Transitional justice & restorative justice

South Africa is looked at as good reference by countries emerging from violent conflicts, civil wars and authoritarian regimes to deal with their own past. This is because of the relatively successful and peaceful political reconciliation process South Africa used to move from apartheid to democracy. The majority of the people in South Africa and abroad agree that the political reconciliation process was a success because of the restorative justice model used by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to heal the wounds of the past and open a space for nation building and peaceful coexistence between former enemies. However, many believe the reconciliation process failed to address real social and economic problems to such an extent that the majority of normal South Africans continue to live in extreme poverty, which results in negative phenomena such as high levels of crime and xenophobia against foreign nationals from the rest of Africa. In order to address these problems affecting the people of South Africa, there are number of transitional justice mechanisms available, including institutional reforms, social and economic transformation and reparation of the victims. These issues are open for the attention of interns.Click here to read more about the projects we are currently involved in.