National Reconciliation Commission Research Articles

Snapshots of Ghana’s Contested Restorative Justice Programme

ABSTRACT∞ Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) was established under the administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor (2000–2008) to provide a forum for victims and perpetrators of past human rights violations to testify about their experiences. Despite increasing scholarly interest in the Commission’s work, a set of reparations that the government implemented as a preamble to the hearings remains understudied. Drawing on multi-archival sources, this article examines them, teasing out their social and cultural significance. Further, this article examines a set of witness protection provisions that the government carved out to encourage witnesses to testify, showing their impact on witnesses. This article concludes with an analysis of some coup perpetrators’ perceptions of their own blamelessness, arguing that such sentiments tend to provide the moorings for their proclivity to contest impunity, which is a challenge that truth commissions tend to face, requiring innovative approaches to public truth-telling exercises.

Democracy in postcolonial Ghana: tropes, state power and the defence committees

This article examines how the Jerry Rawlings military government, the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) in Ghana, framed its political agenda using liberal tropes about participatory democracy as a strategy to manufacture legitimacy and mediate political-economic crisis. The People’s Defence Committees (PDCs) and Workers’ Defence Committees (WDCs), created in 1981 and dissolved in 1984, were presented by the PNDC as innovative programmes aimed at nurturing citizen participation representative of the highest form of democracy. However, the introduction of these reforms came at a time when the ruling PNDC faced critical problems of legitimacy, administrative incapability and popular opposition to austerity measures associated with structural adjustment programs (SAPs). We utilise primary source material from the University of Ghana National Reconciliation Commission collection to argue that the discourses and practice of the PDCs/WDCs functioned simultaneously to violently consolidate state power, depoliticise alternatives, and manufacture legitimacy to mediate political-economic crisis while simultaneously being a vehicle for illegitimacy by providing constrained opportunities for individual nepotism, grassroots empowerment and claim-making against the state.

Matthean Jesus and peacebuilding in Zimbabwe 2018–2019

This article is an assessment of the applicability of the Matthean Jesus’ ethics in the context of peacebuilding in Zimbabwe (2018–2019). The article explores the factors which led to the removal of former President Mugabe from the office, and the events which took place from 2018 to 2019. It is alleged that torture, brutality and political killings of people continue to resurface even during the leadership of the new President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Faced with the above challenges associated with violence, socio-political, economic and religious conflicts, civil unrest and polarisation of the Zimbabwean society, the article gives an analysis of the relevance and applicability of Jesus’ ethics as presented by Matthew in a bid to bring national healing, peace and reconciliation in Zimbabwe. The ethics of Jesus are meant to transform society for the better; therefore, the article also assesses the lessons which can be drawn from these ethics amid challenges posed by a lack of confession, truth telling and transformative justice in the face of gross political intimidation and torture in Zimbabwe. The article concludes that the Matthean Jesus ethics are applicable in the Zimbabwean context. However, the implementation of these ethics faces serious impediments, which need special attention, especially the need of all citizens, government, political leaders, church leaders and civil society leaders to join hands together with the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission in bringing national healing in Zimbabwe. Contribution: This article is part of the special collection ‘Africa Platform for NT Scholars’. It focuses on the assessment of the applicability of the Matthean Jesus’ ethics in the context of peacebuilding in Zimbabwe (2018–2019).The ethics of Jesus are meant to transform society for the better, therefore, it is within the scope of this theological journal that issues associated with violence, socio-political, economic and religious conflicts, civil unrest and polarization should be addressed, hence the article fits well within this scope.

