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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol.7, No.7

Publication Date: July 25, 2020

DOI:10.14738/assrj.77.8774.

Keil, J. A., & Stegbauer, A. (2020). The Relationship Between Trust and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in Post-Conflict Sub- Saharan Countries. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(7) 882-909.

The Relationship Between Trust and Truth and Reconciliation

Commissions in Post-Conflict Sub-Saharan Countries

Dr. Julie A. Keil

PhD, JD, Associate Professor,

Saginaw Valley State University

Alexander Stegbauer

Master of Public Policy

Michigan State University

ABSTRACT

Sub-Saharan African countries have conducted Truth and Reconciliation

Commissions (TRC) from the early 1970’s to 2020 in twenty-one

different countries. TRCs have been chosen by states after armed

conflicts, attempted or completed coups or in several cases after

contested elections and election violence, in attempt to agree at a

common “truth” to the events and to bring reconciliation to individual

victims and polarized groups within the state. Most TRCs have claimed

the need to build trust in institutions, government and communities as

one of the reasons for the conduct of a TRC. However, despite extensive

scholarly study of TRCs in general, and some study of sub-Saharan

African TRCs (particularly the South African TRC) there is a lack of study

of the relationship between TRCs and the development of trust. This

study utilizes Afrobarometer data regarding trust in various

governmental and quasi-governmental entities in ten Sub-Saharan

African states that conducted a TRC. This study concludes that the

processes in strong TRCs are related to the improvement in trust in

some of the entities, but others are unaffected or show decreases in trust

because the processes generally used in the TRC were not effective in

creating trust.

Key words: Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, Trust, Transitional

Justice, Afrobarometer.

INTRODUCTION

The modern image of sub-Saharan Africa is countries with constant warfare, ethnic strife, civil wars,

and human rights abuse. This is an image that belies the vast improvements in most sub-Saharan

African countries and the work that has been undertaken, particularly since the 1970s, to improve

conditions in those countries and to bring peace. Despite some progress, those conflicts continue

to cause a variety of problems for countries but one of the worst problems is how to restore trust in

their populations in the government and the various institutions of government after the conflict

has ended. Without trust in the government, conflicts are more likely to reoccur as people choose

violence rather than working through the system. This is particularly true for agencies such as the

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 7, July-2020

police and the army that may have been complicit in either causing the conflict or in failing to protect

the population against the worst parts of the conflict. A lack of trust can also cause populations to

cling to the ruling party or head of state, regardless of corruption or whether they were

constitutionally elected, because they are at least familiar and therefore safe. People develop a trust

in the person, rather the institutions. TRCs can help to foster trust by using processes that develop

trust in government and quasi-government institutions.

There are forty-six countries in sub-Saharan Africa according to the United Nations (UN). Since the

final end of colonization in the 1970s most of those countries have experienced conflicts ranging

from interstate wars, intrastate wars, election violence, coups, to genocide. Countries have

attempted a variety of types of transitional justice to expose the truth of what occurred those

conflicts and to attempt to restore trust in state institutions. Transitional justice efforts can consist

of TRCs, war crimes trials, amnesties for offenders, lustration of offenders, and other less formal

methods such as changing of national anthems and flags and installation of memorials to victims of

violence. Despite these efforts countries often still suffer from a general lack of trust years after the

conflict has ended, making it difficult to have countries move forward in their efforts to stop future

conflicts. Continued conflicts also require the country to pay for the conflict, not for infrastructure,

hospitals, and schools.

A tremendous amount of money is spent on transitional justice methods, particularly domestic war

crimes trials and TRCs. TRCs are much less expensive than war crimes trials and may have

significant impact on resolving conflicts, making them often the choice of countries recovering from

a conflict. They are also considered less disruptive to a post-conflict country because they try to

expose truth and reconcile the population rather than punish offenders who may still have public

support. There are a variety of costs for a TRC, some economic, some non-economic; there is a real

economic cost to the nation utilizing a TRC and the choice of a TRC means a tradeoff of limited

resources away from other pressing needs and to the TRC. Data regarding actual costs for TRCs are

extremely difficult to obtain, particularly from the earliest TRCs but some is available. Justice in

Perspective notes that the Liberian TRC (2006-2009) originally had a budget of fourteen million

dollars which was later reduced to eight million dollars. Sierra Leone (2002-2004) budgeted four

million five hundred thousand dollars for its TRC and South Africa (1995-2002), one of the larger

TRCs, budgeted eighteen million dollars each year for two and one half years, plus a smaller ongoing

budget for follow up and reparations (justiceinperspective.org).

