Legality and localism.
Sensibaugh, Heather
The international community would be wise to support Mr.
Carter's call ("Reconstructing the Rule of Law: Post-Conflict
Liberia," Fall 2008) for an international endorsement of
community-based structures that promote access to justice.
Having witnessed local "paralegals" hard at work
expanding access to justice for rural Sierra Leoneans in the northern
part of the country, there is one aspect of the program that Mr. Carter
under-emphasizes. That is, apart from the change these individuals are
able to make in the lives of those suffering injustice, these paralegals
are model citizens who give hope to younger generations and members of
the community who themselves are not suffering in the same way as the
clients being helped.
The cadre of Timap for Justice paralegals for whom I worked are
among the most civic-minded people I have ever met. As such, they are
examples even to community elders and chiefs of what the people and the
country need in order to build a sustainable peace based on democratic
values. Somehow, those who are called to be paralegals manage to put
their clients, their community, and--eventually, one hopes--their
country first. On a twenty-six mile motorcycle trip during the rainy
season, one such paralegal, Ibrahim B. Kamara, decided at the end of a
long day to see yet one more prospective client, even though the
consultation would mean traveling in the dark through water on roads
riddled with potholes. On another occasion I observed Mr. Kamara assert
his identity as a Sierra Leonean rather than a member of a particular
tribe, which would have been the expected response. As special as he may
be, there are many others like him.
Local solutions to justice problems in post-conflict countries are
more compatible with international human rights principles than many
expect. In Sierra Leone, as in Liberia, witchcraft and sassywood--a
lethal potion made from tree bark which is used as a sort of mystical
"judge"--are a serious justice problem. This is especially
true in the customary courts, where local court chairmen feel obliged to
uphold tradition. Local paralegals not only understand community
dynamics and work for community-wide solutions, but most importantly,
they are members of the community who have grown up with the same
customs and experiences as those they are trying to help. Their
proximity to the culture helps them to be creative in solving issues of
injustice.
For example, paralegals in Binkolo managed to expand the sassywood
practice such that the accuser and the accused would both have to
participate if the ritual were to be used. Amazingly, the number of
times someone was forced to drink a poisonous brew reduced dramatically,
and this agreement set a precedent. Rather than issue a low forbidding
use of sassywood to help determine guilt or innocence, paralegals
transformed the custom and made it suddenly less desirable for all
concerned. The benefit of this approach is that local people had a say
in the change. Local knowledge combined with a desire to adhere to human
rights principles produced this innovative solution.
Rigid state structures in weak systems do not often have the
capacity to enforce laws that are made, even if the country is receiving
training and assistance from the international community. A negotiated
solution to justice problems may be easier and have a more immediate
impact if it is locally driven on a small scale. While Mr. Carter is
correct that working from the top at the national level is essential for
post-conflict reconstruction of the rule of law and that it must be
integrated with local efforts, only long-term investment made in
community-based structures, which help people solve the problems they
face, will transform communities and reestablish a new social order that
yields to law, rather than to violence.
HEATHER SENSIBAUGH
Special Assistant to the President, United States Institute of
Peace.
