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Facing States of Fear: The Emerging Issues of Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Transitional Justice

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide a conceptual framework for the engagement of transitional justice (TJ) with terrorism and counterterrorism measures. In recent years TJ has been expanded in diverse sets of political scenarios, including highly volatile and violent transitions as well as consolidated democracies. As TJ serves the ultimate goal of reconciliation within communities affected by long-term conflicts, evidence suggests it is equipped to deal with the responses of society at large in the aftermath of terrorism. This possibility is analysed by looking at major TJ mechanisms, such as truth commissions, security sector reforms and criminal liability processes, which present extensive capacity to investigate cyclical patterns of violence, create documented historical facts and redress victims. By integrating reparative and preventive elements, TJ may also inform counterterrorism policies so as to promote civic trust in state institutions, which is a key element for the establishment of a more participated political order.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Extraordinary African Chambers have been established in 2012. At the time of writing, the Court is about to start the first trial against the former president of Chad, Hissène Habré in July 2015. He has been indicted for torture, crimes against humanity and war crimes; none of the charges include acts of terrorism (EAC 2013: 156–181).

  2. 2.

    Special Court for Sierra Leone, Documents, available online at: http://www.scsldocs.org/documents.

  3. 3.

    At the time of writing, peace talks between the FARC and the government of Colombia are being held in Cuba.

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Correspondence to Elena Sciandra .

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Sciandra, E. (2017). Facing States of Fear: The Emerging Issues of Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Transitional Justice. In: Romaniuk, S., Grice, F., Irrera, D., Webb, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Counterterrorism Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55769-8_6

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