Victims, excombatants and the communities: Irreconcilable demands or a dangerous convergence?

Abstract

In recent years, scholars and practitioners of transitional justice and international criminal justice have increasingly emphasised the role of victims in post-atrocity justice processes, not only as witnesses but as active participants and beneficiaries of related reparations processes. At the same time, internationally run peacebuilding processes have developed detailed proceedings for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of excombatants, which include education and training, as well as frequent cash or other benefits. Yet, while these processes pertain to the same conflict, practitioners of each are not always sufficiently aware of the real or potential clashes between them, or the risks of overlap or linking them. Based on empirical evidence from a range of post-atrocity processes, this chapter seeks to outline these risks.