Truth without Reconciliation: A Human Rights History of Ghana, Abena Ampofoa Asare

Reviewed by: Truth without Reconciliation: A Human Rights History of Ghana by Abena Ampofoa Asare Jeffrey Ahlman BOOK REVIEW of Asare, Abena Ampofoa. 2018. Truth without Reconciliation: A Human Rights History of Ghana. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 243 pp. $79.95 (cloth). Abena Ampofoa Asare’s Truth without Reconciliation is a difficult book; it is also an extremely powerful book. Framed around the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) established in 2002 by the New Patriotic Party government of President J. A. Kufuor, it forces a rereading of Ghana’s postindependence history from the perspective of Ghanaian men and women harmed by the country’s postcolonial governments. At its heart is the methodological question of how scholars are to make sense of the archive created by the NRC. Eschewing a straightforward reading of the archive, Asare skillfully guides her readers through many nuances, hidden meanings, and contradictions that mark the petitions and testimonies collected by the NRC. In doing so, she untangles questions of power, gender, memory, family, and community, creating a compendium of narratives of Ghanaian postcolonial history. The narratives that she constructs, however, do not necessarily turn on their head the conventional narratives that surround the country’s recent history, but instead personalize and complicate them, injecting into them the depth and messiness of personal experience often lost in scholarly discourse. Asare opens the book with a short history surrounding the creation of the NRC and the partisan controversies it generated. She moves on to chapters focused on the violence inflicted on market women, families’ experiences with detention and political violence, the nonjurisdictional claims of those who lost property and their livelihoods to the country’s development schemes, and the blurred lines between perpetrators and victims in the stories of soldiers and citizens. Each of these chapters is organized around the personal accounts of individuals who petitioned and came before the NRC. Asare is not only meticulous in her presentation of these individuals’ stories, but deeply empathetic, as she weaves the individuality of each petitioner’s narrative into the complicated scaffolding of Ghana’s national histories. For instance, in her chapter on market women (chapter three), she turns to the long history of demonization the country’s market women have faced at the hands of its postcolonial governments, for which the market women regularly served as scapegoats for national economic troubles, leading most tragically to the 1979 burning of Accra’s Makola Market and additional attacks on markets in other major Ghanaian cities and towns (75). What Asare adds to this narrative is not simply an accounting of the [End Page 137] injuries sustained by these women due to the government’s actions: more importantly, she emphasizes the ways in which the market women who petitioned the NRC understood and articulated the social and professional bonds shaping their roles as traders, women, mothers, and caregivers—roles disrupted and, in some cases, destroyed by governmental actions. Exhibited in all of Truth without Reconciliation’s chapters is a rethinking of what a history of human rights could or should look like. For Asare, the question of human rights history is ultimately a methodological question: it is a history that extends beyond the institutional artifice of truth-and-reconciliation commissions like the NRC to the act of archival creation, negotiation, access, and silence, for embedded within archives like that of the NRC are the voices of those affected by governments’ actions. As Asare emphasizes throughout her book, too often questions of human rights are constrained to vague and abstract platitudes, yet, as she shows, a much richer and more authentic contestation of what human rights comprise is found in the archival voices of those who have come before commissions like the NRC, as individuals from nearly all walks of life engaged in debates over the rights and obligations shaping their relationships with the state. Asare’s book is thus a must-read for any student of Ghanaian history, as well as those interested in the history of human rights. It is one of those rare books whose theoretical and methodological interventions are equally matched by their empirical rigor. Jeffrey Ahlman Smith College Copyright © 2019 The Trustees of Indiana University

Can spirits play a role in peace and reconciliation projects? Perspectives on traditional reconciliation in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT There is a long history of spirit-oriented systems of reconciliation and healing in Zimbabwe. However, under white rule, this work was marginalised and driven underground. In Zimbabwe today, diverse views on reconciliation, reparation, justice and national healing are producing rich but frequently conflicted initiatives around ‘traditional’ and ‘community’ reconciliation. The article considers contradictions and pressures facing the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and different approaches to ‘spirit-led’ trauma healing work from three grassroots organisations: Heal Zimbabwe; Tree of Life; and the Centre for Conflict Management and Transformation. It indicates how religious, cultural and political affiliations influence participants’ openness to traditional and spirit-led forms of reconciliation; and how this, in turn, constrains how perpetrators, victims and reparation are defined by those working in this field. Rather than identifying specific practices as ‘authentic’ traditions, the article suggests that a continuity of community/cultural approaches can inform contemporary national healing initiatives in Zimbabwe.