The question of whether or not they are effective at creating trust in a country, and if so, how that

trust is created has not been answered. Because of the tradeoffs between paying for TRCs instead

of other purposes, it is critical that TRCs be studied to determine whether they meet their goals of

promoting peace and security in post-conflict countries. This paper discusses TRCs because they

are the most chosen transitional justice method given their lower administrative cost and ability to

address national issues as opposed to war crimes trials that focus on individual offenders.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Despite the recent emergence of TRCs on the international stage, there is still debate among scholars

concerning their effects on trust and social capital. While some argue that the truth uncovered by

the commissions is effective at promoting healing and can lead to an increase in social cohesion and

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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.77.8774 884

Keil, J. A., & Stegbauer, A. (2020). The Relationship Between Trust and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in Post-Conflict Sub-Saharan Countries.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(7) 882-909.

Communication Partner On Uptake Of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Among Married Men In Kenya: An Evaluation Study Of Information Source

Attributes. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(7) 825-842. trust among the population. Meanwhile others contend that the TRCs can contribute to a decline in

trust by challenging governmental institutions.

A.Allen and M. Allen (2000) argue that TRCs may be an effective method to end the “self- perpetuating circle of abuse and counter-abuse” that has become a staple of some countries by

increasing social cohesion. In order to evaluate this hypothesis, the authors tested the success of

the South African TRC as a therapeutic tool based upon six criteria by which they argue

International Legal Institutions can contribute to healing: addressing peoples need for justice,

allowing people to relate experiences, promoting reconciliation at individual and national levels

encouraging reintegration of offenders, promoting certainty by establishing a human rights culture

and promotion of healing. The authors found that by adopting a restorative approach to justice, the

commission was successful in laying the groundwork for the reintegration of offenders, while also

addressing the need for justice (459-460; 466-467; 471).

Furthermore, they found that the South African TRC was successful in letting people to relate,

validate, and record their experiences by allowing nearly 30,000 victims and offenders to share

their stories as part of the public hearings (468-470). However, the authors conclude that the

commission was less successful at promoting reconciliations at either the individual or national

level. While examples of individual reconciliation have been uncovered, the granting of amnesty to

offenders has made it difficult for victims to forgive them. At the national level, it was found that the

TRC may have widened the division between the two groups (470-471). Overall, the authors found

the South African Truth & Reconciliation Commission to be a relatively successful therapeutic tool

by focusing on truth, reconciliation, stability, and restorative justice. Through this promotion of

restorative justice and reconciliation that the South African TRC could also have increased trust in

the wake of apartheid.

The argument that TRCs have a positive effect on social cohesion and trust is furthered by Martin- Berstain, Paez, Rime, & Kanyangara (2010). In order to assess the effects of the commissions on

individuals and society, the authors used survey data collected from sixteen Latin American

countries in which TRCs had been conducted during the 1980s and 1990s (9). The authors found

that where TRCs had taken place, there was a decrease in negative stereotypes and a corresponding

increase in social cohesion (13). These results showed that the use of TRCs may lead to an increase

in trust by contributing to a boost in social cohesion, leading to trust.

Similar results were found to be associated with the TRC that followed the civil war in Sierra Leone.

Using survey data to measure trust among ex-combatants and victims of the civil war, Cilliers, Dube,

& Siddiqi (2016) found that trust had increased for both groups during the period of the functioning

TRC. In addition to this, the surveys also showed an increase in trust between former combatants,

demonstrating that the reconciliation aims of the TRC were at least somewhat successful.

Furthermore, the authors found that these increases in trust also increased or stayed the same

among the victims of the conflicts, demonstrating that the effects of the commission had extended

even to those most directly and negatively affected by the civil war (787-789; 791-794).

Other scholars contend that TRCs are not as effective at promoting social cohesion and trust. One

major argument in favor of this point-of-view is that the commissions do not address the long-term

issues that led to the conflict and lack of cohesion in the first place. While some scholars, such as