 and 2005, the focus will be on establishing an African Transitional Justice Research Network. This Network is being established in partnership with the Centre for Democratic Development in Ghana and the Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC; and is being assisted with financial support by the International Development Research Centre. The Network aims to gather and document existing research and resources on the continent relating to transitional justice mechanisms, and to increase the capacity of local level researchers and civil society institutions in African countries through capacity training workshops and the facilitation of partnerships and knowledge sharing between researchers and organisations on the continent.

An electronic listserve has also been established, which provides a useful space for sharing of information on research and other news articles of interest to transitional justice researchers. To subscribe to the Transitional Justice Research Network, please contact Victoria Baxter at (vbaxter@aaas.org.za).

For more information about the Network contact Nahla Valji (nvalji@csvr.org.za) or Hugo van der Merwe (hvdmerwe@csvr.org.za).

Southern Africa Reconciliation Project

In 2000, CSVR undertook a regional research project focusing on national reconciliation policies and civil society initiatives in Southern Africa. The project was developed and implemented in partnership in five Southern African countries, with the following organisations: CSVR (South Africa), Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (Malawi), JustaPaz (Mozambique), National Society for Human Rights (Namibia), and Amani Trust (Zimbabwe). Financial support to the project was provided by the International Development Research Centre and Diakonia.

The project sought to explore the impact of national transitional policies on the role of civil society in five key theme areas: reparations, re-integration of excombatants, mourning and memorisation, psycho-social support, and victim support services. Research was undertaken in each country, and reports on each of the theme areas as well as specific case studies of civil society initiatives will be completed by mid-2005.

For more information on the Southern Africa Reconciliation Project, please contact Hugo van der Merwe (hvdmerwe@csvr.org.za).

Race, Identity and Violence

CSVR is committed to rebuilding relationships, transforming institutions and promoting social justice within post-apartheid South Africa. This, our vision and mission, recognises that neither the formal political transition, nor the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, nor the strategies for black economic empowerment, have adequately addressed the rebuilding of human relationships and institutions. The enduring issues of identity, including racial identity, continue to play a critical role in the evolution of conflict and potential for violent perpetration and victimisation in South Africa. Real reconciliation resides in the ongoing endeavour to re-craft these relationships and the momentum of the identities with which they are associated. In the last three years, the work in this area has been overtly focused in the Race and Citizenship in Transition Project, although implicitly, issues of race and identity underpin much of CSVR's work.

Race and Citizenship in Transition Project

The Race and Citizenship in Transition project seeks to examine relationships of violence, conflict and reconciliation at two levels, namely, individual and group identities, and between citizens and institutions. The project explores contemporary relationships within the context of transitional justice and, as such, has a specific focus on the TRC and its impact on identity, reconciliation, the consolidation of citizenship, and racial violence.

Post-apartheid South Africa is neither conflict-free nor without racial prejudice. Old patterns of racism, combined with new forms such as xenophobia, have played out through the country's period of political transition and alongside reconciliatory initiatives. In this context, TRP's project on race and citizenship has three broad objectives: to evaluate and analyse the ways in which the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as a key transitional institution, has engaged with issues of race, citizenship and the morality of violence; to investigate how different sectors of South African society understand themselves in terms of citizenship and race, and to explore this through racial violence, reconciliation and transitional mechanisms such as the TRC; and to consider the implications of changing dynamics of race, citizenship and violence in post-apartheid South Africa for the development of policy and intervention strategies aimed at promoting reconciliation, entrenching a human rights culture, and preventing violence. To achieve these objectives, the project has been involved in a combination of action research and intervention work across the period 2002-2004, including a pilot intervention programme targeting school-going youth. The project was implemented with the financial support of the Ford Foundation.

Various research reports and educational materials have been developed through this project.

For more information on The Race and Citizenship in Transition Project please contact Bronwyn Harris (bharris@csvr.org.za) or Nahla Valji (nvalji@csvr.org.za). For further information about the schools' intervention component of the project, please contact Oupa Makhalemele (omakhalemele@csvr.org.za) or Brian Molewa (bmolewa@csvr.org.za).

Discourses of Terror Project

The Discourses of Terror Project, funded by the Charles Stuart Mott Foundation, was conceptualised in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001. At that time, it was feared that the global context of terror and counter-terror strategies (which included Islamophobic attacks and racial profiling, as well as other crass displays of religious and racial prejudice) would translate into new patterns of racial-religious based conflict within South African society. Fortunately, this fear was generally not realised. However, the project seeks to explore the ways in which discourses of terror can frame and fuel new forms of conflict. This is because the linkages between discourses of terrorism and discourses of discrimination (for example, in terms of Islamophobia) are rarely explored in international research initiatives. This project aims to examine the ways in which the global discourse of the "war against terror" influences perspectives in South African society. Popular understandings of terror, as well as the legal framework and measures initiated against terrorism, will be analysed.

In particular, an analysis of the South African Anti-Terror legal framework will be undertaken to explore the way in which this fits into the international obligations and the degree to which there may be linkages to issues of discrimination and whether there are sufficient protections in the South African anti-discrimination frameworks. An analysis of the way in which the current framework is or is not related to discourses of terror under apartheid will also be included.

The other main component of this project in its current phase is to explore young people's conception of "terror" and "terrorism". Research will be undertaken in the Gauteng and Western Cape Provinces, and out of this we hope to develop educational materials which could be used by teachers, learners and educators.

