Managing Expectations: Understanding Ex-Combatant Perceptions of the TRC in Sierra Leone

This paper examines local understandings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which operated in the wake of Sierra Leone’s devastating 11-year civil war. It contextualizes local understandings of this mechanism of transitional justice, within the broader framework of peacebuilding efforts which operated concurrently, in particular the operation of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) and the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process. This paper focuses on ex- combatant perceptions and expectations of the TRC in context, as a uniquely vulnerable post-war population, whose relationship with TRCs has been widely neglected. Measures of transitional justice, as the toolkit for post-transition accountability, have often been criticized as being built on ‘faith’ and not ‘fact’ (Thoms, Ron & Paris, 2010, p. 331), and nowhere is this more evident than in the relationship between ex-combatants (widely understood as ‘perpetrators’) and TRCs. In fact, this relationship has received no dedicated consideration (Skjelsbæk, 2015), despite their important and necessary participation. This study joins a growing sub-field of research that examines variation in local attitudes towards and experiences of transitional justice processes (see Aguilar, Balcells & Cebolla-Boado, 2011; Nussio, Rettberg & Ugarriza, 2015; Stover & Weinstein, 2004). Using primary narrative data collected in Sierra Leone, it presents a detailed ethnographic investigation of ex-combatant understandings of the TRC. It reveals how the concurrent operation of peacebuilding processes, notably the SCSL and the DDR process, informed expectations and ultimately experiences. Additionally, interviews with local elites adds breadth to uncovering the relationship between the TRC and the ex-combatant population, by revealing the recognized need for their inclusion but simultaneously highlighting discrepancies in the challenges understood around their participation. The concurrent operation of the SCSL alongside the TRC in Sierra Leone is often cited as an obstacle to the work of the TRC, yet this analysis illuminates a polarization in attitudes towards this relationship, between ex-combatants and local elites. Conversely, while the relationship between DDR and the TRC (and transitional justice more broadly) receives little scholarly attention, this study highlights perceived linkages between them and the impact thereof on ex-combatant understandings of the purposes of the TRC. Through its examination of a neglected but uniquely vulnerable and significant category of conflict- affected populations (ex-combatants) this study makes several contributes. Ex-combatant participation in TRCs is necessary for the fulfilment of their truth-telling, reconciliation and deterrence purposes, yet a grounded understanding of this relationship remains absent. By taking as its focal point the ex-combatant population, this study contributes important empirical insights into their relationship with TRCs, which are lauded for their high levels of local responsiveness and inclusivity. This paper further highlights the impact of concurrent peacebuilding operations on local understandings of the TRC. It contributes to the nascent sub-field of transitional justice scholarship highlighting local variance in attitudes towards transitional justice processes and traces the nature, origins and impact of these perceptions and expectations. A better understanding of the variation in attitudes held, and the construction thereof sheds new light on the questions of TRC responsiveness and inclusivity.