Dealing with Mass Atrocities and Ethnic Violence: Can Alternative Forms of Justice Be Effective?

This paper was originally published in the Canadian Access to Justice Network. One of the first articles written on the subject of Gacaca, it was awarded the Prize for Alternative Dispute Resolution by the Minister for Justice of Canada in 2000. In the paper, Drew explores the troubles in Rwanda as an example of the difficulties that confront countries as they transition from ethnic violence into a post-conlict and post-genocide framework. Specifically, how can they acknowledge and deal with past wrongs, especially in ways that offer hope for social rebuilding and reconciliation? Drew summarizes the genocidal terror that wracked Rwanda in 1994 and the various post-conflict efforts (national and international) to illuminate the wrongs committed and hold perpetrators accountable. His discussion includes aspects of ethnicity, culture, and legal traditions and developments in Rwanda that contributed to the violence and to complexities in the post-terror period in dealing with perpetrators and victims of the violence. Significant attention is given to a recommendation from a National Reconciliation Commission that Rwanda adopt the traditional Gacaca – a form of mediation performed by a village council of elders to promote justice and reconciliation at the communal level.

Predictors of Support toward Transitional Justice Process in Chilean General Population Sample

Original survey data from Chile are used (N = 1267) to study the determinants of attitudes toward transitional rituals (1991 National Truth and Reconciliation Commission). A logistic regression analysis based on this data was carried out to evaluate the work of truth commissions as the dependent variable (in terms of “approval” and “disapproval”). Results reveal that predictors of favorable attitudes toward truth commissions include emotions such as sadness and hope, TRCs’ contribution to truth and to the construction of an inclusive history (and to a lesser extent to justice), high social sharing, perception of a positive social climate, high institutional trust, and positive perception of official apologies. People supporting TRCs also agree with complementary reparation, suggesting that a positive attitude towards TRCs is negative related to denial the traumatic past.

English

Truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) as transitional justice and conflict resolution mechanisms, have gained international prominence, especially following South Africa’s much publicised TRC experience. Among other things, TRCs are expected to contribute to democratic consolidation by correcting the historical narrative, acknowledging past human rights violations and fostering a human rights culture in nascent democracies. This was the spirit in which Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) executed its mandate from 2002 to 2004.  However, a decade after the commission issued its final report, this article reflects on the failure of the Ghanaian state to disseminate the report. It is argued that the failure to disseminate the NRC Report could jeopardise the commission’s potential contributions to sustainable reconciliation, human rights and democracy in Ghana. This article accounts for the failure to disseminate the report, and makes corrective recommendations as well as suggestions for future research.   Key words: Transitional justice, human rights, Ghana, national reconciliation commission, truth and reconciliation commissions, authoritarian enclaves.

Economic and Social Injustices in Ghana’s Military Regimes: an Investigation of Price Control Policies.

The discourse of human rights has been dominated by civil and political rights much to the detriment of economic, social and cultural rights. However, both categories of rights are inalienable. Using mainly secondary source of data including a content analysis of the report of the Ghana National Reconciliation Commission and transcripts of the testimonies of some victims who testified before the Commission; this paper finds that majority of human rights violations were committed by state security institutions against victims professionally described as “general occupation” and the wealthy and influential in society. This magnitude of the violations, perpetrated against these victims never received adequate policy response. Though the National Reconciliation Commission was established to address past human rights violations in Ghana, it failed to holistically examine, and also recommend adequate policy for victims of economic and social injustices. In conclusion, this paper recommends that human rights violations of economic and social nature deserve same concerns and response in transitional periods since the former provides the context within which the latter occur.

