Essay on Transitional Justice System

It is a system that is applied in some countries that have faced various crises in society. The use of transitional justice is a way the countries that are emerging from a period of political turmoil, conflicts, and repression. This includes massive violence or large-scale human rights violations that are more serious or which include a high number of fatalities that the normal justice system will not be able to provide adequate fully and the best solution. The use of transitional justice has been applied in countries that have faced years of war, human rights violations and also some serious political aggressions which have made it hard for the proper utilization of the normal justice system. Introduction The transitional justice is becoming a prime method, which is currently being used to solve some of the exponential problems in the society.

The United States of America was directly involved in the war and supported some elements of the war including the legitimate government of Cambodia. This is because the United States of America wanted to counter the effect of the military aggression by the communist forces in the country. After the legitimate government was overthrown in 1975, the communist government came into power, and they were very brutal and ruthless. This led to the most severe and brutal deaths among the local people whom the new regime ordered everybody out of the cities and towns. Everybody was required by the new regime to live in the rural areas and march with immediacy to the rural areas. million Cambodians lost their lives in what was a major war crime that got the attention of the international community and it was widely criticized due to its inhumane nature and also how it was treating its people.

The Khmer Rouge regime only wiped more than 20% of the total population of the Cambodian people, and this shows the level of aggression and mistreatment that the local people faced during this time. Most of these people died from harsh living conditions such as starvation, overworked, diseases and also executions which were the major form of punishment that the ruling government had created on the people (Chan, 2006). After the Khmer Rouge regime (Jeffrey & Kim, 2014), was overthrown finally in 1979, many people had already lost a lot of lives, property destroyed and the common forms of livelihood of the people had been destroyed. Therefore, there was a lot of discomforts and also instability in the country. It highlights the various processes developed in trying to get justice and healing in Cambodia after years of war.

It gives the general procedures that have been developed in getting truth and justice for the Cambodian people and provides the general, special tribunal cases that were held in an attempt to find justice. The book also highlights the general, special tribunals that were formed including the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the Khmer Rouge and their diverse roles. In this case, the Khmer Rouge failed to offer the justice system and offer the able solutions that could help everybody in the country in the realization of justice. The Khmer Rouge was based on tribalistic ideas, and also it lacked integrity and fairness. The reconciliation provided the basis that the country could move forward devoid of any challenges that could allow for the development rather than finger pointing (Bell, 2015).

The Basis of the Transitional Justice in Cambodia The development of the transitional justice in Cambodia was based on some core factors that were aimed at promoting and developing the peaceful coexistence of the nation. One of the core dimension of the transitional justice system was a criminal prosecution. In this case, the justice system after thorough and well-analyzed research on the conflict fronted some names that were more culpable for the war and who had played a major role in the execution of the people and also in other related crimes. The justice system, therefore, succeeded in ensuring that some common names that had been mentioned as who played a major part in the war were brought to book to face the justice system. The major challenge that was faced during this time was government intervention.

The government intervened on virtually almost everything that the commission was doing. In this case, the government gagged the various roles of the commission, and this hindered the development and the inclusion of various components that the commission had developed and worked out in response to the needs and the promises that it had delivered to the people. Therefore, vital information that the commission found out and created that could have nevertheless made the lives of the people better were hence controlled by the government. Meeting the various needs of the people that the commission had developed that could have otherwise made better how they were supposed to live after the aftermath of the justice system in the country (Muddel, 2003). The print media also lacked, and in some cases, the available ones were gagged by the government.

Most of the Cambodians during this time lives in the rural areas, and hence they could not get the full information developed by the transitional justice system and hence they could not get the full information on the various requirements and developments that had been put in place to help in the realization of the dreams that it harbored. The lack of well-designed media to reach the local people became a problem in developing the best means of reaching and meeting all the promises that it had made to the people. The influence of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in running the affairs of the country also affected the way through which the people could get involved in running the affairs of the transitional justice system in the country (Manning, 2017). The NGO’s that were in action was also influenced by the government to hide the truth from the people.

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