NORGLOBAL2-Norge - global partner

Armed conflicts continue to have devastating effects on the lives of millions of people throughout the world. The failure to hold perpetrators of human rights violations and war crimes accountable contributes to a culture of impunity, which further perpetuates civil war and violence. Efforts to support victims and hold perpetrators accountable when conflict is over, mechanisms known as transitional justice, have been well studied, however, similar mechanisms addressing injustices during conflict are less understood. Even in the midst of violence, governments use trials, truth commissions, reparations, amnesties, purges, and exiles to tackle the conflict. The project sought to understand the effects of governments’ during-conflict justice behavior. While justice efforts during-conflict may be seen as promoting accountability and strengthening rule-of-law, the project’s findings suggest that amid armed conflict, a government’s focus is mainly on its own survival. We find that, rather than ending conflict, the short-term effects of adopting justice measures may, under certain conditions, be greater conflict intensity and more conflict-related sexual violence. Long-term effects of adopting justice measures during conflict may include the adoption of similar post-conflict transitional justice processes. Nevertheless, the misuse of the judiciary during conflict may lower people’s trust in the judiciary post-conflict, having a long-term impact on the post-conflict peace. The project used multiple methods to analyze the consequences of during-conflict justice (DCJ). We used updated statistical data on DCJ in all internal armed conflicts since 1946 to examine the use of government amnesty during conflict, the relationship between during conflict justice and sexual violence, and the relationship between during-conflict justice and conflict intensity and termination. We also explored the impact of DCJ on post-conflict justice and how civilians experience and perceive conflict-related justice processes. To better understand why and how these relationships evolve we did fieldwork in Colombia, Nepal, and Uganda. Although fieldwork was partly interrupted and delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the team has been able to present preliminary findings at various (virtual) conferences, workshops, in PRIO's 'Peace in a pod' podcast, and two PRIO policy briefs. We also organized an international two-day workshop on “Justice during Armed Conflict: Accountability or Weapon of War?” with 20 participants from Africa, Americas, and Europe in June 2022. The project has responded to the Norwegian government and NORGLOBAL2's ambition to gain a deeper understanding of transitional justice in peacebuilding processes. Knowing how use and misuse of the judiciary during conflict can be engaged in the short and long-term is crucial for the international community in its efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 16 of providing access to justice for all. Moving forward, we hope that this project will bring greater attention towards the engagement of the judiciary in conflict-affected countries, and consequently contribute to strengthening rule-of-law and people’s trust in the judiciary, sowing the seeds for durable, post-conflict peace.

The All’s Fair project has three actual and potential outcomes: first, the project has provided an evidentiary basis for understanding short and long-term effects of governments’ during-conflict justice behavior. The project finds that rather than ending conflict, promoting accountability, and strengthening rule-of-law, a government’s aim of justice behavior amid conflict is mainly towards its own survival. Subsequently, short-term effects of such behavior may, according to the project’s findings, be greater conflict intensity and more conflict-related sexual violence. Long-term effects of engaging the judiciary during conflict may include the adoption of similar post-conflict, transitional justice processes. Though the misuse of the judiciary during conflict may lower people’s trust in the judiciary post-conflict. Second, the project has contributed with precisely the type of knowledge that was requested in the NORGLOBAL-2 2018 call, where transitional justice was listed as an important focus area in Norway’s efforts to overcome the challenges conflict-affected societies face. Third, the knowledge generated by this project about how use and misuse of the judiciary during conflict has the potential to backfire in the short and long-term can help the international community in its efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 16 of providing access to justice for all.

While transitional justice has received considerable attention, we suggest that during conflict justice, systems developed for addressing injustices during conflict, fundamentally affects both the dynamics of conflict, as well as future transitional justice mechanisms post-conflict. In this project we propose an ambitious multi-method research design to analyze the consequences of DCJ both during and after conflict. The project will examine how justice processes impact conflict dynamics during conflict, as well as what are the likely post-conflict legacies of these processes. Using detailed data on DCJ between 1946 and 2017 we will scrutinize the interplay between DCJ and violence, as well as the likelihood of ceasefires, negotiations, and peace agreements as the conflict unfolds. We will further explore the impact of during conflict justice processes on post-conflict violence, transitional justice and the long-term effects on rule of law. The causual mechanisms underlying these relationships will be explored through indepth fieldwork and case studies in Colombia, Nepal, and Uganda. The project responds to the Norwegian government and NORGLOBAL-2's ambition to gain a deeper understanding of transitional justice in peacebuilding processes. Further, the knowledge generated by this project can help the international community achieving the aims of Sustainable Development Goal 16, as it identifies the role of judicial processes in "reduc[ing] all forms of violence" and shows the need to "[p]romote the rule of law," both during and after conflicts. Armed conflicts continue to have devastating effects on the lives of millions of people throughout the world. The failure to hold perpetrators of human rights violations and war crimes accountable contributes to a culture of impunity, which further perpetuates civil war and violence. The project's main motivation is to provide knowledge on how to permanently end conflict and advance rule of law in conflict-affected societies.