Redressing violence in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the majority of intrastate violent conflicts took place on the African continent. In many cases, the legacy of violence was redressed by transitional justice mechanisms such as truth commissions, tribunals or so-called traditional mechanisms. Since many parts of Africa are affected by structural and persistent socio-economic problems, in this chapter we assess the connection between transitional justice and development, or the absence thereof. The main question will be if it is necessary to include development aspects in processes of redressing past injustices. This will be done by comparing four countries which have experienced different forms of violence such as civil war, repression or genocide: Sierra Leone, Rwanda, South Africa and Mozambique.