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Abstract: This paper identifies the factors linked to cross-country differentials in growth performance in the aftermath of social conflict for 30 sub-Saharan African countries using panel data techniques. Our results show that changes in the terms of trade are the most important correlate of economic performance in post-conflict environments. This variable is typically associated with an increase in the marginal probability of positive economic performance by about 30 percent. Institutional quality emerges as the second most important factor. Foreign aid is shown to have very limited ability to explain differentials in growth performance, and other policy variables such as trade openness are not found to have a statistically significant effect. The results suggest that exogenous factors ("luck") are an important factor in post-conflict recovery. They also highlight the importance in post-conflict settings of policies to mitigate the macroeconomic impact of terms of trade volatility (including countercyclical macroeconomic policies and innovative financing instruments) and of policies to promote export diversification.
Abstract: There are several innovations to the research projects captured in this report. Firstly, it consists of studies of
both xenophobic violence and community protests, drawing the links both empirically as one of collective action
spawns or mutates into another, and theoretically through the concept of insurgent citizenship (Holston, 2008).
Secondly, the research was conceived of, and conducted, through a collaboration between an NGO, The Centre
for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) and an academic research institute, the Society Work and
Development Institute (SWOP) at University of the Witwatersrand. This brought together scholars and practitioners,
psychologists and sociologists, in a challenging and productive partnership to try to understand collective violence
and its underlying social dynamics. Thirdly, it combines an attempt to probe and understand the repertoires and
meanings of collective violence with a wide-ranging analysis of local associational life, local politics and class
formation.
The origins of this research lay in the appalling violence of the wave of xenophobic attacks which swept
across the country in May 2008, and the response of both organisations to this. CSVR was rapidly drawn into
coordinating the relief work of NGOs across Gauteng, while in SWOP there was a sense that this violence
connected to current research on strike violence and social precariousness. For both of our organisations, it seemed
increasingly important to look at this outbreak of violence with a fresh eye for ways in which it challenged our
understanding of the depths of anger, fragmentation, exclusion and violence in our society and, more specifically,
the intervention practices which still drew much of their inspiration from the negotiated transition to democracy
in South Africa. Ready assumptions about violence as pathological or criminal, about ‘lost generations’, about
‘community organisations’ and ‘civil society’, conflict mediation and educational workshops, needed to be tested
with empirical research and new theoretical perspectives
Abstract: The Examples from the Ground are concrete illustrations of ways in which a gender perspective has been integrated in different security sector institutions around the world. They range from measures to counter human trafficking in Kosovo, to women’s organisations’ involvement with security institutions in Nepal, to female parliamentarians’ contribution to post-conflict reconstruction in Rwanda. These examples can help policymakers, trainers and educators better understand and demonstrate the linkages between gender and SSR.
The examples are organised around the following nine themes, for which a short introduction is provided:
• Police Reform and Gender
• Defence Reform and Gender
• Justice Reform and Gender
• Penal Reform and Gender
• Border Management and Gender
• Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender
• National Security Policy-Making and Gender
• Civil Society Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender
• SSR Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation and Gender
Individual examples can also be downloaded individually, in English or in French, at: http://gssrtraining.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view;=article&id;=4&Itemid;=131⟨=en
Abstract: The meeting assessed Southern Africa’s peacebuilding challenges by
focusing largely on the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
the sub-region’s principal Regional Economic Community (REC), which
constitutes 15 member states (Madagascar, included in this number, was
suspended in March 2009). Adopting the approach that peace and security
are essential prerequisites for development for Southern Africa’s 250 million
inhabitants, and that building peace requires a holistic approach, the seminar
critically assessed the broad institutional, security, and governance
challenges that have confronted SADC in the two decades since it took its
present form in 1992. Human security and traditional state security are now increasingly viewed as complementary and mutually dependent.
Particular attention was paid to four priority areas that
the SADC secretariat itself has identified: governance; military security; food
security; and HIV/AIDS. Other topics discussed included: regional
integration; the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and prospects for
a free trade area in Southern Africa; the role of the Development Bank of
Southern Africa (DBSA); the impact of climate change; xenophobia and issues
of migration; and the regional role of external actors, such as the United States
(US), China, the United Nations (UN), and the European Union (EU).
