Negotiating the future: the role of the media in transitional justice

© 2016 Dr. Maria Mejer RaeTransitional justice has become a global norm and practice yet some advocates continue to use the media alongside law to pursue justice for state crimes. This thesis examines why they do so and what this can tell us about the current limits of transitional justice and possible ways forward. My thesis undertakes a comparative case study analysis of Sri Lanka, Argentina and Australia to address these questions. In taking an empirical bottom-up approach, it draws primarily on interviews with 21 advocates centrally involved with legal claims against the state, about their perceptions, beliefs and experiences of the relationship between the media and transitional justice, alongside an analysis of key texts. The thesis finds that these ‘justice advocates’ turn to the media as a parallel justice forum that at times intersects with law to provide a public space for accountability and truth-telling. It shows how the media is used alongside law to make justice claims heard in the public sphere and to put pressure on the state to enact political and social reform. The media is also used as a tool to influence public opinion, mobilize action and apply pressure on international legal and political institutions to respond to human rights violations. However, the media’s complicity in or indifference to state crimes can place limits on its capacity to play a formal role in transitional justice. In drawing on Habermas’ public sphere conceptual framework, this thesis concludes that the media’s role in transitional justice can be conceived as an accountability mechanism that communicates opinion between civil society and the state. In light of this, it argues that transitional justice projects may consider providing an official democratic forum so citizens can participate in discussing, debating and negotiating what the future looks like in a post-conflict society. This space of public deliberation could be an official platform for justice advocates to make claims and be heard. In doing so, this space encompasses a grassroots approach that encourages citizens to participate in negotiations about the future of a post-conflict society. Subsequently, transitional justice projects may facilitate a more deliberative process for public opinion to be formed about how society wants the state to respond to human rights violations