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My my researches. Sorry, my my papers based on an experience working at both transitional justice mechanisms in Sierra Leone.

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Firstly, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission draughting the recommendations and governance and looking at inStar Plantations to the conflict.

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And then. And in last year, the at the special court doing research whilst also creating a legacy project.

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And I want to focus on on the context in which negotiations bring about an

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end to the conflict brought brought about two sort of disparate institutions.

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Why why that happened and the impact that the process had on the formation of institutions and the manner in which they function.

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And then and then look at any problems that this presents for peace in both the short term and long term.

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So the thing that transitional justice literature commonly holds at its centre is that

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recognition of abuses carried out in the past through the use of some processes,

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institutional commission of enquiry is a prerequisite for emerging democracies to

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transcend such abuses and then move towards democratic consolidation and end security.

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This paper question is the sharp focus on the abuses themselves queries whether a wider and wider interpretation of the

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term transition should be undertaken and whether contemporary processes should be described as transitional at all.

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These people focus on the Sierra Leone case where normative doctrine was ostensibly adhered to.

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I'm gonna start by looking at the interests which drove particular transitional justice agendas

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and the extent to which these interests reflected those apparent in the conflict itself.

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This paper van address the goals which the institutions purportedly set and their effectiveness in ensuring sustainable peace.

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Finally, as people question the extent to which focussing on the abuses themselves,

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whether through reconciliate reconciliatory or punitive approaches, really addresses the likelihood of abuses recurring and short.

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So through such processes, facilitate a transition which provides for peace in the long term,

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or do they simply address symptoms of an unjust system which the transitional institutions themselves then reinforce?

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Various internal but more significantly,

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external Actors Pursuit has served various varied approaches to the conclusion of the Sierra Leonean conflict,

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as well as to the processes which might facilitate its transition.

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Complacency, particularly where commercial interests were not affected, as well as regional manoeuvring by global powers,

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have prevented a peace process which all key external actors genuinely endorse.

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Many observers viewed Sierra Leone's transitional apparatus through a lens and formed by transitional justice theory, which focussed upon justice,

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reconciliation,

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truth and legal precedent and paid little attention to why the conflict came about and what might be done to address these causal elements.

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The causes of Sierra Leone's recent conflict have been cited as a breakdown in institutional cheques and balances on the executive

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and ability of ordinary Sierra Leone is to assert their rights in a patrimonial society which fomented sharply diverse divisions.

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Those divisions divisions included conflict between young and old, rich and poor, man and woman, north and south, Freetown and up country.

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The government, the opposition, the armed and the unarmed and and and various localised localised cleavages as well,

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including ethno original and chiefdom shift in-house conflicts.

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The marginalisation of such groups can can also be seen as symptomatic of the power structures

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with patrimonial power was maintained through distribution of state coffers along party lines,

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particularly where state revenue was diminished. And in the mid 1980s by liberalising economic policy from the outside.

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So the mid 1980s economic malaise exacerbated socio economic and political marginalisation of groups already at the periphery,

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the state's ability to surprise to supply patrimonial lineage was drastically undermined by the

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decline in the price of palm oil and diminishing crop control of the diamond industry in particular.

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The situation further deteriorated due to new leaderships, which was insulated from localised dynamics.

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This eventually undermined its ability to supply not only its petro minor constituent constituency at large,

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but more critically as its patrimonial constituency within the armed forces.

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Civilians conflict began after a trade dispute between Charles Taylor's empire fell and and armed forces within Sierra Leone,

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causing a group of imperial fighters to cross into Sierra Leone and attack Sierra

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Leonean UN forces to gain goods that they felt they were owed in a trade dispute.

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Now, Charles Taylor and Foday Sankoh had previously been been trained by Gadhafi in Libya.

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And and Foday Sankoh had created the Revolutionary United Front, which was planning to invade Sierra Leone a few months later.

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But because of this first attack, this agenda was pushed forward.

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And much of the code of conduct training, the ideological training that many of the many of the intellectual elements from

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for Backcourts University in Freetown were insisting upon were they marginalised?

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And actually, the students from four about college actually constituted the original leadership of the Revolutionary United Front.

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And what then? And then when then within marginalised by but by Sankoh in that in the months leading up to the run, leading up to the end of 1990.

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The political manoeuvring of major world powers in the region and particularly in Liberia also instructed posturing towards the EU with

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broadly the US and British policy was to support Nigeria as the regional superpower from Nigeria to support the incoming government.