Abstract: Most studies of truth commissions assert their positive role in improving human rights. A
firstwave of researchmade these claims based on qualitative analysis of a single truth commission
or a small number of cases. Thirty years of experience with truth commissions and
dozens of examples allow cross-national statistical studies to assess these findings. Two
recent studies undertake that project. Their findings, which are summarized in this article,
challenge the prevailing view that truth commissions foster human rights, showing
instead that commissions, when used alone, tend to have a negative impact on human
rights. Truth commissions have a positive impact, however, when used in combination
with trials and amnesties. This article extends the question of whether truth commissions
improve human rights to how, when and why they succeed or fail in doing so. It presents a
‘justice balance’ explanation, whereby commissions, incapable of promoting stability and
accountability on their own, contribute to human rights improvements when they complement
and enhance amnesties and prosecutions. The article draws on experiences in
Brazil, Chile, Nepal, South Korea and South Africa to illustrate the central argument.
Abstract: ◆ South Africa has come to occupy a central node in global terror networks in recent years.
◆ Despite growing evidence of the risks posed, South Africa has been slow to adopt and implement a more robust counterterrorism policy.
◆ Creating the political will to address this threat will require independent oversight of national intelligence efforts and an objective assessment of the terrorism risk in order to make counterterrorism a national priority.
Abstract: A chronology of terrorist attacks in South Africa from December 1995 to December 2010. This timeline is meant to accompany Africa Security Brief No. 9: "Playing Ostrich: Lessons Learned from South Africa's Response to Terrorism".
Abstract: This concept paper represents the first component of an overall project on the violent
nature of crime. This paper will present an overview of the current state of
knowledge regarding the nature and causes of violence in South African
society, and attempt to provide answers to questions relating to the
prevalence of acquaintance violence and the high degree of violence involved
in many criminal incidents. The first three sections of the paper introduce the politics of crime and violence in South Africa, a definition for violence, and the overall nature of crime. Thereafter the following nine sections of the paper engage with various
aspects of the problem of violence in South Africa, including: comparison of violence levels with other countries; a framework for distinguishing various forms of violent crime; descriptions of "the major forms of violence" as defined in this paper; the question of "acquaintance violence"; the degree of violence used; the geographic and demographic distribution of violence; the involvement of groups and gangs; and the impact of violence in South Africa. The three concluding parts of this paper are largely concerned with explaining
and addressing violence.
Abstract: This document is the final report of the Study on the Violent Nature of Crime in South Africa. This report is essentially concerned with how we understand violent crime in South Africa. As the report emphasises, our understanding of violent crime — what we mean when we refer to violent crime — is a subject of contestation between different interest groups and victim constituencies. One consequence of this is that the way violent crime is understood has a lot to do with the power and influence of specific groups and victim constituencies and is not simply dependent on any supposedly neutral assessment of violent crime priorities.
This report is in many ways an attempt to contribute to correcting these imbalances by using the best empirical evidence that is available to describe the nature of violent crime in South Africa. The concluding parts of this report — dealing with the causes of violent crime and providing a set of recommendations for addressing violent crime — flow from this discussion, which occupies the major part of this report. The report raises the question of how to account for high levels of aggravated robbery, stranger firearm and knife violence in the metros. The label “organised crime”, implying groups with a reasonably high degree of stability and sophistication, may help to account for some aspects of the aggravated robbery problem. Criminal groups are probably most strongly linked with the types of aggravated robberies which impact on middle class suburban areas and on businesses in the formal business sector.
However, the greater part of the problem of violent crime in the metros and particularly in townships and inner city areas is associated with young men who tend to be invested in some kind of criminal identity and associate with other like-minded people. What is distinctive about violent crime in South Africa is not merely the criminal identity which young men are invested in, the diverse character of the groups and formations associated with it, nor the overlapping involvement of participants in multiple forms of violence. A central distinguishing feature is the prominence of weapons. The core of the problem of violent crime in South Africa is a culture of violence and criminality. The ability to operate and achieve credibility within this culture is strongly related to one’s readiness to resort to extreme violence with a weapon. It is this culture — and the associated phenomenon of armed violence — which is the principal factor underpinning the current reign of violent crime in metropolitan South Africa.
