A Conflict Does Not Rot: State and Civil Society Responses to Civil War Offences in Mozambique
This article analyses how state and non-state actors have tried to address the human rights violations and war crimes committed during the civil war in Mozambique (1976–92). While the political elite opted for amnesty laws, and urban civil society organisations remained largely on the side-lines, in rural areas, war survivors and the post-war generations have been actively engaged in dealing with the violent past through practices commonly referred to as local justice and healing. This analysis is based on parliamentary debates, interviews with state and non-state agents, and longitudinal field data from the rural areas of Gorongosa. It argues that while the state failed to institute accountability practices for wartime human rights violations, the ongoing vitality of local cultural practices of justice and healing have been crucial to attain accountability for certain serious wartime violations.
- Rights and Legal Institutions
- Mozambique
- Civil War
- Gamba Spirits
- Gorongosa
- Human Rights
- Local Justice
- Transitional Justice
Appears in:
Special Issue: "Drivers of Justice"
Skaar, Elin and Astri Suhrke
Also in this volume:
- Drivers of Justice after Violent Conflict: An Introduction
Skaar, Elin and Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm - Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL): Impartial or Imposed International Justice?
Knudsen, Are John, Sari Hanafi