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Governments in Liberia and Sierra Leone, respectively. France, on the other hand, supported Libya as a counterweight to Nigerian regional dominance.

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Libya backed. The Empire Fell and Alua insurgencies which fought governments in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

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And those governments were supported by Nigerian troops under the auspices of Ridgen Regional Peacekeeping.

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In August 97, though, Charles Taylor prevailed and Liberian elections winning 75 percent of the vote and claiming the Liberian presidency.

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Now, this caused a US policy shift,

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which was critical both to the conclusion of the Sierra Leonean conflict and to the creation of Sierra Leone's transitional justice mechanisms.

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The US, led by special envoy Jesse Jackson, switched its allegiance to Charles Taylor within Liberia.

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This also means supporting the high with diplomatically, which contrasted with the British position of supporting sitting Sierra Leonean governments.

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The TNC was thus pushed as a mechanism to provide amnesty, which was personally guaranteed to sink a number of times.

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Bye bye, Jackson and provided for the long peace agreement signed in July 1999.

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After much coercion on the part of on the part of Jackson of the prison of Sierra Leone T-junction back.

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In February, February two thousand, Sierra Leone's parliament passed the Truth and Reconciliation Act,

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but then a May five hundred U.N. peacekeepers were captured up country,

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arguably by IUF dissidents and members of the army formerly aligned to the IRA,

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arrested then sorry, members of the of the Sierra Leone armed forces formally aligned with the IUF,

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arrested for Sancha and other senior members of the IRA with and handed them over to British forces which had recently been dispatched to the ground.

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This caused this caused the US to shift its position again during the US fire

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Jackson as its special envoy and shifted its allegiance away from Taylor,

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from the Taylor IRF alliance towards the combined government, which requested United Nations assistance in trying to eye with the crimes against the

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people of Sierra Leone and for the taking of United Nations peacekeepers as hostage.

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Britain ramped up its presence, forced, forced to iuf, forced to iuf back into into effective, unconditional surrender.

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And in August 2000. Sorry. Bye bye, 2002. And in August 2000, the Security Council called before that August 2000,

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the Security Council call for the establishment of a tribunal to try those who have the greatest responsibility.

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But unfortunately, unfortunately for for Britain and France,

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the act to create the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had already occurred back in February 2000.

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And that and that then when it hit Taylor,

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it always had the traditionally had the backing of France was being very much dependent on France and to a lesser extent,

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China for political protection. Both of those countries driving large commercial benefit, particularly from the timber industry, from Liberia.

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In March 03, the special court indicted twelve zero unions and then later in June also released an indictment of Taylor,

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who was subsequently pressured by the US to leave Liberia.

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And he did so and did so, finally being transferred to a special court in 2006.

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Transitional justice processes have been implemented in geographically and culturally diverse parts of the globe.

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The application of human rights things can be problematic, particularly when we pursued through mechanisms such as a court of law,

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which has historically been viewed as a tool at the disposal of the executive for

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the exertion of state power and those without wealth or political connexion.

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I've done it time to go into the historical nature of the way the formal justice system in Sierra Leone as it has been used,

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but at almost every transition of power from one party to another,

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or whether a coup d'etat takes place, has been some form of a commission of enquiry or criminal proceeding,

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which has been used to ostensibly legitimise the incoming government and and criminalise those at that place.

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Distrust of such a mechanism was reinforced when its mandate provided effective immunity to U.N. and ECOMOG peacekeepers,

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as well as mercenaries and British forces that fought alongside the government and restricted the team for the mandate of the court.

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For the second half of the conflict, prosecutorial policy endured,

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jurisprudence has been viewed as pursuing the interests of the sitting government

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of the day and the court's financial support as the United States and the U.K.

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Advocates say this as a truth and reconciliation commission had already been established.

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As I said, it went ahead alongside the special court,

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a company with the rhetoric of a new transitional justice model and a meagre budget comparatively totalling ten million dollars,

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which was subsequently cut to six point seven million in August 2002.

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This reflected a shift towards military solution by the two key external players

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to conclude the conflict and attribute Yunel to further impose such an outcome,

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which was expected to cost more than 400 million dollars were proceedings to conclude this year.

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Which doesn't look like the creation and implementation of the Sierra Leonean

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CRC constructed normative parameters within which testimony was provided.

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League commissioners at the hearings. Bishop Hamper Sidedly Commissioner at the hearings.

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Bishop Hunter, in opening remarks, made the telling of truth a prerequisite to healing.