Abstract: At a meeting with the Minister of Safety and Security, Mr Nathi Mthethwa on 27 March
2007 at which CSVR presented the final summary report (see related document URL 1), CSVR was requested to provide a
supplementary document addressing the question of what makes levels of violent crime in
South Africa so high and why is South Africa different from other countries in this regard.
CSVR has therefore provided the following document in response to this question. South Africa appears to be one of a small number of countries experiencing very high
levels of violence. Some of the factors which distinguish South Africa are: the legacy of apartheid and colonialism and factors in post-apartheid South Africa which reinforce the legacy of apartheid.
Abstract: Given the high levels of crime and violence in South Africa, there may be a
temptation for citizens to arm themselves for protection. Using quantitative survey data from the
Cape Area Panel Study and qualitative interviews with residents of high-violence neighborhoods,
this paper examines the question of who carries weapons outside the home in Cape Town and
what the effects of weapon carrying may be. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the
significance of possible socioeconomic drivers of weapon carrying and the results are discussed
in the South African social context. Weapon carrying is found to be associated with both assault
perpetration and victimization, suggesting that it is part of a violent lifestyle in which weapon
carriers are likely to use their weapons both offensively and defensively. Possible weaponrelated
policies for violence reduction are also discussed.
Abstract: This review examines the response of UNHCR and other stakeholders to three distinct
but interrelated mixed migratory movements that are currently taking place to and
within southern Africa. First, a movement of people from the Horn of Africa to South
Africa, generally transiting through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and, to
some extent, Zimbabwe; second, a movement of people from the Great Lakes region
of Africa (Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda) to South Africa, a
proportion of whom are also taking up residence in Malawi and Mozambique; and
third, the large-scale departure of Zimbabwean citizens from their country of origin,
the majority of them also moving to South Africa. The
second chapter of the report focuses on the irregular movement of people to and
through Malawi and Mozambique. The chapter examines the way in which the
journey is organized, the protection risks encountered by those engaged in this
movement, as well as the challenges that it has posed for UNHCR and the two states
concerned.
The report draws attention to the fact many of the refugees involved in this
movement, especially those from the Horn of Africa, have their own notion of
protection - one that does not correspond to UNHCR’s traditional approach to the
issue of asylum. Chapter 3 of the report analyzes the much larger movement of people from
Zimbabwe to South Africa, an influx that continues at a rapid rate, despite the recent
political and economic changes that have taken place in their country of origin and
despite the xenophobic violence that continues to threaten foreign nationals living in
South Africa. The fourth chapter of the report provides a more detailed account of the way that
UNHCR, the authorities, regional organizations, civil society and other actors have
responded to the large-scale mixed migration that South Africa has experienced in
recent years.
Abstract: A survey of the models of peace processes existing today
and in the immediate past will show how they are very
closely bound to the kinds of demands underlying each of
the conflicts. In other words, the underlying issue being
disputed is what determines the model of peace process. Following
this line of thought, we can distinguish between five
main models, namely reinsertion, power-sharing, exchange,
trust-building measures and self-governance. The first model, reinsertion, is the simplest, although
it is also not very frequent. It refers to cases in which the
armed group agrees to lay down its weapons in exchange
for facilities to help them reintegrate into society. The second model, one of the most frequent, which
involves political, economic and military power-sharing,
takes place when the armed groups seek to attain the power
to take over the political steering of a country and from
there run all the economic and military affairs. The third model is what we call exchange, in which
peace is achieved in exchange for something else. A fourth model of peace process, though not a common
one, is based on creating confidence-building measures. Finally, the fifth model involves achieving some kind
of self-governance in regions with demands for autonomy
or independence; this is called “intermediate political
architectures”.
