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.
