Negotiating justice: guidance for mediators

Questions of justice and accountability for past crimes can be a central point of contention in peace negotiations. This report provides guidance on grappling with justice issues in peace negotiations. The author addresses the parameters and policy options for justice in the context of peace negotiations, including basic facts of law, guidance on amnesties and international criminal justice, lessons for incorporating approaches to accountability that are not limited to prosecutions.

It is based in part on lessons emerging from recent mediation experiences in a range of country contexts, with a particular focus on Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi, and Aceh, Indonesia.

Conventional wisdom all too often assumes irreconcilable differences between the demands of justice and the need for peace. There will be tensions, especially with regard to that component of justice that deals with criminal accountability for past crimes. Securing justice ought to look forward as well as to the past, but even when addressing serious crimes of the past, recent practice shows that there are ways to secure both justice and peace.

The report covers the following areas:

• trends in peace agreements
• engaging the public in peace talks
• understanding amnesties
• the International Criminal Court: implications for mediators
• how to promote justice in peace agreements