Abstract: From 11th to 26th May 2008, foreign nationals were attacked in at least 135 locations in various parts of
South Africa. This led to at least 62 deaths, over a hundred thousand people
displaced, and millions of Rands of damage and loss of property. The May 2008 violence stimulated a
wide range of speculative explanations and recommendations from analysts and policy makers, and was
followed, perhaps not surprisingly, by a multitude of interventions and responses. The Forced Migration
Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand started conducting empirical research in
relation to the violence almost immediately, and has sought to illuminate different aspects of the
violence – from identifying underlying causes and triggers to evaluating protection, humanitarian and
justice interventions and responses during and after the crisis. This report brings together the outcomes
of these various research endeavours to provide a comprehensive, easily accessible reference point
about what has come to be called South Africa’s ‘xenophobic attacks.’ The FMSP’s research contributes the following elements to the national discussion about ‘xenophobic’
violence: It is based entirely on empirical evidence gathered in locations affected by violence and
institutions responding to the violence. This sets it apart from analyses based on general
structural arguments or conjecture which are not tested ‘on the ground’; It makes a clear distinction between discriminatory perceptions and attitudes against foreign
nationals, which are widespread throughout South African society, and instances of group-based
violence, which only occur in specific locations. It is well established that while attitudes may
inform action to some extent, they are by no means sufficient to explain why certain actions
take place in certain places at certain times. South Africa is a constitutional democracy, based on
the rule of law. While there are strong moral reasons to condemn discriminatory attitudes of
any kind, the concern of FMSP’s research is to enable a move beyond general moral arguments
to illuminate social processes, including violence against particular social groups, which threaten
the rule of law and constitutional principles. Only through such understanding can further
violence be adequately responded to and potentially prevented. Leading on from the previous two points, the FMSP’s research is based on a rigorous
methodology which compares locations where violence occurred with those where it did not in
order to identify the key differences. Furthermore, we seek to understand both functioning and
weak institutional responses, to help inform improvements in future practices.
Abstract: South Africa’s gendered past was never substantially addressed by the South
African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) despite attempts by
women’s groups to ensure its inclusion.. The TRC’s treatment of gender was
in part constrained by its ‘gender-blind’ mandate, which ignored the different
experiences and interests of men and women. Its shortfalls were further
reinforced by the combination of limited time and resources, the lack of a
systematic proactive gender strategy, and the lack of sustained involvement
and interventions by the feminist community. While interventions by women’s
groups and activists led the Commission to take up gender in ad hoc ways, such
as through the Special Hearings on Women, the engagement of the TRC with
gender remained at best tangential and as such the opportunity to capture a
more complete picture of the apartheid era was lost South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) provides an
interesting case study for analysts of transitional justice as it proved a missed
opportunity for revealing the gendered nature of South Africa’s past. By
evaluating the Commission, it is possible to see how its ad hoc approach
to gender meant that the different experiences of men and women were
fundamentally overlooked during the South African process.
Abstract: This article reflects on the influence and legacy for gender justice of the ways in
which gender-based human rights violations are raised in truth commissions
in Africa, with specific reference to the impact of the South African Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It provides a brief background to how the
issues were placed on the agenda of the TRC, and tackles the practical outcomes
of these interventions. I interrogate the gender approach and analysis that
became a model for the form and practice of transitional situations elsewhere
and its implications for gender justice. A gender analysis of recent transitional justice initiatives is critically important
as it shows how the context, history and nature of gender and other intersecting
relations of power in society influence and shape the justice and reconciliation
outcomes. It is not so much a matter of attributing the failure to achieve gender
justice to truth-seeking processes as such, but rather one of understanding the
politics of how these processes unfolded. In the South African case, the way in
which the issues of gender were addressed during its transition became a limiting
factor in how the gendered nature of the past came to be understood and how
gender crimes were dealt with. That gender crimes did not find their way into the amnesty process was because neither victims nor perpetrators identified their
experiences as such. This does not mean that we should not apply our minds
to how gender justice might be better served in TRC processes. In this regard, I
refer to some of the improvements made in the TRC processes influenced by the
shortcomings of the South African model.
