A Second Chance at Transition
The African Union report on transitional justice in North Africa has been my main project over the past few weeks. The most intriguing countries for me have been the Arab Spring states: Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. After countless drafts, I had just submitted my final report on Egypt when the military issued a 48-hour ultimatum for President Morsi to resolve the political crisis before the military intervenes. At the time, I honestly didn’t think that a second coup was about to take place. 48-hours later, Morsi is ousted in a military coup and Egypt’s military issues arrest warrants for 300 members of the Muslim Brotherhood!
My first report discussed the transitional justice mechanisms in post-Mubarak Egypt and touched on how the state has yet to achieve lasting transition due to inadequate TJ measures, particularly with regard to gender, justice, truth, and reparations. My revised report will include a second section, discussing the human rights abuses and instances of sexual gender based violence during the 2013 protests. Since no transitional justice measures have been taken as of now, my report will mostly focus on the issues that the post-Morsi regime will have to address. Hopefully, Egypt’s transition will be more successful this time around.