12 - Transitional Justice Without Transition

Summary

This chapter focuses on the role of the international community in fostering pre-transition transitional justice in Syria. It examines the origins and internationalisation of the field of transitional justice, which includes a range of measures – judicial and non-judicial, formal and informal, retributive and reconciliatory – that may be employed by societies in response to a legacy of authoritarianism or mass violence following a period of political transition. It looks at efforts to secure transitional justice already being employed in Syria, focusing on the myriad of documentation efforts, culminating with UN General Assembly’s establishment of the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism to Investigate Serious Crimes in Syria. It also examines the potential role that truth-telling, rehabilitation, and victim engagement have to play in realising transitional justice’s broader reach. Finally, it ponders the future of and possibilities for transitional justice in a Syrian state still ruled by President Bashar al-Assad.