Abstract: Although South Africa has successfully hosted a number of sport events (Rugby World Cup in 1995, African Cup of Nations in 1996, the All African Games in 1999 and the Cricket World Cup in 2003) as well as other events, such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 and the Non-Aligned Movement summit in 1998, that have attracted regional and international attention, hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010 is clearly different –one only needs to take domestic and international attention and interest into consideration–. On a national level, hosting the event has called for a revamping of infrastructure, including the building of new stadiums. All events are confronted with different security threats. One cannot, for instance, compare the Olympic Games with a political event, or even hosting the FIFA World Cup with hosting the Cricket World Cup, mentioning two sports events that have been targeted or against which terrorist attacks have been planned. Based on this, disregarding the potential threat of terrorism of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa because it has never been a target of a major terrorist attack will be a mistake. This Working Paper will provide an overview of the following: Terrorist threats associated with hosting a prominent sports event, while placing potential threats in context in South Africa; and An overview of preparations for the FIFA World Cup. The aim of this paper is not to discourage visitors from coming to South Africa, but rather to place the potential threat of terrorism in context. Understandably, South Africa is not on the same level of alertness towards terrorism than countries in other parts of the world, but it is especially this level of comfort, or the common assessment that ‘it will never happen to us’, that contributes to South Africa’s vulnerability as a potential target. While crime and the threat of hooligans are more realistic, South Africa also needs to realise that in being part of the international community places the country in a different threat category than it is normally used to.
Abstract: Recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan remind U.S. policymakers of the tremendous obstacles and challenges that confront states as they attempt to install liberal, democratic political institutions. The multifaceted transition process involves a host of overlapping and interrelated political, economic, and social innovations that often must be tailored to the specific historical, demographic, and regional needs of each community. While it would be presumptuous to suggest any rigid schedule or set of priorities, most scholars and policymakers agree that restructuring the security and civil-military institutions is vital to the transition. The primary focus of this analysis is a detailed examination of two earlier and successful efforts at democratization—the Federal Republic of Germany and South Africa—paying particular attention to the role of civil-military institutions. The West German and South African examples illustrate the intricate complexities and numerous considerations that factor into this process and provide some important lessons for the future. This monograph analyzes the decisionmaking process behind the construction of the German and South African armed forces in their transition to democracy, and it concludes with a brief list of policy recommendations for future efforts geared toward democratizing formerly authoritarian armed forces.
Abstract: Do sanctions, incentives and conditionality support or undermine the peace process?
This edition of Accord assesses whether these instruments can persuade conflict
parties to engage in peacemaking. Used effectively, these tools can tip the balance
towards a settlement by increasing the costs of fighting and rewarding peace. But
unless developed as part of a coherent and strategic approach to peacemaking they
can be ineffective and have sometimes exacerbated tensions and fuelled conflict.
Sanctions, incentives and conditionality must be responsive to parties’ own
motivations and support pre-existing conditions for conflict resolution. Four overriding conclusions can be drawn from this
study for how to enhance the effectiveness of external
influence in support of peacemaking. (1) External actors
need to prioritize support for sustainable peace as their
primary goal in a conflict situation and craft their
strategy to help achieve it – recognizing that this may, in
turn, create the enabling conditions for achieving other
foreign policy goals. (2) Sanctions, incentives and
conditionality are most likely to be effective when they
are responsive to the parties’ own motivational
structures and support a pre-existing societal dynamic
for conflict resolution. (3) They need to be designed and
implemented in ways that help to create momentum in
the resolution process, which (4) typically requires a degree of strategic coherence amongst external actors,
necessitating mechanisms for coordination.
Abstract: The world-wide surge in the number and violence of open conflicts revolving around ethnic or religious identities towards the end of the 20th century is a powerful reminder that communal identities are not a remnant of the past but a potent force in contemporary politics. After three decades of independence, ethnicity is more central than ever to the political process of many African countries. Africa has had more than its fair share of ethnic dissent which has sometimes plummeted states into civil war as was experienced in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and reached frightening proportions in Rwanda and now Sudan. Political openings and multiparty elections have led to the formation of innumerable overtly or covertly ethnic political parties, which serve more often to increase civil strife of which the most recent addition to the long list in Africa is Kenya. Africa’s ethnic disturbances have occurred more within national borders, thus giving rise to unstable domestic systems. This paper attempts to address these ethnic issues by assessing certain conflict spots as opposed to areas of relative calm in Africa. The assessment of states on both sides of the divide (i.e. cooperation and conflict) is done in the hope that trends that lead to conflict as well as those that lead to cooperation can be identified. In order to establish these patterns of cooperation and conflict, it became pertinent to use a broad range of case studies, notably, Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire. The result of this study tells that the lack or presence of equity and justice (components of good governance), high literacy levels and an external threat, are factors which strengthen or diminish possibilities of ethnic conflict.
