UC Santa Barbara

The central African region is currently experiencing massive conflict, much due to the emergence of violent non-state actors. Anti-state rebel militia groups, predominantly located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR), regularly challenge the state's supposed monopoly of violence and engage in immense human rights abuses against civilian populations. Various efforts to address these atrocities have included global governance responses such as International Criminal Court indictments, United Nations peace accords, African Union treaties, bilateral peace talks, and the involvement of international and local civil society. Additionally, efforts to abate conflict comprise of various forms of intervention including military, economic, legal, and relief intervention. Also, upholding international law, including both human rights law and international humanitarian law, and the introduction of post-conflict management have worked to address militia groups in numerous ways with wide-ranging results. Issues involving sovereignty, weak states, international intervention, and neo-colonialism are all brought to the forefront when looking at rebel militia violence in this region. The questions then that this study seeks to answer are: What are some non-conventional issues present in conflict that must be addressed in order to realize long-term sustainable peace? What role does transitional justice, both at the local and international level, play in conflict resolution and peacebuilding? How can international actors work with local forces to respond in an effectively coordinated way to sexual and gender based violence, war crimes, and forced displacement?