Civil Society Activism and the Ghanaian National Reconciliation Commission: The case of the Civil Society Coalition on National Reconciliation

Civil Society Activism and the Ghanaian National Reconciliation Commission: The case of the Civil Society Coalition on National Reconciliation

Truth and reconciliation commissions, restorative justice, peacemaking criminology, and development

This paper argues that restorative justice approaches such as truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) and peacemaking criminology could greatly enhance a country’s democratic practice paving the way for wider societal development. Drawing on the example of Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission, the paper contends that the principles and practices of restorative justice and peacemaking criminology do not only enhance our understanding of the aims and significance of TRCs but also serve victims, the community, and perpetrators better than a criminal prosecution approach in a country’s effort to address post‐conflict justice. This provides an enabling environment for democracy to take root giving rise to political stability and societal development.

Thailand's National Reconciliation Commission: a flawed response to the Southern Conflict

This article examines the work of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) (2005–06), an independent body established by the government of Thailand to address a violent conflict in the country's southern border provinces. From the outset, the 50-member NRC chaired by former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun was too large and unwieldy to function effectively. At the most basic level, there was a lack of trust and openness among the Commission's members which curtailed frank discussions. Because the political dimensions of the conflict were seen as off-limits, for a variety of cultural and historical reasons, the NRC produced a report that emphasized issues of justice, but failed to engage with the core questions underpinning the violence. Locating the NRC within an emerging global landscape of comparable ‘truth commissions’, the article argues that however well-intentioned, the Thai commission lacked clear goals, and was rather disappointing in its achievements.

The Ghanaian National Reconciliation Commission: Reparation in a Global Age

The year 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of Ghanaian independence as well as the 200th anniversary of Britain's abolition of slavery. In this year, the rhetoric of human suffering and compensation settled heavily upon the shores of the West African nation that was both the front-runner of African independence and a major point in the transatlantic slave trade. By June 2007, Ghana's government had paid reparations to the victims of 40 years of national suffering. In the same year, President, J.A. Kufuor, publicly resisted the argument that the British government should pay reparations for the transatlantic slave trade with the argument that some Africans also benefited from the trade. Earlier that same year, Ghana's Ministry of Tourism and Diasporean Relations publicly apologized for Ghana's role in the transatlantic slave trade in an effort to increase pilgrimage tourism to Ghana among Africans in the diaspora. In one year, Ghana was thrice the site of the logic of reparations, in different forms and to diverse ends. This paper explores Ghana's recent experience with reparations in order to understand the possibilities and limitations that accompany the globalization of human rights discourse in sub-Saharan Africa.

Approaching peace in Patani, Southern Thailand—some anthropological considerations

This article analyzes ways of approaching peace building and peace negotiations in Patani. Choosing an anthropological approach, the article argues that participant observation helps identify indigenous, local peace instruments. Hence, the design of local sovereignty is the most important step to durable peace in internal conflicts. The Surayud government has identified the recommendations of the National Reconciliation Commission as guide-posts and has praised the peace agreement in Aceh as model to emulate. There is an opening for peace talks, in which the solution to historical and cultural grievances will be a key to peace.

Uncovering Truth: Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission Excavation of Past Human Rights Abuses1

A key mandate of all truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) is to ascertain the truth about past injustices and to establish accurate records of violations and abuses. But truth has different connotations to diverse people and is often applied variously. So, how do TRCs uncover the truth surrounding a case of past human rights abuse? But what is truth? More specifically, how did Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) ascertain the truth in the cases that came before it? These are the key questions addressed in this paper, which is based on interviews with members and key staff of NRC, analysis of parliamentary debates and media coverage of the reconciliation exercise, and a two‐month observation of the NRC. The paper concludes that the specific yet flexible mandate of the NRC, the standard of proof adopted, the elaborate information management process, and the internal control mechanisms put in place favorably positioned the NRC to ascertain truth regarding the cases it deliberated.

