The Politics of Transitional Justice in South Sudan

This book takes stock of the experiences producing, using and disseminating knowledge and challenges of undertaking a transitional justice journey, especially of establishing a hybrid court in a non-transitional context.Experiences of knowledge production, use and dissemination by multiple actors and for transitional justice are infrequent in contexts where no forms of political and democratic transitions have occurred. This book discusses the experiences of multiple actors within the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) PLUS, their different political interests and challenges experienced in ensuring that the hybrid court for South Sudan is established.Proposing criminal accountability to the political and military leadership in the transitional government, where the very perpetrators of human rights violations are decision makers, significantly inhibits progression towards the establishment of the hybrid court.The book is unique, featuring a body of growing literature on the role of multiple actors in knowledge processes and taking stock of varied geopolitical and political interests and the role of South Sudan elites installing the establishment of the court.The book reshapes current transitional justice thoughts and redirects researchers, policymakers and practitioners, including donors, to consider the role of the context and that of the political and military elites before proposing mechanisms of transitional justice. The book presents the ongoing pushback from both military and political elites and compromises on transitional justice. The book demonstrates that in a non-transitional context, truth telling and reparations are more realistic than trials and for good reason.