By MRCG
Although a lot has been done to develop and adopt this policy, it is worth emphasizing that an adopted policy is merely a piece of paper if the provisions and guidelines are not domesticated and implemented as expected. I therefore recommend this policy to all relevant AU Member States and wish them success in its effective implementation.” These were the words of H.E. Ambassador Minata Samate Cessouma, Commissioner for Political Affairs African Union Commission Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Ambassador referred to the African Union—Transitional Justice Policy (AU-TJP).
In 2019, the African Union adopted the African Union—Transitional Justice Policy (AU-TJP). The African Union (AU) Panel of the Wise, one of the AU Peace and Security Council pillars, embarked on research and produced a report titled “Non-Impunity, Truth, Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation in Africa: Opportunities and Constraints.” According to the AU-TJP document, the findings indicate that Africa has varied experiences in transitional justice (TJ). Still, no comprehensive policy framework was developed to guide and promote experience sharing among Member States. Based on this, the report proposed developing a policy on TJ for adoption by the relevant AU organs. It also recommended an advocacy role for the Panel of the Wise to effectively promote and reinforce guiding principles on the rule of law and TJ across the continent. Upon approval of the Panel of the Wise report and its recommendations, the AU policy-making organs mandated the AU Commission (AUC), through the Department of Political Affairs, to work with all stakeholders, particularly AU Member States and members of the Human Rights and Transitional Justice Cluster of the African Governance Architecture (AGA), to develop the TJ policy. The policy is a dream come true as a guide to AU Member States needing TJ interventions.
The AU-TJP serves as a continental framework for developing comprehensive policies, strategies, and programs tailored to the specific context of individual AU Member States. These programs are intended to promote democratic and socio-economic transformation and sustainable peace, justice, reconciliation, social cohesion, and healing. African societies confront unique obstacles in pursuing these goals because of their history of violent conflicts and systematic or egregious violations of human and peoples’ rights. The policy is designed to help AU Member States achieve these goals in a sustainable and integrated way.
The AU-TJP broadens the definition and elements of the term Transitional Justice (TJ) by describing it as the range of institutional mechanisms and policy measures—whether formal, traditional, or non-formal—that societies adopt through inclusive consultative processes to address historical injustices, divides, and inequalities and to establish the conditions necessary for security as well as democratic and socio-economic transformation. The goal of transitional justice is to support societies that have experienced violent wars in the past and systematic or flagrant human and people rights abuses as they work toward a future of justice, equality, and dignity.
Following an 11-year civil war, Sierra Leone became the first country to employ two forms of transitional justice. In July 2002, the Residual Special Court and the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) were established. In the twenty-plus years since the end of the war, the nation has remained largely calm, though there had recently been political unrest in several towns and cities.
The TRC report has recommendations that have yet to be implemented by the government and other stakeholders. The report needs more public awareness, especially since most of its findings on the war have been envisaged in communities recently. Additionally, the Tripartite Committee report on the outcome of the 2023 elections also showed lapses and contains various recommendations that, if fully implemented, would greatly benefit the country.
In Sierra Leone, the TJP’s peacebuilding component was pursued through peace agreements and talks, which are expected to incorporate TJ concerns into account from the start of any mediation or negotiating process. Stakeholders must, therefore, ensure that TJ considerations have a beneficial impact on resolving all conflict aspects. They should be included in peace processes’ agenda items. The AU-TJP’s peace process component aims to stop current violence and eliminate any danger that will worsen the situation. It includes assurances of security and protection for citizens living in areas afflicted by conflict or violence, particularly those that are particular to the security requirements of women, children, and other disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
Without question, Sierra Leone has used a variety of transitional justice processes to address the consequences of its devastating 11-year civil war, and it has achieved substantial progress. The TRC was founded to record violations of human rights and foster healing. It also offered a forum for offenders and victims to discuss their experiences. Nevertheless, not all of its proposals have been put into practice. The primary prosecutorial authority for war crimes in Sierra Leone is the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). Although it succeeded in convicting many well-known individuals, it was criticised for being led from the outside and not entirely in line with local requirements. Programs for reparations intended to make up for victims have been severely restricted in scope and finance, leaving many survivors nationwide without sufficient long-term support.
The AU-TJP offers adaptable and flexible principles, policy parameters, and strategic frameworks to the AU Member States, non-state actors, and other stakeholders in the field of TJ. These will aid in the planning and executing transformational TJ programs, consolidate peace during the emergency/transition phase, and increase the likelihood of successful long-term sustainable development in Sierra Leone. The fundamental minimum values and standards that guide behaviour throughout all TJ processes form the foundation of the AU-TJP. These guidelines, which form the basis of the TJP’s justification, will guarantee that TJ initiatives tackle the underlying causes of conflict and work to establish lasting peace, social justice, accountability, and transformative democratic and socio-economic change.
From 2019 to date, some work has been done in Sierra Leone on the AU-TJP. But that is far from what is expected. The current state of the AU-TJP in Sierra Leone arguably sits well with Ambassador Cessouma’s fears expressed over four years ago that “an adopted policy is merely a piece of paper if the provisions and guidelines are not domesticated and implemented as expected.”
Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) has produced a simplified version of the AUTJP, organized regional workshops to raise awareness of the policy, and held meetings with key actors, such as the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone and the former Minister of State, Professor John Francis. CGG also organized an annual TJ Dialogue, which was also used as a forum to popularize the AUTJP. In one of the engagements in 2021, CGG and the African Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF) hosted a Reflection Dialogue with other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the media, representatives of political parties and key Stakeholders at Raddison Blu, Hotel in Freetown. The Reflection Dialogue created an opportunity to share with colleagues from Liberia and Cote D’Ivoire in the presence of moral guarantors like the UNDP and Inter-Religious Council, whilst the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) and the Residual Court of the Special Court of Sierra Leone gave insights on the status of Transitional Justice mechanisms in Sierra Leone. The Minister of Political and Public Affairs gave the keynote address and reiterated the GOSL’s commitment to national cohesion, peace, respect for human rights and good governance. It was the collective view of participants to push for the domestication of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) to complement the gains already made in the country.
Sierra Leone must live up to the commitment of domesticating the AU-TJP so that the policy does not fit into the description of it being “merely a piece of paper” owing to the lack of domesticating and implementing the provisions and guidelines in the document.
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