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However, in local hearings such as those in TONC Lily District, disputes over what constituted Choying actually deepened distrust and animosity

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between those perceived as victims and those perceived as perpetrators. The category of victim and perpetrator was also highly contentious,

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with many of those who committed abuses also seeing themselves as social and

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economic victims of a corrupt system that was seeking to just the other threat.

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The commission has focussed a great deal on the abuses themselves and very little on macroeconomic

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climate and the great and the grievances of those who are committing committing abuses.

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Testimony of public hearings appear to be informed by the existence of the tribunal with with many believing a secret

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tunnel tunnel existed between the two institutions that was geographically located right next door to each other.

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The limited funding also made it particularly difficult for investigators to assess the role of key external powers such as Libya and Nigeria,

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let alone Britain, France and the UK. Although incapacitated and having to conduct media interviews of compatriots in secret,

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it did compile an authoritative account of localised dynamics of the conflict and a broad outline of the issues which caused the conflict to occur.

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These two critical aspects of the report drove the findings and recommendations for key stakeholders.

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But the recommendations have been viewed as too specific and too numerous criticisms, which came mostly from those.

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The recommendations were directed towards particularly the government and multilateral bilateral donors.

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So what impact these institutions have on patient Sierra Leone now and in the medium to long term, immediately post-conflict?

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These institutions have had a dramatically positive impact that can be seen on the security side, the situation in Syria.

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But as I speak last night alluded to a military solution really provides for peace in the long term.

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Indeed, many of the recommendations included in the TSA report had been neglected as the

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government and human rights groups focussed on attributing blame to individuals.

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A case can be made at the international level for incremental steps,

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which the special court undoubtedly takes towards a precedent which rejects impunity.

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But at what cost? Certainly the precedent may not be helpful in Sierra Leone.

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The nature of the tribunal reimposed the structures of power which marginalised certain groups in

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Sierra Leone to the extent they felt they had little option but to take up arms against the state.

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The nature of hearings before the TSA instructed confession from perpetrators

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without public examination of the grievances perpetrators had at the outset.

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And outside of and during the conflict,

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reconciliation ceremonies conducted by chiefs and religious elders after testimony often allowed a compromise where

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perpetrators were requested forgiveness without having to specify what they were requesting forgiveness for.

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These ceremonies allowed for a degree of healing, but still imposed the same structures through the same chiefs and elders.

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Many youths had originally rebelled against in terms of peace in the long term.

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The solution is more detailed in a critical examination of governance and the growing encroachment of the private sector on the state,

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as well as localised dynamics of discontent is required.

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Transitional justice model needed to include greater focus on the structure and function of the state that interests.

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That's the interests that structure and function served and the reform required

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for more equitable delivery of social and economic rights to marginalised groups.

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As the conflict was just as it was just as much about social and economic as well as civil and political rights,

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social SA2 should be transitional justice responses. Last year,

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a community based healing initiative called Fambul Talk commenced Fambul Talk is career

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off of family talk and provides for reconciliation or forgiveness at village level.

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Arguably, such an initiative should precipitate and indeed inform the establishment of other mechanisms.

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But certainly the TSC was unable to facilitate such localised discussion and healing.

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Formation of transitional mechanisms to complement large military deployments by one party of the conflict needs to be reconsidered.

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The potential for transitional processes to contribute to lasting peace is enormous.

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For them to be effective,

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they must be established on the back for consultation rather than at the discretion of those that support one more party or facilitate negotiations.

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Establish the established peace may not be broken by either another armed insurrection, disarmament,

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demobilisation and reintegration with some way to curtailing to curtailing that possibility.

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But the discontent of disenfranchised youth without access, access to education,

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health care and employment remains in the formation of armed criminal gangs of youths.

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As this is a foreseeable problem in Sierra Leone in the near future,

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and arguably given given recent events in the capital, there are signs it is starting to occur already.

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Such armed groups are vulnerable to manipulation by political elites,

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and with an economic crisis already causing dramatic increases in the prices of foods of basic foodstuffs.

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Youth desperation is on the rise.

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The transitional element, transitional justice, is that's brought into question governments and external actors out of focus,

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victims attention on the culpability of a narrow group of perpetrators rather

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than the underlying causal elements of the conflict and the structures of power,

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which these elements are symptomatic, they're off. And can it be said that there has been transition at or more importantly,

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can it be said that lasting peace is seriously being pursued with some of the of the lowest socio economic indicators in the world,

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including average life expectancy at below 40 years and infant mortality at around 30 percent?

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The transition might be difficult. We average Sierra Leonean make up.