On 19 and 20 March 2012, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) convened a two-day regional consultation in Johannesburg, South Africa, to solicit the expectations and needs of African civil-society organisations, governments, inter-governmental agencies and other key stakeholders, working in the field of justice and reconciliation in Africa, on the mandate of the new Special Rapporteur (SR) for the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non Recurrence. Countries represented at the meeting included South Sudan, Uganda, the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Denmark, Norway and Belgium, as well as officials from the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

This Policy Brief assesses the mandate of the new SR within the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Special-Procedures Division, and highlights the main discussion points that emerged from the regional consultation. It concludes with a set of recommendations to the SR, civil society, the UNHRC, the AU and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

By Friederike Bubenzer, Cara Meintjes, Tim Murithi, Allan Ngari and Webster Zambara
Pages: 13
Dimensions: A4
Publisher: IJR
Distributor: IJR
Date of publication: June 2012
Only available electronically