African shared values in policy development: outcome of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy

Abstract

Using an emancipatory critical theory perspective, this thesis explored how African shared values have influenced the development of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP). Central to the development of the AUTJP has been its positionality in an African context. The thesis has explored how the AUTJP is the first transitional justice policy that is rooted in an African context, which differentiates it from the European and United Nations transitional justice policies. Specifically, the African shared values encapsulated in the AUTJP include Ubuntu, community, indigenous justice, and restoration. These differ from the values of the EUTJP and the UNTJP, which forefront equality before the law, criminal accountability, and an end to impunity.

This study has also shown that from an emancipatory critical theory perspective, an emancipatory agenda is required throughout the entire process to ensure that the outcome of transitional justice is emancipation for marginalised groups, such as youth, by using both formal and informal indigenous mechanisms throughout the peace process. This study defined emancipation as inclusion and used the theories of change that were postulated by Gready and Robins (2020). In particular this study considered the theory of change that spoke to focusing on empowerment and localisation in the development of policy, to emphasise that previously marginalised groups, such as youth, can be better included in transitional justice processes through the use of local indigenous mechanisms on the African continent.