Effective implementation of transitional justice mechanisms: challenges and prospects in Africa and Europe : Third High-Level Seminar of the African Union and European Union on transitional justice

Abstract

In the past decade, the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) have both adopted policy frameworks on transitional justice (in 2019 and 2015 respectively) and have built experience in supporting national and communal initiatives. The EU on its part has been actively supporting and promoting transitional justice in post-conflict and post-authoritarian environments across the globe, and the two organizations have committed to work more closely together on transitional justice, and to translate this commitment into concrete action plans. In 2020, the African Union Commission designed and developed a Roadmap for the popularization and effective implementation of the AU Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) among the AU member states. The Roadmap sets out in great detail AU support mechanisms for member states, and also prescribes continuous dialogues, consultations and collaborations with relevant regional and international organizations to achieve this mandate. Specifically, it listed the AU-EU annual Transitional Justice Seminar as one of the various ways of enhancing effective implementation of the AUTJP in AU member states, to be held in partnership with relevant stakeholders like the United Nations, civil society organisations (CSOs) and Think-Thanks among others. Following the Roadmap of 2020, in August 2022, the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), convened a special session assessing the state of transitional justice on the African continent, illustrating the recognition at a high-level of the increasingly vital role that redress and accountability processes play in stabilizing societies across the continent. Against this background, the AU and EU convened a Third High- Level Transitional Justice Seminar, in Banjul, The Gambia, on 24 and 25 November 2022, to assess the experiences of countries across Africa and Europe. The seminar brought together a diversity of policy-makers, scholars and practitioners in the field. Its main focus was to assess the effectiveness of follow-up mechanisms for truth commission processes, memorialisation activities and reparation schemes. This Policy Brief summarizes the shared experiences and outlines a range of recommendations to provide guidance to the AU and EU on the ongoing and future implementation of their transitional justice policy frameworks and programmes.