Process of Transitional Justice in the Central African Republic Case of the “Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission”

Since 2002, the CAR was devastated by multiple armed conflicts opposing armed groups and government forces, as well as flagrant and repeated violations of international humanitarian law as well as international human rights law throughout this period.

The experience of transitional justice indicates the essential place of national reconciliation process in the post-crisis and restructuring phases of a nation in order to prepare the development phase.

Societies in which violent conflict or oppressive regime emerge often find it difficult to recover, to build a better future and to prevent new conflicts from falling back into the same trap of the past. This presents them with a major dilemma. On the one hand, victims and survivors feel a strong need for justice; on the other, perpetrators have no hope but for forgiveness and clemency. In the meantime, the country needs peace and stability. To build this peace, a balance must be struck between justice and forgiveness. Important decisions must be taken to limit the frustration and despair of the victims while uncovering the truth about what happened in the past. Transitional justice is a field that deals with such sensitive issues.

The participants of the Bangui national forum highlighted four main pillars of transitional justice:

1) The search for truth;

2) Legal proceedings;

3) Reparations;

4) Institutional reforms.

The issues of reconciliation, gender, memory and memorials are closely linked to these four pillars. In order to achieve these objectives, transitional justice mechanisms such as Truth and Reconciliation Commissions need to be set up appropriately to address each of these concerns. When a society attempts to rebuild the bonds torn apart during a particular period of its national history, transitional justice mechanisms can address issues of massive human rights violations, widespread violence, gross structural inequalities, dictatorship and civil war. These mechanisms are used as tools to re-establish a just society and democratic participation in governance. They both seek to address the problems of human rights violations and the resolution of ongoing conflicts that can threaten sustainable peace and development.

Transitional justice encompasses the full range of processes and mechanisms used by a society to address massive past abuses, with a view to establishing responsibility, delivering justice and enabling reconciliation