Postconflict Justice and Islam Project Image

Overview

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP), International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (ISISC), and the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University (INSCT) have begun a project to assess the conformity to the Shari'a of internationally recognized modalities of post-conflict justice for international crimes. These modalities include: international prosecutions, national prosecutions, truth commissions and related bodies, victims’ redress, vetting of personnel (“lustration”), memorialization, education, and domestic legal reforms. These approaches are alternatively referred to as transitional justice or post-conflict justice.

While there has been a significant expansion in the use of these mechanisms, and a significant body of literature and policy debate on the topic as countries around the world struggle to properly address the aftermath of mass atrocities, there has been a dearth of thinking exploring Islamic perspectives on transitional or post-conflict justice. Nevertheless, the Shari'a contains several sources of proscriptive and prescriptive norms applicable to Muslims in times of war and peace that would invite, if not require, post-conflict justice. It is our hope that this new project will address this gap in this important field.

Workshop Series

Postconflict Justice and Islam

November 5, 2010

Overview
To begin the project, USIP, ISISC, and INSCT are bringing together a group of Islamic and legal scholars in the United States to make a preliminary assessment of the compatibility of these modalities with the Shari'a. Following from the April 2009 Islam and International Humanitarian Law Workshop at Syracuse University, the project will seek to identify and assess normative provisions in the Shari'a which require, permit, or bar the utilization of any of the above-mentioned modalities of transitional justice, or which support other approaches to the problem.

Location
Beacon Hotel
Ballroom
1615 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC, 20036
(By Invitation Only)

View Photo Album: Flickr

Optional Reading Packet: Background Essays by Banks and Bassiouni | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

For more detailed information about the workshop, click here.

Publications


	Patterns of Conduct: Libyan Regime Support for and Involvement in Acts of Terrorism April 2011 Corri Zoli, Research Fellow, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism Shani Ross, Research Fellow, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism Sahar Azar, Research Assistant, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism Abstract: This Report provides a brief history and outline of documented examples of Libyan support, funding, and involvement in acts of terrorism and related international humanitarian and human rights violations over the course of Colonel Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi’s forty years of leadership. The Report has three parts. After a brief overview of the Libyan regime’s longstanding disregard for international norms, we provide a short chronology of incidents that exemplify Qadhafi’s role in international terrorism and that reveal links to Libyan sponsors. We then discuss prevalent “patterns of conduct” over time and how these underscore Libyan noncompliance with international law and disregard for human life and for the consequences of acts of terrorism—a longstanding posture by the Qadhafi leadership that may very well frame current reported practices toward Libyan civilians, protestors, and rebels.

	Analyzing Post-Conflict Justice and Islamic Law March 2011 Scott Worden, Senior Rule of Law Adviser, United States Institute of Peace Shani Ross, Research Fellow, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism Whitney May Parker, Research Fellow, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism Sahar Azar, Research Assistant, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism Post-conflict justice mechanisms such as truth commissions, war crimes tribunals and reparations programs have emerged as a fundamental building block of durable peace settlements in Latin America, Africa and Asia. They are relatively rare, however, in Muslim countries recovering from conflict—despite the fact that social and criminal justice is a fundamental principle of Islamic law...