The Zimbabwe Torture Case: Reflections on Domestic Litigation for International Crimes in Africa

by | Sep 23, 2019 | ACTA, ACTA 2016

The Zimbabwe Torture Case: Reflections on Domestic Litigation for International Crimes in Africa

Authors Angela Mudukuti

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: International Criminal Justice Lawyer at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre
Source: Acta Juridica, 2016, p. 287 – 296

Abstract

This piece highlights the importance of civil society initiatives to fight impunity on the domestic level in African countries, drawing on my experiences working on international criminal justice issues at the Southern Africa Litigation Centre. International crimes cannot be the business of the International Criminal Court alone and in order for complementarity to be realised, domestic jurisdictions must pull their weight. Here I will focus on one crucial civil society accountability initiative, the ground-breaking universal jurisdiction case that set an important precedent in South Africa, and globally: Southern Africa Litigation Centre and Another v The National Director of Public Prosecutions and Others. I will set out the key aspects of the case that enabled SALC to require the South African authorities to investigate allegations of international crimes, and show how the case has Continental and global significance by breathing new life into the principle of universal jurisdiction.

A Call to Action: National Bar Associations as Key Civil Society Actors for the Promotion of International Criminal Justice in Africa

by | Sep 23, 2019 | ACTA, ACTA 2016

A Call to Action: National Bar Associations as Key Civil Society Actors for the Promotion of International Criminal Justice in Africa

Authors Tosin Osasona

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: Research Associate at the Centre for Public Policy Alternatives, Lagos, Nigeria
Source: Acta Juridica, 2016, p. 272 – 286

Abstract

This reflection from the field argues that African bar associations have the potential to play a significant part in the fight against impunity in African countries, given their legal expertise and high standing in society, and calls on them to use these assets for this purpose. After providing a brief overview of the history of civil society efforts to promote human rights and the rule of law on the African Continent, the author considers the strength of bar associations and law societies in strengthening the rule of law promoting accountability on the Continent. The author assesses the prospect of using bar associations and law societies to popularise and promote international criminal justice in Africa.

The Case for a Victim-Friendly ICC: Reparations and the Conflict in Northern Uganda

by | Sep 23, 2019 | ACTA, ACTA 2016

The Case for a Victim-Friendly ICC: Reparations and the Conflict in Northern Uganda

Authors Špela Kunej, Victor Ochen

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: Research Fellow, Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, Heidelberg, Germany; Archbishop Tutu Fellowship Alumnus; Founder and Director, African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET), Lira, Northern Uganda; United Nations Global Goals Ambassador for Peace and Justice
Source: Acta Juridica, 2016, p. 247 – 271

Abstract

The basic claim of this contribution is simple: the manner in which the International Criminal Court (ICC) would possibly implement judicial reparations in Northern Uganda has the potential to provoke conflict within beneficiaries’ communities as well as between those communities that receive reparations and those that do not. While it is positive that the ICC, unlike its predecessors, considers victims in their capacity as victims and provides for reparations, the reparation principles, which the Appeals Chamber adopted in the recent Judgment on the appeals against the ‘Decision establishing the principles and procedures to be applied to reparations’ (hereinafter Lubanga, Appeals Judgment on reparations and Lubanga, Decision on reparations respectively), [fn1] would need to be modified for other contexts. Until such time, the Court could consider not implementing judicial reparations in Northern Uganda. footnote 1: ICC, The Prosecutor v Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Appeals Chamber, Judgment on the appeals against the ‘Decision establishing the principles and procedures to be applied to reparations’ of 7 August 2012, ICC-01/04-01/06-3129, 3 March 2015.

The Role of African Civil Society in Shaping National Transitional Justice Agendas and Policies

by | Sep 23, 2019 | ACTA, ACTA 2016

The Role of African Civil Society in Shaping National Transitional Justice Agendas and Policies

Authors Hugo van der Merwe, Jasmina Bankovic

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: Head of Research, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa; Senior Researcher, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa
Source: Acta Juridica, 2016, p. 225 – 243

Abstract

Drawing on practitioner perspectives on 20 years of transitional advocacy efforts in Africa, this article examines the different roles that local civil society has played in shaping national transitional justice processes on the Continent. The article discusses how local organisations adopt, adapt and resist international criminal justice concepts and institutions in their pursuit of accountability, redress and social transformation in their countries. After first examining why civil society organisations are critical in a transitional justice context, the article discusses the range of contributions made by civil society using typologies that seek to make sense of different dimensions of their work. The article then discusses the substantive versus process goals of African organisations, as well as the various stages of civil society engagement across a transitional justice process. It concludes with a reflection on some of the main challenges facing organisations working on transitional justice in the region, particularly in developing and maintaining a locally relevant vision for transitional justice in each country. 

