Facilitation of National and International Accountability Mechanisms and Rehabilitation of National Judicial Systems Designing Rule of Law Interventions with Conflict Prevention Objectives

Abstract

In order for peacebuilding efforts to succeed and national reconciliation to take hold, there must be a way to provide a palpable sense of justice for citizens who have been the victims of war crimes and human rights violations. Given the complexity and variety of situations which post-conflict governments face, (this paper discusses Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti, and Yugoslavia), there can be no simple rules for implementing transitional justice. Rule of law technical assistance in Haiti was carried out, according to one UNDP advisor, without taking strongly into consideration the key factors that contributed to the deepening of the ongoing political crisis: the lack of capacity, tradition, mechanisms and procedures for the peaceful management and resolution of conflict. Development assistance in the post-conflict rule of law assistance realm should consider revisiting its approach and programming in order to integrate a strong conflict prevention and conflict resolution perspective in ongoing and planned development cooperation activities. Rule of law technical assistance activities, in crisis contexts, should ensure coherence and complementarity vis-a-vis other political, human rights, and diplomatic preventive and conflict resolution measures that are being promoted by the international community and coalitions of civil society organizations. Strengthening the rule of law, security sector reform, and the promotion of a culture of national dialogue, human rights and constitutionalism should be conceived with a conflict prevention lens. It should be considered as the central element to any sound conflict preventive strategy. It is against this background that a new approach to rule of law technical assistance in the Haitian and other contexts should ensure a shift from a legalistic approach to one which is multidisciplinary, with a particular emphasis on human rights and the integration of a conflict resolution perspective. This approach contains a shift from segmented, unconnected, and separate interventions in the police, justice, and prisons areas to a comprehensive and integrated rule of law strategy that will shift from an overemphasis on international human rights monitoring to an approach which a) mainstreams human rights and gender issues in all development activities, b) gives a stronger and explicit human rights focus in all rule of law activities, and c) builds national capacities (including in civil society) for human rights promotion and protection. This will imply also a shift from an approach that shields its programming from the conflict and political crisis issues to protect the integrity of its programs to one that mainstreams consensus building and conflict resolution in all rule of law technical assistance activities, and explicitly designs rule of law interventions with conflict prevention objectives. Rule of law assistance should also switch from the provision of legal expertise to public authorities to an approach that places at the center of its strategy promoting the effective and meaningful civil society participation and the development of a wide constituency that supports and monitors the reform process. Emerging democracies may learn much from the experiences of others. The demise of the Cold War and an emerging global economic justice movement have blurred the lines between first generation and second generation human rights and sparked debate over categories and priorities. Social, economic, and cultural issues are increasingly understood to be root causes of conflict. The real need is to eliminate the causes of war, not just try to manage conflict once it is imminent or has erupted. The survival issues of the next century are significantly interrelated with economic, social, and cultural issues, developments that include economic globalization and expanding activism on issues related to economic development, trade, and equality have elevated the importance of second generation rights - which have been embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the beginning. Keywords: Rule of law, technical assistance, Haiti, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, the lack of capacity, tradition, mechanisms and procedures for the peaceful management and resolution of conflict, development assistance, conflict prevention, conflict resolution, development cooperation activities, crisis context, complementarity, human rights, diplomatic preventive, international community, coalition building, civil society organizations, security sector reform, promotion of a culture of national dialogue, human rights and constitutionalism, conflict prevention lens conflict preventive strategy, multidisciplinary, post-conflict, legal and judicial reform, transition society, international human rights monitoring, mainstreams human rights and gender issues in all development activities, designs rule of law interventions with conflict prevention objectives, Rule of law assistance, provision of legal expertise to public authorities, places at the center of its strategy promoting the effective and meaningful civil society participation, development of a wide constituency, monitor the reform process