Transitional Justice in Ghana
An Appraisal of the National Reconciliation Commission
Authors: Yankson-Mensah, Marian
Free Preview- Comprehensively analyses all aspects of a truth commission's work and procedure
- Defines criteria for assessing the National Reconciliation Commission that can be used to assess other transitional justice mechanisms
- Employs qualitative and quantitative data to analyse the effectiveness of the National Reconciliation Commission
- Reflects on the prospects and options for revisiting Ghana’s past and addressing the gross human rights violations investigated by the National Reconciliation Commission
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- About this book
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This book situates Ghana's truth-telling process, which took place from 2002 to 2004, within the discourse on the effectiveness of the different mechanisms used by post-conflict and post-dictatorship societies to address gross human rights violations. The National Reconciliation Commission was the most comprehensive transitional justice mechanism employed during Ghana's transitional process in addition to amnesties, reparations and minimal institutional reforms. Due to a blanket amnesty that derailed all prospects of resorting to judicial mechanisms to address gross human rights violations, the commission was established as an alternative to prosecutions.
Against this background, the author undertakes a holistic assessment of the National Reconciliation Commission's features, mandate, procedure and aftermath to ascertain the loopholes in Ghana's transitional process. She defines criteria for the assessment, which can be utilised with some modifications to assess the impact of other transitional justice mechanisms. Furthermore, she also reflects on the options and possible setbacks for future attempts to address the gaps in the mechanisms utilised.With a detailed account of the human rights violations perpetrated in Ghana from 1957 to 1993, this volume of the International Criminal Justice Series provides a useful insight into the factors that shape the outcomes of transitional justice processes.
Given its combination of normative, comparative and empirical approaches, the book will be useful to academics, students, practitioners and policy makers by fostering their understanding of the implications of the different features of truth commissions, the methods for assessing transitional justice mechanisms, and the different factors to consider when designing mechanisms to address gross human rights violations in the aftermath of a conflict or dictatorship.Marian Yankson-Mensah is a Researcher and Project Officer at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy in Nuremberg, Germany.
- Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Introduction
Pages 1-26
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Historical Background to the Establishment of the National Reconciliation Commission
Pages 27-55
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The Legal Framework of the National Reconciliation Commission
Pages 57-101
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The National Reconciliation Commission in Practice
Pages 103-144
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The National Reconciliation Commission in Hindsight: An Evaluation of Impact
Pages 145-190
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Transitional Justice in Ghana
- Book Subtitle
- An Appraisal of the National Reconciliation Commission
- Authors
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- Marian Yankson-Mensah
- Series Title
- International Criminal Justice Series
- Series Volume
- 25
- Copyright
- 2020
- Publisher
- T.M.C. Asser Press
- Copyright Holder
- T.M.C. Asser Press and the author
- eBook ISBN
- 978-94-6265-379-5
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-94-6265-379-5
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-94-6265-378-8
- Series ISSN
- 2352-6718
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- XXI, 250
- Number of Illustrations
- 6 illustrations in colour
- Topics