Too often, works in the field of political science simply assume that “transitional justice” should be used to address “human rights violations” without sufficient engagement with the many types of mechanisms now included under the rubric of transitional justice or the unique nature of the numerous categories of crimes considered human rights violations. For that reason alone, this new volume, edited by Roger Duthie, is a welcome addition. By concentrating narrowly on the issue of displacement, and examining the potential distinctive roles of several key transitional justice mechanisms in addressing that issue, the volume provides valuable and focused analysis. It will be of interest to transitional justice scholars specifically and others working on postconflict peacebuilding and reconstruction more broadly.
This volume is the fifth published by the Social Science Research Council in the Advancing Transitional Justice Series that is well known to scholars of this discipline. It stems from a joint research project between the International Center for Transitional Justice and the respected Brookings-LSE (London School of Economics) Project on Internal Displacement (an initiative with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons). As such, the contributors write from a predominantly on-the-ground perspective, with many having consulted for organizations working on responses to displacement or having managed those organizations themselves. The volume consists of two theoretical chapters that explore the appropriate role for transitional justice in engaging displacement, followed by five topical chapters that examine displacement in the context of property restitution, reparations, truth telling, criminal justice, and security-sector reform. The concluding chapter then provides a gendered perspective on transitional justice and displacement.
Overall, the volume argues that there is an important role for transitional justice in addressing displacement by helping to facilitate the integration or reintegration of displaced persons. Federico Andreau-Guzmán and Marina Caparini, in their respective chapters, argue that effective trial efforts and security-sector reform policies can improve the potential safety for, and thereby encourage the return of, displaced persons. Moreover, ideally those mechanisms also serve to prevent and deter future human rights violations, thus working to avoid additional displacements. Similarly, the chapters by Rhodri Williams and Peter Van der Auweraert stress the importance of housing and land restitution and reparations in enabling the return of displaced persons and facilitating economic reintegration. Throughout the volume, the contributors also emphasize the critical signaling function that transitional justice as a whole can provide. As states engage with their past violence through a variety of mechanisms, they legitimize claims of human rights violations and victimhood, a process that should in turn aid in the social reintegration of displaced persons.
Exploring this important relationship further, the volume also notes the reciprocal benefit of dealing with displacement for the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms. In cases where displacement was a major issue, many victims lie outside the reach of transitional justice, a situation that, in turn, limits its effectiveness. Trials, for example, can be significantly hindered by a lack of victim testimony and evidence. Truth commissions will be incomplete if the voices of a particular subset of victims go unheard. Restitution and reparations policies will be viewed as unfair and biased by society if deserving recipients are systematically excluded. In sum, the volume argues that working to bring this critical category of victims into the transitional justice process is important for ensuring that it is received positively and has a meaningful impact on society.
In addition, the volume rightly points out that there are several mounting challenges in engaging displacement through transitional justice. The first is practical. Transitional justice already competes for scarce resources in societies decimated by violence, and so expanding the scope of such mechanisms is inherently difficult. Moreover, access to displaced victims, internal or external, may be logistically and politically problematic. The second major challenge is legal; as Andreau-Guzmán points out in his chapter, the law on displacement as an international human rights crime is still weak. In addition, Bryce Campbell's chapter raises the problems that transitional justice can pose for humanitarian workers on the ground, who often need to avoid taking sides on what are contested political decisions if they want to continue having access to displaced victims and the ability to help them.
In general, readers will appreciate the range of issues explored in the chapters. At the same time, however, they will be frustrated by the volume's overall lack of engagement with cases and policy, especially considering the background of many of the contributors. While anecdotes from individual cases are sprinkled throughout most of the thematic chapters, some readers will feel that there is insufficient context in which to ground many of the theoretical arguments. More importantly, the volume will leave readers wondering where we should go from here.
This feeling is exacerbated by the notable absence of a concluding chapter, characteristic of most edited volumes, which could deconstruct the overall findings and discuss more concrete policy implications. In the introduction, Duthie suggests that moving forward may require innovations in outreach, regional cooperation, quantitative analysis, and interactions with humanitarian actors, but these issues are not engaged systematically throughout the volume, and indeed only come up sporadically in the chapters. This is disappointing given that those issues are of broad concern to scholars working in all areas of transitional justice, and would have given the volume wider appeal and greater impact.
Despite those shortcomings, the volume rightly brings renewed attention to the means by which the often-overlooked issue of displacement during and after periods of violence can be addressed, and it makes an important contribution to the field of transitional justice. It will be especially appreciated by scholars desiring closer theoretical examination of the linkages between mechanisms and crimes.
