CSVR | CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENCE AND RECONCILIATION

Tel: +27 (11) 403-5650 | www.csvr.org.za

African Transitional Justice Hub
With this Agreement, Eritrea supported the political independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia. The Parties agreed to forge political, economic, social, cultural as well as defense and security cooperation, establish diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors, promote bilateral trade and investment as well as educational and cultural exchanges, and foster regional peace, stability and economic...
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Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence
In Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence

Commission of Inquiry into the Disappearances of People in Uganda since January 25, 1971 (1974-1975)

Lesego Sekhu

On 30 June 1974, President Idi Amin passed Presidential Legal Notice No. 2., the Commission of Inquiry Act (Charter, 1974), to establish the Commission of Inquiry into the Disappearances of People in Uganda since January 25, 1971. It was alleged that a number of Ugandan citizens had disappeared in Uganda after the military coup that marked Amin’s presidency. The commission ran from July 1974 to June 1975 with the mandate to investigate and report on the disappearances that happened during the first three years of his presidency, from January 1971 until 1974. It did not include any provisions for addressing conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV)

Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence
In Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence

Uganda Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Human Rights (1986)

Lesego Sekhu

Following the 1986 coup by the National Resistance Army (NRA), the group’s leader Yoweri Kaguta Museveni became president of Uganda. Museveni established the Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Human Rights (CIVHR) as his first action to address 24 years of gross human rights violations inflicted on Ugandan people by past regimes. The Commission of Inquiry Act (Legal Notice No. 5 of 1986) mandated the commission to inquire into the causes and circumstances surrounding mass murder, arbitrary arrests, the role of law enforcement agents and the state security agencies, and discrimination that occurred between 1962 and 1986, specifically looking at the periods under former Presidents Milton Obote II and Idi Amin (MoJ, 1986).

Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence
In Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence

Seychelles Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (2019-2022)

Jemma Blacklaw

The Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) was established by the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission Act of 2018 under then President Danny Faure. The commission, which ran from 2018 to 2022, was mandated to investigate and create an accurate public record of human rights abuses related to the 1977 coup d’état and its aftermath. The TRNUC’s investigations revealed deaths, unlawful killings and other human rights violations related to the coup and committed in the following years during the imposition of a one-party state, which was in place for 43 years until 1993.

Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence
In Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence

Nigeria Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (1999-2002)

Sinqobile Makhathini

The Nigerian Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission – later named the Judicial Commission for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations, and commonly known as the Oputa Panel after its head Chukwudifu Oputa – was inaugurated on 14 June 1999 by then President Olusegun Obasanjo and operated until 2001. The commission was mandated to investigate the gross human rights violations that occurred from 15 January 1966, the day of the first military coup after the country obtained independence in 1960, until 29 May 1999, the date of the official transition to democracy (HRVIC, 2002a, p. 20).

Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence
In Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence

Morocco Equity and Reconciliation Commission (2004-2005)

Lesego Sekhu

In 1999, following the death of Moroccan President King Hassan II, his successor Mohammed VI created the Independent Arbitration Commission (IAC) as a mechanism for reparations to compensate victims/survivors of past political abuses, specific to arbitrary detention and forced disappearances. However, the IAC was largely criticised by victims/survivors and their relatives for not fully committing to addressing past political abuses (ICTJ, 2009; Guillerot et al., 2011; Loudiy, 2018). This led to a proposal in 2001 for a formal institution that would address the political history of Morocco. With continued lobbying and an endorsement from the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH), King Mohammed VI approved the proposal and established the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (Instance Équité et Réconciliation, or IER).

Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence
In Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence

Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2005-2009)

Sinqobile Makhathini

On 18 April 2003, former President and leader of the National Patriotic Front (NPF) of Liberia Charles Taylor and two rebel groups – Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) – signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). This agreement signalled the end of a 14-year conflict that resulted in mass atrocities in Liberia and in neighbouring countries. Sexual violence became rampant and 60-70% of the population was subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence during this period (HRW, 2004).

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Transitional Justice Processes
In Transitional Justice Processes

Central African Republic

Usani Odum

The Central African Republic (CAR) gained its independence from France in August 1960. Since then, the country has experienced many years of, arguably, Africa’s most complex, enduring and, perhaps, devastating conflict. The years of instability in the country have been characterised by coups, civil wars and interference by international actors.

Transitional Justice Processes
In Transitional Justice Processes

Tunisia

Usani Odum

Political instability, revolutions and repression characterised Tunisia’s fight for independence from Britain until 1956. Tunisia inherited a culture of impunity under its first Prime Minister and later first President Habib Bourguiba, whose main rival and pan-Arabist nationalist movement leader Ben Youssef was forced into exile and later assassinated in Germany. Bourguiba’s administration launched a campaign of persecution against Youssef’s supporters, killing at least 900 within a few years of the country’s independence.

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In Transitional Justice Processes

Seychelles

Lesego Sekhu
A former French and British colony, Seychellois society has been shaped by a history of slave labour and trade, resource exploitation, and racialised socioeconomic inequality. In 1756, the French administration occupied Seychelles. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, France was forced to give Seychelles to Britain as a condition of the Treaty of Paris...
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