Transitional Justice, International Assistance, and Civil Society Missed Connections

In recent years, transitional justice has become increasingly international in its scope. Due to ongoing animosities, lack of political will, and the absence of credible governing or judicial institutions, international organizations, donors, and NGOs advocate for transitional justice initiatives like truth commissions or special tribunals - alongside national actors, like civil society and victims groups. This book examines how international assistance affects transitional justice, and where power truly lies in making decisions about justice for victims of massive human rights abuse. The book finds that government donors typically lack strategies for transitional justice, they struggle with information deficits, and they are constrained by short-term approaches that do not give enough attention to what is often a weak and divided civil society sector. All the authors have both practical and scholarly perspectives on transitional justice. Country case studies are provided, including descriptions of the challenges in developing data on transitional justice financing.

Introduction: changing contexts of international assistance to transitional justice Paige Arthur and Christalla Yakinthou; Part I. Understanding Cases: 1. From reconciliation to rule of law: the shifting landscape of international TJ assistance in Guatemala Anita Isaacs and Rachel Schwartz; 2. Fighting windmills, ignoring dragons: international assistance to civil society in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina Christalla Yakinthou; 3. Sending the wrong signal: international assistance and the decline of civil society action on TJ in Morocco Paige Arthur; 4. Off the agenda as Uganda moves towards development: Uganda's transitional justice process Tania Bernath; 5. Hybrid court, hybrid peacebuilding in Cambodia Laura McGrew; Part II. Conceptualizing the Connections: 6. Reframing friction: a four-lens framework for explaining shifts, fractures, and gaps in transitional justice Christalla Yakinthou; Why do donors choose to fund transitional justice? Paige Arthur; Conclusion: refocusing on civil society: how to make – not miss – connections Paige Arthur and Christalla Yakinthou.

Paige Arthur is Deputy Director of the Center on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University. She is the editor of Identities in Transition: Challenges for Transitional Justice in Divided Societies (Cambridge, 2011).
Christalla Yakinthou is a Birmingham fellow with the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security, and the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham. She is the author of Political Settlements in Divided Societies (2009), and the co-editor of Conflict Management in Divided Societies: Theories and Practice (2011).