Abstract: Over the past twenty years, international donors have invested in large-scale disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs. In the same period, there has been a proliferation of transitional justice measures to help render truth, justice, and reparations in the aftermath of state violence and civil war. Yet DDR programs are seldom analyzed to consider justice-related aims; and transitional justice mechanisms rarely articulate strategies for coordinating with DDR. Disarming the Past: Transitional Justice and Ex-combatants examines how these two types of initiatives have connected — or failed to connect — in peacebuilding contexts, and begins to articulate how future DDR programs ought to link with transitional justice aims. This book includes: Introduction: Linking DDR and Transitional Justice, by Lars Waldorf; Chapter 1: Amnesties and DDR Programs, by Mark Freeman; Chapter 2: Beyond “Peace vs. Justice”: Understanding the Relationship Between DDR Programs and the Prosecution of International Crimes, by Eric Witte; Chapter 3: Ex-Combatants and Truth Commissions, by Lars Waldorf; Chapter 4: Establishing Links Between DDR and Reparations, by Pablo de Greiff; Chapter 5: Transitional Justice and Female Ex-Combatants: Lessons Learned from International Experience, by Luisa Maria Dietrich Ortega; Chapter 6: DDR, Transitional Justice, and the Reintegration of Former Child Combatants, by Roger Duthie and Irma Specht; Chapter 7: Local Justice and Reintegration Processes as Complements to Transitional Justice and DDR, by Roger Duthie; and Chapter 8: Transitional Justice, DDR, and Security Sector Reform, by Ana Cutter Patel.
Abstract: Southern Africa has embarked on one of the world’s most ambitious security co-operation initiatives, seeking to roll out the principles of the United Nations at regional levels. This book examines the triangular relationship between democratisation, the character of democracy and its deficits, and national security practices and perceptions of eleven southern African states. It explores what impact these processes and practices have had on the collaborative security project in the region. Based on national studies conducted by African academics and security practitioners over three years, it includes an examination of the way security is conceived and managed, as well as a comparative analysis of regional security co-operation in the developing world. This book includes: Chapter 1: Democratic Governance and Security: A Conceptual Exploration, by Andre du Pisani; Chapter 2: Comparative Perspectives on Regional Security Co-operation among Developing Countries, by Gavin Cawthra; Chapter 3: Southern African Security in Historical Perspective, by Abillah H. Omari and Paulino Macaringue; Chapter 4: Botswana, by Mpho G. Molomo, Zibani Maundeni, Bertha Osei-Hwedie, Ian Taylor, and Shelly Whitman; Chapter 5: Lesotho, by Khabele Matlosa; Chapter 6: Mauritius, by Gavin Cawthra; Chapter 7: Mozambique, by Anicia Lalá; Chapter 8: Namibia, by Bill Lindeke, Phanuel Kaapama, and Leslie Blaauw; Chapter 9: Seychelles, by Anthoni van Nieuwkerk and William M. Bell; Chapter 10: South Africa, by Maxi Schoeman; Chapter 11: Swaziland, by Joseph Bheki Mzizi; Chapter 12: Tanzania Mohammed, by Omar Maundi; Chapter 13: Zambia, by Bizeck Jube Phiri; Chapter 14: Zimbabwe, by Ken D. Manungo; and Chapter 15: Conclusions, by Gavin Cawthra, Khabele Matlosa, and Anthoni van Nieuwkerk.
