ReliefWeb

Summary

From 10-12 November 2015, the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS), the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) held a conference entitled, New Beginnings: The Role of truth, justice, reconciliation and healing in promoting sustainable peace in South Sudan. The purpose of the conference was to bring together a group of key stakeholders to brainstorm a way forward for the implementation of Chapter V of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS), which addresses issues of “Transitional Justice, Accountability, Reconciliation and Healing.” The SSLS convened a follow-up workshop in Nairobi on 4 February 2016 to share the conference outcomes with groups in the diaspora and obtain their input on the way forward for transitional justice in South Sudan.

Draft Principles

Principle 1: South Sudanese-owned and driven – Time and resources must be invested into civic engagement and public consultation activities.

Principle 2: Independent and impartial – Freedom from political interference and bias is critical to the success of the transitional justice program.

Principle 3: Credible and transparent – By providing timely and accurate information to people and incorporating their feedback into decision-making processes, the transitional justice program can better reflect local priorities and help people to overcome the silence, denial and hostility that accompany periods of large-scale human rights abuses.

Principle 4: Inclusive – In order to make a meaningful contribution to state and citizenship-building efforts, it is important that the transitional justice program be designed and implemented in an inclusive and representative manner that does not exclude segments of society.

Principle 5: Holistic – Transitional justice programs do not lend themselves to a ‘onesize- fits-all’ approach and there is a need to pursue multiple objectives and activities simultaneously, including criminal justice, truth-seeking, reparations and institutional reforms.

Principle 6: Integrated – Integrating justice and reconciliation into the post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction agenda would allow South Sudan to take full advantage of the transitional moment to foster more meaningful and sustainable reforms.

Principle 7: Maximize legacy – Since transitional justice processes are temporary in nature, it is important that their contribution to political and institutional transformation in the medium- to long-term is paid sufficient attention from the start.