For more information on the Discourses of Terror Project please contact Bronwyn Harris (bharris@csvr.org.za) or Carnita Ernest (cernest@csvr.org.za).

Violence in Transition Project (VTP)

This project, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is now in its second phase. Started in 1999, the main objectives of the Project are to describe and analyse various forms of violence, the causes and extent of violence and its changing nature over time. This analysis has been located in an understanding of South Africa as a country undergoing transition from authoritarianism to democracy. The first phase of the project (VTP 1-1999 to 2002) unearthed a wealth of information about the changing nature of violence in times of transition. Particular focus was given to issues of policing, the military, former combatants, vigilantism and revenge violence, violence in relation to the hostel system, and conflict in the taxi industry. In addition, VTP 1 examined how xenophobia, conflict, and violence affect foreigners, particularly African refugees and undocumented migrants, who are invariably held responsible for South Africa's burgeoning crime and unemployment problems. The project also explored political violence in the country's most violent and politically contested province, KwaZulu Natal, during the post 1994 dispensation.

VTP1 research findings illuminate the limitations and obstacles facing a country in transition (as they relate to issues of conflict and violence). Indeed, outside of the debates on whether democracy and processes of democratisation exacerbate or mitigate conflict and violence, there has been little research into, and consequently limited appreciation of, the factors that influence the relationship between violence and transition, and their significance for processes of democratisation.

In this regard, VTP research has identified six key thematic (and interconnected) 'indicators' that highlight the complex relationship between conflict, transition and democratisation:

The second phase, VTP 2, which began in 2003, involves an in depth examination of violence, transition and reconciliation amongst local communities in specific geographical loci historically affected by violence and conflict as well as an exploration of the relationship between violence and trauma; and conflict and development. There are five core project areas, namely:

(a) The KwaZulu Natal Peace Process
(b) Gun control in Richmond in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands
(c) Katorus Youth in the aftermath of the 1990s
(d) Community-State conflict and socio-economic struggles
(e) Trauma and transition, with a focus on refugees, gender and social memory

Preliminary research points to ground breaking findings which are expected to be released in 2005.

For more information on the Violence in Transition Project please contact Graeme Simpson (gsimpson@csvr.org.za) or Bronwyn Harris (bharris@csvr.org.za).

The International Journal of Transitional Justice

The International Journal of Transitional Justice, which is published by Oxford University Press, is a joint initiative of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Human Rights Centre, University of California, Berkeley. IJTJ publishes high quality, refereed articles in the rapidly evolving field of transitional justice; that is the study of those strategies employed by states, civil society bodies and international institutions to deal with a legacy of human rights abuses and to effect social reconstruction in the wake of widespread violence. The journal is envisioned as a central site from which to house and build upon the array of research and writing currently available in this field. It is intended to span the analytical bridge between intellectual and practitioner, and facilitate sustained interaction across the range of disciplines encompassed by the topic of transitional justice. The journal encourages analysis and study of current and innovative approaches to transitional justice and welcomes papers that explore such questions as the appropriateness of the reconciliation paradigm for transitional justice, the relationship of truth-seeking and legal justice to reconciliation, the choices and timing of transitional justice mechanisms and methods to evaluate their success. Topics covered by the journal include (but are not limited to): truth commissions, universal jurisdiction, post-conflict social reconstruction, victim and perpetrator studies, international and domestic prosecutions, institutional transformation, vetting, memorialization, reparations and ex-combatant reintegration. The journal encourages the analysis and study of current and innovative approaches to transitional justice.

The journal is published three times a year and targets an international readership including academics, research institutions, national and international policy makers, development professionals and civil society practitioners.

Historical Engagement with the TRC

For a full list of reports and research publications which span the 13 years of the programme in relation to the TRC, please visit the publications page. Below we provide some of the main highlights.

The Transcript Analysis Study

This research project was carried out between 1999 and 2001, and sought to empirically assess the impact of the TRC at different levels. The was carried out in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and consisted of several components.

For more information please contact Hugo van der Merwe (hvdmerwe@csvr.org.za).

Assessing the Impact of the TRC on Victims

This project was initiated in March 2000 in collaboration with Dr Jeffrey Sonis of the University of Michigan. The goal of the project is to conduct a quantitative evaluation of the psychological impact of the TRC on victims of gross human rights violations. This detailed qualitative study allows the programme to build on the work already been done by staff in the Unit focusing on the psychological impact of the TRC on victims. The project team developed, piloted, translated and standardised (for the South African context) a questionnaire which was used in a survey with victims. Particular attention was given to the development of scales to assess victims' perceptions of justice, forgiveness, community cohesion, social support and victims' interaction with and perceptions of the TRC. Interviews using the revised and validated instruments were undertaken and analysis of the findings are still in process. For more information please contact Hugo van der Merwe (hvdmerwe@csvr.org.za).

Video Resources

The programme has produced videos on various issues of civil society engagement regarding violence and reconciliation.

For more information on these videos, please contact Carnita Ernest (cernest@csvr.org.za) or Xoliswa Ntintili (xntintili@csvr.org.za).

To the African Transitional Justice Research Network (ATJRN)

To Justice in Perspective

To CSVR Publications List - Truth and Reconciliation Commission

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