Transitional Justice

Commonly, Security Sector Reform (SSR) and transitional justice (TJ) are understood as separate fields of policy and practice. In post-conflict and post-authoritarian settings, both TJ and SSR aspire to contribute to building peace and the rule of law. But according to conventional wisdom, each of the two fields does so in its own ways with its proper methods and instruments. This chapter argues that this understanding is based, on the one hand, on an exclusively forward-looking, developmental approach to SSR. On the other hand, it is rooted in a mechanistic conception of TJ that reduces the field to certain ad-hoc, statutory mechanisms: truth commissions, criminal prosecutions, and reparation programmes. Forward-looking only conceptions of SSR that pretend to start from a clean slate downplay the effects of histories of abuse of power, atrocities, and corrupt practices in the security sector. A past-sensitive SSR understands that the past is inevitable. The past is present in its legacy and affects the future. In the security sector, legacy effects manifest themselves in an increased propensity for violence; a persistent culture of impunity; a continued exclusion of victims and other marginalised groups; and a prevailing climate of mistrust. Past-sensitive SSR, then, will dismantle abusive capacities and provide psychosocial care not only to victims but also to former combatants; ensure holistic accountability for past and future; promote inclusion of victims and other marginalised groups at all levels; and foster trust with diverse means.