African perspectives on tradition and justice

Abstract

This volume aims to produce a better understanding of the relationship between tradition and justice in Africa. It presents contributions of six African scholars related to current international discourses on access to justice and human rights and on the localisation of transitional justice. The contributions suggest that access to justice and appropriate, context-specific transitional justice strategies need to consider diversity and legal pluralism. In this sense, they all stress that dialogical approaches are the way forward. Whether it is in the context of legal reforms, transitional processes in post-war societies or the promotion of human rights in general, all contributors accentuate that it is by means of cooperation, conversation and cross-fertilization between different legal realities that positive achievements can be realized. The contributions in this book illustrate the perspectives on this dialectal process from those operating on the ground, and more specifically form Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Malawi, South-Africa, Uganda and Rwanda,. Obviously, the contributions in this volume do not provide the final outcome of the debate. Rather, they are part of it.

Full text

AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON
TRADITION AND JUSTICE
Edited by
Tom B
Eva B
Giselle C
Lia N
Martien S
Cambridge – Antwerp – Portland

African Perspectives on Tradition and Justice
Tom Bennett, Eva Brems, Giselle Corradi, Lia Nijzink and Martien Schotsmans
(ed s.)
© 2012 Intersentia
Cambridge – Antwerp – Portland
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ISBN 978-1-78068-059-0
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Intersentia v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 is publication was completed in the framework of the research project
‘Addressing Traditional Law in Post-Con ict Legal and Judicial Development
Aid in sub-Saharan Africa’, with the  nancial support of the Belgian Ministry of
Science Policy within its programme ‘Society and Future’ 2007 [TA/00/17
AFTRALAW].  e editors wish to express their gratitude to the programme
administrators, Mrs. Margarida Freire, and her predecessor, Mrs. Zakia Khattabi,
for their enthusiastic support to the project.  ey also wish to thank Dr. Marleen
Renders for her role in designing the research project and the members of the
Scienti c Support Committee for their valuable inputs and critical comments as
the project moved on: Mrs. Lara Deramaix, Prof. Marie-Claire Foblets, Mr.
Renaud Galand, Prof. Em. Luc Huyse, Mr. Robert Olbrechts, Prof. Barbara
Oomen, Mr. Dick Oosting, Prof. Stephan Parmentier, Prof. Filip Reyntjens, Mrs.
Heidy Rombouts, Dr. Stef Vandeginste, Mr. Marc Van Wymeersch and Mr.
Pierre Vincke.  e authors of the chapters especially deserve our thanks for
accepting our invitation to contribute to the volume and for addressing our
comments and adjusting their chapters accordingly. Finally, our thanks are due
to the University of Cape Town for the organization of the international forum
‘Traditional Justice and the Role of External Actors in sub-Saharan Africa’ in
March 2010, which planted the seeds out of which this publication grew.

Intersentia vii
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
About the authors and editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Chapter I. Introduction
Giselle C and Martien S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. Background to the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. Historical context and current approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1. Traditional justice and development in Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2.  e localisation of transitional justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.  e contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4. Common themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter II. Access to justice and human rights in the traditional courts of
sub-Saharan Africa
Tom B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.  e traditional African style of justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3. Due process of law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4. Equal treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5. Rights in criminal proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.1.  e civil/criminal distinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.2. Due process in criminal proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.3.  e presumption of innocence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.4. Legal representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
6. Access to justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7. Conclusion – And the right to culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Chapter III. Courts and the application of customary law in Malawi:
Towards the reintroduction of local courts
Kenan Tilombe M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2. Historical background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Contents
viii Intersentia
3.  e structure of the Malawi court system since 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.  e application of customary law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.1. Problems in the magistrate courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.2. Developing customary law jurisprudence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.  e recommendations of the Malawi Law Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.1.  e structure and positioning of the new local courts . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.2. Presiding o cers and assessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.3. Jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chapter IV. Powers, rights and citizenship:  e ‘return’ of the traditional
authorities in Mozambique
Maria Paula G. M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2. Tradition, between the past and the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3. Civilization, culture and citizenship in the colonial context . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.1. Nationality and citizenship: toughening the abyssal line . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.2. Highlights of colonial administrative reforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4. Old and new actors in the political fabric of independent Mozambique . . 78
4.1. Amplifying the plural network of justices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.2.  e return of ‘old’ actors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5. Contemporary political implications of legal pluralism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Chapter V. Traditional justice and human rights in post-war African
countries: Prospects and challenges
Joe A.D. A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
2. Confronting the justice challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3. Is traditional justice the answer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4. Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5.  e human rights question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
6.  e Sierra Leone con ict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
7. Justice and reconciliation from below . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
7.1. Reintegration and reconciliation of ex-combatants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.2. Community reconciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.3. Philosophical expressions that are germane to the reconciliation
process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Contents
Intersentia ix
8. Conclusion:  e future of traditional justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Chapter VI. Reinventing and validating the cosmology and ontology of
restorative justice: Hermeneutics of the traditional Acholi justice system in
Northern Uganda
Daniel K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
1. Rationale of the study: Contextualizing the assumptions and traits
of justice in transitional justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
1.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
1.2.  e thesis and outline of the chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
1.3. Central argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
1.4. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
2. Live and let live: A critique of dominant modernist justice in
transitional justice discourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
2.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
2.2.  e modernist critique of tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
2.3.  e modernist epistemology and retributive justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
2.4.  e ICC and retributive justice in the Northern Uganda armed
con ict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
3.  e resurgence of the traditional justice system in Northern Uganda . . . 130
3.1.  e notion of tradition in the Acholi community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
3.2. Reconstructing and validating tradition: A hermeneutics . . . . . . . . 131
3.3. Acholi cosmology and ontology: Tempels’ framework . . . . . . . . . . . 132
3.4. Cosmology and ontology among the Acholi of Uganda . . . . . . . . . . 133
3.5.  e ontological hierarchy – Reconciliation and restoration in
Acholi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
4. Acholi traditional justice and human rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.1. Acholi understanding of human rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.1.1.  e Acholi concept of rights being natural and
communal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
4.1.2. Duty and responsibility in human rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5. Reliving Acholi traditional justice mechanisms: Plant Acholi in
an Acholi garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5.1.  e Acholi concept of dano as a framework for reconciliation . . . . 140
5.2. Justice and systemic thinking: Returning the ICC to the
classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Contents
x Intersentia
Chapter VII. Revisiting the legal and socio-political foundations and (Western)
criticisms of gacaca courts
Felix Mukwiza N and Alphonse M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
2. Legal and socio-political underpinnings of gacaca courts
2.1. Prosecuting genocide cases in post-genocide Rwanda . . . . . . . . . . . 152
2.2. Motivations for the establishment of the gacaca courts . . . . . . . . . . 154
2.2.1. Socio-legal dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
2.2.2. Socio-political considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
2.2.3. Socio-cultural motivations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
3. (Western) criticisms of gacaca courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
3.1. Non-inclusion of RPF/A crimes in the gacaca process . . . . . . . . . . . 161
3.2. Non-compliance with due process guarantees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
3.3. Lack of judicial independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168