Abstract
The Central African Republic (CAR), often referred to as a ‘phantom state’, has been facing decades of enduring conflict with current violence rooted in the 2013 Seleka rebellion. The country is on a mission to break the cycles of violence and restore peace in a bid to move to a democratic system through a transitional justice (TJ) process. The objective of this qualitative exploratory case study was to produce comprehensive understanding of TJ processes and mechanisms that were implemented in the CAR after the 2012 conflict and scrutinise the conditions under which the strategies can be framed to effectively resolve the conflict, address past violations, and guarantee durable peace. Through the lens of E. Azar’s protracted social conflict theory, this study investigated the drivers of enduring conflict in the CAR and its impact with respect to human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. Data were collected mainly from the available literature and were analysed using the main pillars of TJ. The findings revealed that a mixed TJ approach comprising formal retributive and restorative strategies was being implemented. This included the establishment of a hybrid tribunal and a truth, justice, reparations, and reconciliation commission mandated to work simultaneously, and along with investigations pursuant to a second referral by the CAR Government. The results established that improper framing and inadequate implementation of the TJ processes accounted for persistent conflict and the relapse into violence. The study recommended that the government and other TJ stakeholders should provide the necessary logistics and funding for the effective implementation of the TJ strategies and strengthen the existing traditional justice mechanisms, which have the potential to resolve inter-communal conflicts, promote grassroots reconciliation, and promote peace. The study contributes new knowledge by addressing a TJ process comprising the ICC, the hybrid Special Criminal Court and national courts as actors of retributive justice investigating crimes and human right abuses on the same geographical space. Also, the thesis contributes to the TJ debate by investigating the interplay of retributive and restorative justice mechanisms in the context of an on-going conflict in the CAR and establishes the relevance of traditional justice mechanisms and religious actors in contemporary conflict resolution.
Keywords: Central African Republic, transitional justice, truth-seeking, peace, reparation, reconciliation.