Abstract: As targets of grave violations of human rights and forced participation in violence, children are among those most affected by conflict. The physical, psychological, social and emotional impacts that conflict has on children have increasingly become a focus of international and national peacebuilding measures, truth commissions, and courts. Children and Transitional Justice: Truth-Telling, Accountability, and Reconciliation explores questions raised when children's issues -- and children themselves -- are prioritized in transitional justice processes. It analyzes practical experiences to determine how the range of international courts, truth commissions and traditional processes can be applied, both to improve accountability for crimes perpetrated against children and to protect the rights of children involved. The chapters of the book include: Chapter 1: Child Rights and Transitional Justice, by Saudamini Siegrist; Chapter 2: Basic Assumptions of Transitional Justice and Children, by Alison Smith; Chapter 3: International Criminal Justice and Child Protection, by Cécile Aptel; Chapter 4: Children and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, by Piers Pigou; Chapter 5: Child Participation in the Sierra Leonean Truth and Reconciliation Commission, by Philip Cook and Cheryl Heykoop; Chapter 6: Children and the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, by Theo Sowa; Chapter 7: Accountability and Reconciliation in Northern Uganda Accountability for Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes by the Lord’s Resistance Army, by Kristopher Carlson and Dyan Mazurana; The Potential and Limits of Mato Oput as a Tool for Reconciliation and Justice, Prudence Acirokop; Chapter 8: Disappeared Children, Genetic Tracing and Justice, by Michele Harvey-Blankenship and Rachel Shigekane; Chapter 9: Truth Commissions and National Curricula: The Case of Recordándonos in Peru, by Julia Paulson; and Chapter 10: Realizing Economic Justice for Children: The Role of Transitional Justice in Post-Conflict Societies, by Sharanjeet Parmar.
Abstract: At the beginning of August 2009, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) was still eagerly
awaiting the arrival of 3 000 additional United Nations
Organisation Mission in the DRC (MONUC) peacekeepers
under United Nations (UN) Resolution 1843. The
UN estimated, in late 2008, that the current deployment
in eastern DRC amounted to an average of 10 “blue
helmets” for every 10 000 residents and was in urgent
need of reinforcement. This long-anticipated deployment
into the conflict zone will augment MONUC, the
largest peacekeeping mission in the history of the UN,
to 20 000 peacekeepers. In 2008, the estimated civilian
death toll was in excess of 5.5 million people, in a war
that has ravaged the DRC since 1998. The reasons
for such a phenomenal peacekeeping contingent are
cogent, yet the motivations for contributing to this force are not necessarily so ostensible. This article investigates
the role that South Africa plays in MONUC and
in reciprocation, the role that MONUC plays for South
Africa.
This article presents three factors that have influenced
South Africa’s involvement in MONUC, before
explaining how these factors contribute to the larger
framework of the African Renaissance. First, the article
explains how South Africa uses MONUC to promote and
preserve its national interests in terms of security and
economy. Second, it argues that the contribution is a
tool of self-promotion up the ladder of international and
continental recognition. And third, it presents the case
that South Africa’s contribution promotes its supposed
moral ontology.
Abstract: Tragically, the Palestine-Israel conflict shows
no sign of resolution – even some 60 years after its
inception. As evidenced by the recent incursions of
Israel into Lebanon and Gaza, the conflict seems to be
descending into deeper complexity, with tragic loss
of lives, injuries to thousands of innocent civilians
and destruction of property, valued at hundreds of
millions of dollars. The inauguration of Barack Obama
as the 44th president of the United States (US) presents
a window of opportunity to move this conflict along a
different trajectory, and to offer peace a chance.
Some thoughts and reflections on South
Africa’s democratic transition – considered as one
of the miraculous political events of our time – may
have lessons for the endemic conflicts and evolving
democracies in the Middle East, with particular
reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Following
the victory of the National Party (NP) in South Africa’s
1948 elections – which was confined entirely to the
white population (20% of the total population) – over
the next 50 years the country experienced a feat of
geo-political social engineering unparalleled in
modern history. From birth to death, the population
was segregated along racial lines: blacks, whites,
coloureds and Indians. The ostensible reason
was that if people of different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, race groups and languages mixed and
lived together, there would be conflict and turmoil.
In practice, it was domination and harsh repression
by a privileged white minority over a black majority,
the white community comprising a potent mixture
of Afrikaners – descendants of Dutch, French and
German immigrants – as well as colonial British
settlers and their descendants.
