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Generally, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs and truth commissions have operated independently of one another. This has resulted in missed opportunities for strengthening DDR and truth commissions. DDR’s reintegration aims may be furthered by increased truth-telling, and from the perspective of truth commissions, ex-combatants are often key witnesses. Aggregated data from DDR programs can also aid in documenting the larger causes and patterns of violence.

The general aim of this paper is to construct an argument about the advisability of drawing links between disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) and reparations programs, but not just because this is better from the standpoint of justice. It can be argued that the security-related aims of DDR are also facilitated by establishing links between these programs and justice measures.

This chapter examines the largely overlooked relationship between female ex-combatants, DDR, and transitional justice, with a particular focus on truth commissions. The potential of truth commissions to recognize women’s multiple and contradictory roles during armed conflict and to publicly acknowledge their agency and experience can contribute to a reconsideration of postconflict gender relations.

Little has been written about the relationship between transitional justice measures and DDR programs with respect to child ex-combatants. We argue that the primary avenue through which transitional justice measures may positively affect the reintegration of former child combatants is likely to be their potential impact on receiving communities. Potential negative effects, however, are important and should not be overlooked.

This publication, written for the UNDP, provides operational guidelines on the implementation of vetting programs in post-conflict societies.

Local justice is sometimes presented as an alternative to or substitute for other measures of transitional justice, often due to political, cultural, or practical considerations. This chapter argues that local justice addresses the (comparatively neglected) reintegration aspect of DDR programs more directly, quickly, and efficiently than other transitional justice measures. It examines how local justice processes can best complement DDR efforts without foreclosing other transitional justice measures.

The focus of this paper is on initiatives of DDR, SSR, and transitional justice as they relate in peacebuilding contexts. This paper considers the connection between the three types of initiatives: first, by exploring the relationship between DDR and transitional justice; second, by examining the links between DDR and SSR; and third, by considering the connections between transitional justice and SSR.

Despite their shared settings, transitional justice and development rarely connect with one another. Increasing the awareness of the potential contributions that each process can make to the other, the opportunities for mutual support, cooperation, and learning, and the trade-offs that may be required, can make for a more coherent policy response to the interrelated needs of transitional and developing societies. Ultimately, lasting peace and sustainable societies cannot be built in the aftermath of massive abuses without transitional justice, nor without development.

In the summer of 2009, ICTJ’s Research Unit completed a major research project on the relationship between transitional justice and development, two fields that until now have proceeded in isolation from one another. In May 2009, In May, Pablo de Greiff and Roger Duthie sat down with Philip Alston to discuss some of the project’s main conclusions.

After periods of extended political conflict and of repression or state terrorism, there is an active political struggle about the meaning of what occurred. This paper illustrates some processes through which silenced or hidden ethnic, cultural or gender dimensions come to light during the unfolding of violent conflicts and factor into remembrance in the aftermath of conflict.