Orbits: Transitional Justice Crucial to Reshape the Political Scene

Background:

Following the fall of Al-Bashir dictatorship, the negotiated agreement guiding Sudan’s new transitional government promised to work for comprehensive peace and justice. The agreement promised to hold members of the Islamist regime accountable for all crimes committed against the Sudanese people. But this seems to be a difficult task considering that important military members of the old regime are key players in the transitional government structures. Justice takes a long time to achieve and requires political courage, judicial independence and those responsible are no longer key players.

It is true that many have suffered from human rights violations and violence committed by the Islamist regime. The constitutional declaration made wide commitments to legal reform, to rebuild and improve the legal and judicial system, and to ensure independence of the judiciary and the sovereignty of law.

There are widespread vocal demands from the Sudanese people for justice and accountability.

Governments are not likely to engage in activities that provoke the military into reactions that can threaten their fragile power.

The post-authoritarian regimes usually establish truth commissions to investigate the human rights abuses where political tensions with the military were particularly high.

The democratic governments were even reluctant to set down truth commissions. It could take years, sometimes decades from the violations were committed until a truth commission was given the mandate to investigate the violations. Many of these truth commission unearthed massive torture, disappearances, rape, forced exile, killings, even genocide. This detailed information of atrocities committed spurred more demands for justice from victims and their families. The almost uniform response from the governments was to pass amnesty laws precluding the prosecution of the military and other state officials responsible for human rights violations. Some governments passed amnesty laws even before truth commissions started their work, anticipating what was coming. Others hastily passed amnesty laws when they realized the potential dynamite in the truth commissions’ findings – including in some cases specific recommendations to prosecute the military.

Things Take Time:

As long as the military is still strong and controls the arms, there will be no prosecutions.

As long as there are strong links between the incumbent regime and the outgoing regime responsible for the violations, there will be no prosecutions.

If prosecutions are to take place, the courts must be sufficiently strong and independent to take on these cases, and they must have the sufficient legal basis on which to prosecute.

The Sudanese judiciary is in shambles and clearly does not have the institutional capacity to prosecute. Reforming the civilian courts is a long-term goal. Prosecuting the military in military courts is not a viable option either. Furthermore, the Constitutional Document stipulates that the task of reforming military bodies is entrusted to military institutions in accordance with the law, and accordingly we cannot reasonably expect anybody with blood on their hands to cheer for legal reforms that may result in their own prosecution.

Three conditions that need to be present:

There must be claims for justice;

There must be political will to prosecute; and

The courts must enjoy a minimum degree of independence and have competence to rule in cases of this kind.

The Sudanese should realize that they are in for the long haul if they want justice. It may come at some point. Nevertheless, it will most definitely take a long time to achieve.

It goes without saying  that justice is the only way to cross the waves of transition through which all the aspirations of the victims will be responded to in terms justice, peace and freedom nation.

However, transitional justice must commit to a package of procedures including the legal, social, physiological and financial aspects besides fighting injustice as a practice to revenge.

This could only be achieved through just trials for all who were involved in human rights violations, embezzlement, or any other crime. The trials must be transparent and provide all the required conditions according to what is stipulated in the international conventions.

The government should avail a conducive political and social environment without any delay to make the mission a success.

We cannot talk about the success of December revolution without achieving its most important demands i.e. justice and transition.