DDR and Transitional Justice

 

Valledupar, Colombia, March 2008. Demobilized paramilitaries of the AUC create murals as a component of the reintegration program. Photo by Ana Patel.

While programs for the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants are not new, they have never been designed or implemented with an explicit awareness of their relationship with transitional justice measures such as:

• prosecutions
• truth-telling efforts
• reparations for victims
• vetting or other forms of institutional reform

 

With resolution of conflict now widely seen as inextricably linked with efforts to redeem the claims of justice, there is a clear need to examine the many ways in which DDR programs can contribute to, or hinder, the achievement of justice-related aims.

Ignoring the implications that DDR programs and transitional justice measures have for each other may in fact undermine the success of both efforts. It is not uncommon, for example, for the benefits of a DDR program to dwarf the benefits offered to victims as part of a reparations program, if one exists. This kind of perceived 'special treatment' for ex-combatants often creates resentment within the community.

Similarly, without coordinating reintegration and vetting policies, ex-combatants can be vetted from the security forces and later reinserted into the very same, or transformed, forces. Such reintegration of human rights abusers reduces trust in public institutions.

This project seeks to make a contribution to the transitional justice field by examining the relationships between DDR programs and transitional justice measures. It aims to test the hypothesis that the goals of these two types of initiatives can reinforce each other and break cycles of violence by reestablishing trust and promoting reconciliation between different groups. The project collects, analyzes, and compares information about current and past DDR programs, paying particular attention to reintegration efforts. This information will become the basis for the development of a conceptual and normative framework for designing DDR programs in such a way that they not only become more effective, but also contribute to the achievement of transitional justice goals. There is currently no other study of DDR initiatives that systematically examines these issues.

As with all of its research projects, the ICTJ collaborates with local partners who have contributed in-depth country analyses and expertise. In the final stage of the project, the research outputs will be transformed into training materials for targeted dissemination in the field. It is expected that the results of this research will be of use to local organizations and governments as well as to international institutions such as the World Bank and various United Nations offices and departments.

The project held its first meeting of experts in October 2005. In its first phase, country studies on DDR and transitional justice were commissioned to examine programs in:

• Aceh (Indonesia)
• Afghanistan
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Cambodia
• Colombia
• El Salvador
• Liberia
• Mozambique
• Rwanda
• Sierra Leone
• South Africa

 

These studies formed the basis for an authors' workshop in July 2006

In its second phase, thematic studies were commissioned on subjects such:

• DDR and prosecutions
• DDR and security sector reform
• DDR and gender justice
• DDR and truth commissions
• DDR and reparations
• DDR and children associated with armed conflict
• DDR and local justice

 

A meeting for thematic paper authors was held in May 2007. The results of this project will appear in the third volume in the Advancing Transitional Justice series co-published by the ICTJ and the Social Science Research Council in 2008.

Alongside the development of these sets of papers, Research Unit staff participated in the Stockholm Initiative on Disarmament Demobilization Reintegration (SIDDR), a year-long working process convened by the Swedish Government, throughout 2005.

In 2006, the unit offered input on the topic of social and economic reintegration of combatants in Mindinao and addressed the Advisory Board of the World Bank's Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program (MDRP).

In June 2007, the unit presented a paper on DDR and Transitional Justice at a conference organized by the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Africa that took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Some of the first material from this project was published in 2008. Ana Patel published a chapter entitled "DDR and Transitional Justice" in the book Security and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Dealing with Fighters in the Aftermath of War (Routledge, 2008). In addition, Pablo de Greiff published the chapter "DDR and Reparations: Establishing Links Between Peace and Justice" in Building a Future on Peace and Justice (Springer, 2009).

The ICTJ is working with the UN DPKO to provide a module for the UN's Integrated DDR Standards on transitional justice. A draft has been approved and is now being reviewed by the United Nations DDR Working Group which is to be finished in the summer of 2009.

 

(Updated January 2009)