An Essential Intervention: Civil Society Responses to Redressing and Preventing Violence Against Women in Post-apartheid South Africa

by | Sep 23, 2019 | ACTA, ACTA 2016

An Essential Intervention: Civil Society Responses to Redressing and Preventing Violence Against Women in Post-apartheid South Africa

Authors Andrea Durbach

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: Professor of Law and Director, Australian Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, UNSW Australia
Source: Acta Juridica, 2016, p. 202 – 224

Abstract

Despite pervasive accounts of sexual violence against women throughout South Africa’s apartheid history, the definition of ‘gross violations of human rights’ in the legislation establishing the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) had no distinct reference to acts of sexual violence or gender-based crimes. Lobbying by women’s NGOs and civil society resulted in the TRC convening special women’s hearings and the expansion of the definition of ‘severe ill-treatment’ to encompass a range of abuses, including sexual violence. However, the TRC’s predominant focus on crimes of killing, abduction and torture resulted in the criticism that it exhibited ‘a blindness to the types of abuse predominantly experienced by women’,[fn1] excluding the possibility of accountability or reparations for these violations. This article explores the ‘essential relationship'[fn2] between civil society and the TRC at various stages of South Africa’s transition in holding the Government to account for restoring the ‘human and civil dignity’ of women who suffered gross violations of human rights, ‘many of which were gender specific in their exploitative and humiliating nature’.[fn3] Given that ‘violence against women has been one of the most prominent features of post-apartheid South Africa’,[fn4] the article further considers the innovation by South African civil society in developing various responses to this enduring harm, which extends beyond a compensatory model of reparations towards a transformation of the conditions that perpetuate the violence. footnote 1: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report vol 4 (1998) 318 para 144 (TRC Report). footnote 2: ‘Truth Commissions and NGOs: The Essential Relationship — The ”Frati Guidelines” for NGOs Engaging with Truth Commissions’ 2004 The International Center for Transitional Justice Occasional Paper Series. footnote 3: TRC Report vol 5 ch 6 para 161. footnote 4: L Vetten ‘Addressing Domestic Violence in South Africa: Reflections on Strategy and Practice’ 2, available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw-gp-2005/docs/experts/vetten.vaw.pdf.

Crisis and Contradiction: Justice Reform, Civil Society and Zimbabwe’s Long Transition

by | Sep 23, 2019 | ACTA, ACTA 2016

Crisis and Contradiction: Justice Reform, Civil Society and Zimbabwe’s Long Transition

Authors Mark Shaw

ISSN: 1996-2088
Affiliations: SARChI Chair of Justice and Security, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town
Source: Acta Juridica, 2016, p. 179 – 201

Abstract

The nature of Zimbabwe’s long political transition since independence has caused untold damage to the country’s judiciary and court system. A strong and independent judiciary will be essential if the country is to successfully navigate the complex and competing politics that are likely to characterise post-Mugabe Zimbabwe and if there is to be any hope of, in the longer term, dealing with issues of transitional justice. While the politicisation of the judiciary is a well-recognised reality, in the context of a fiscal crisis, institutionalised corruption has become an increasing challenge. Nevertheless, the political ground is shifting, both as a result of the 2013 election and as actors begin to consider options for the post-Mugabe era. In this environment, it should not be assumed that staff in the judicial sector hold a uniform set of views. The current context requires that positions are carefully calibrated depending on audience and circumstance, but there are signs that some in the judiciary are acutely aware of the need to show more independence and fight corruption to gain a broader base of legitimacy. In that shifting political reality, the role of a small number of civil society activists working in the justice sector has become more crucial than ever. With little opportunity for raising issues of transitional justice in the current context, civil society must consider the nature of its engagement with the government to position it to play a constructive role in future State-building opportunities. Calibrating the nature and type of that engagement will depend on several possible political scenarios that are considered in this article.