ABSTRACT
Since the mid-1980s, societies emerging from violent conflict or authoritarian rule have often chosen to confront the legacies of serious human rights abuses with transitional justice measures. Such interventions may include criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations for victims and vetting or other forms of institutional reform. At the same time, programmes for DDR of combatants have become integral elements of peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts. These two types of initiatives – one focused on justice and accountability for victims and the other on stability and former combatants – often coexist or overlap in the post-conflict period. Yet DDR programmes are seldom analysed, designed or implemented in relation to justice-oriented aims. Likewise, transitional justice mechanisms seldom articulate strategies for coordinating with DDR programmes.
