New book chapter on justice-sensitive security sector reform
In a new book chapter, NUPI researcher Marina Caparini examines the intersection between transitional justice, displacement and security sector reform (SSR). She calls this juncture justice-sensitive security sector reform, JSSR.
Transitional Justice generally refers to a range of approaches that may be used to address past massive human rights violations.
Rule of law and reconciliation
- It is meant to help societies to come to terms with the past in order to build democracy and rights based on the rule of law, says Marina Caparini.
Transitional justice mechanisms include international tribunals, reconciliation commissions and truth-seeking measures. In recent years their importance and visibility increased due to gross human rights violations associated with armed conflicts in different parts of the world.
Security sector reform (SSR) is a framework aimed at achieving effective, well-managed and accountable security and justice institutions in countries marked by conflict or authoritarian rule. Efforts to improve capacities to facilitate SSR processes are resulting in the development of supporting concepts, strategies and infrastructures in many international and regional organizations, as well as on the part of donors.
Protect refugees
In her book chapter, Caparini examines how justice-sensitive SSR principles and processes can contribute to meeting the immediate protection needs of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). More fundamentally, JSSP also supports the development of longer-term durable solutions to displacement.
In contradistinction to prevailing interpretations of SSR that focus primarily on increasing operational capacity of security providers, justice-sensitive SSR explicitly elevates the development of accountability, legitimacy, integrity and inclusiveness of security and justice arrangements.
- JSSR recommends a holistic approach to reforming the delivery of security and justice, says Marina Caparini.