Doing Justice After Conflict : The Case for Ghana's National Reconciliation Commission

RésuméLe Ghana a rejoint le groupe des démocraties en transition en créant la Commission de réconciliation nationale (CRN), qui débuta ses travaux en 2002. Elle reçut le mandat d'enquêter sur les atrocités et violations des droits humains passées, de recommander des compensations adéquates pour les victimes et de réconcilier la nation. Or, les attentes et la confiance des Ghanéens en la capacité de la CRN de guérir les blessures du passé, mettre un terme au cycle de vengeance et de vendettas et de réconcilier la nation furent partagées depuis que la Commission termina ses travaux et remit son rapport, en octobre 2004. Cet article prend position pour la Commission de réconciliation nationale au Ghana, soutenant qu'elle est la meilleure parmi les solutions possibles pour traiter des violations passées des droits humains au Ghana.

Thaksin and the resurgence of violence in the Thai South: Network monarchy strikes back?

Rather than viewing the recent violence in the Thai South largely as a product of long-standing historical and socioeconomic grievances, this article argues that the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has played a crucial role in provoking conflict in the region. Early in his premiership, Thaksin decided that the South was controlled by forces of “network monarchy” loyal to the palace and to former prime minister Prem Tinsulanond. Thaksin sought to reorganize political and security arrangements in the deep South in order to gain personal control of the area, but in the process he upset a carefully negotiated social contract that had ensured relative peace for two decades. As the violence increased, royal displeasure — articulated mainly by members of the Privy Council — forced Thaksin to make certain concessions, notably the creation of a National Reconciliation Commission to propose solutions for the growing crisis. Network monarchy had struck back, albeit from a position of weakness. This analysis seeks to demonstrate that the southern violence is actually inextricable from wider developments in Thailand's national politics.

Thaksin's Achilles' Heel: The failure of Hawkish approaches in the Thai South

Many scholars voice approval for the political strategies and approaches that businessman-turned-politician Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has borrowed from the business world. His CEO management style is regarded as a key political asset. Moreover, his populist policies such as the “one village–one tambon” village fund and the “bank for the poor” show him to be full of concern for grass-roots Thais. In this article I argue that Thaksin's handling of the South reveals another side of his character, his preference for the use of violence to tackle problems and his disdain for “softer” methods such as discussion and negotiations. Thaksin pays very little attention to peaceful solutions offered by academics, the National Human Right Commission, and even the government-appointed National Reconciliation Commission. Unfortunately, this hawkish approach has widened distrust and discrimination among Thais and non-Thais. Thaksin's draconian methods have had serious consequences both on himself and the country. The volatile conflict in Thailand's far South is Thaksin's Achilles' heel.

Ghana: Media complicity in human rights violations

Following the examples of South Africa, Nigeria and some Latin American countries, Ghana instituted a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate human rights abuses inflicted during periods of unconstitutional rule. This article interrogates media complicity in bolstering unconstitutional governments and their culpability in past human rights abuses in Ghana. Through a qualitative analysis of newspapers and focus group discussions with journalists, this paper examines the manner in which the media (as an institution) were both victims and victimisers during some of the periods investigated by Ghana's National Reconciliation Commission. Drawing on theories of hegemony, it examines strategies of legitimisation used by the media in creating fertile grounds for state repression and the abuse of human rights and the methods used by repressive governments to ensure media compliance.

Ghana: Media complicity in human rights violations

Following the examples of South Africa, Nigeria and some Latin American countries, Ghana instituted a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate human rights abuses inflicted during periods of unconstitutional rule. This article interrogates media complicity in bolstering unconstitutional governments and their culpability in past human rights abuses in Ghana. Through a qualitative analysis of newspapers and focus group discussions with journalists, this paper examines the manner in which the media (as an institution) were both victims and victimisers during some of the periods investigated by Ghana's National Reconciliation Commission. Drawing on theories of hegemony, it examines strategies of legitimisation used by the media in creating fertile grounds for state repression and the abuse of human rights and the methods used by repressive governments to ensure media compliance.