Abstract
Since the 1980s, many states transitioning from complex political emergencies or conflicts have sought to pursue accountability for human rights abuses as part of their democratisation and/or peace-building process. The challenge though has been how best to manage the consequence of a violent past. Transitional justice has emerged as a tool by which transitional democracies answer to the demands for accountability for past abuses. The policy responses range from the adoption of purely restorative or retributive mechanisms to a combination of both. After 11 years of civil war in Sierra Leone, their government collaborated with the UN to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) to address the baggage of abuses of the conflict. These two mechanisms had the same goal: to facilitate peace and stability in Sierra Leone, but through different approaches. The TRC was a restorative mechanism in that it was to reveal the truth about the conflict for the purposes of forging healing and national reconciliation with no punitive component. The SCSL was to conduct trials and punish those found guilty for the abuses that took place. The following
Published Version
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