Concept of reconciliation process PDF

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“How Transitional Justice (TJ) and the
reconciliation process assisting to bring positive
peace in a post war country”

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Contents
1. The concept of Transitional Justice ............................................................................................ 4
2. The concept of reconciliation process ......................................................................................... 4
3. How transitional justice and reconciliation process assist to bring positive peace in a post-
war country? ................................................................................................................................. 4
4. Case study - ................................................................................................................................... 5
5. References ...................................................................................................................................... 8

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1. The concept of Transitional Justice
The concept of Transitional Justice (TJ) was emerged as an approach and a field of study which
can be dated back to the post World War II. Transitional justice is a response to systematic or
widespread violations of human rights. At the time, human rights activists and others wanted
to address systematic abuses by former regimes but without endangering the political
transformations that were underway. Since these changes were popularly called “transitions to
democracy,” people began calling this new multidisciplinary field “transitional justice.”1
Transitional Justice is carried out through basic approaches such as criminal prosecution, truth
commissions, reparations programs, gender justice and institutional reform. Throughout
history, there have been many transitional processes from war to peace, and from
authoritarianism to democracy. Moreover, with the First and Second World Wars, the twentieth
century faced two of the most important transitions from war to peace.
2. The concept of reconciliation process
The answer for the question what is reconciliation? is much broad in international relations
theory. There are no pre universally accepted definition for the term reconciliation. But when
defining the term reconciliation, we may able to emphasis on the involvement of mutual
acknowledgement of past sufferings, constructive relationships and a process towards a
sustainable peace. Reconciliation is regarded as being necessary to prevent the desire for
revenge.
3. How transitional justice and reconciliation process assist to bring positive peace in a
post-war country?
Transitional justice in post war country can be termed as “how societies transitioning from
repressive rule or armed conflict deal with the past, how they overcome social divisions or
achieve reconciliation, and how they create justice systems so as to prevent future human rights
atrocities” (Call, 2004). A post conflict transitional justice must also lead to reconciliation.
Reconciliation can be used as a different types of approaches in order to fulfill particular
aspects of a peacebuilding process. The need to reconcile may arise in post conflict contexts
by the need to repair and restore damaged relationships for continued existence. This is referred
1 International Center for Transitional Justice – What is Transitional Justice? www.ictj.org