Children are recruited to fight in conflicts around the world and violent cruelty characterizes many of the conflicts in which children participate. Some children are perpetrators of some of the worst acts of depraved murder, disfigurement, and terrorism imaginable. They then struggle to reintegrate into communities that were victims of the violence. Taking into account the interests of children and other victims of conflict, and considering the needs of post-conflict communities, this book examines and offers suggestions for how transitional justice practices should conceptualize and address the responsibility of child soldiers for their contribution to violent collective harm.
This study focuses on child soldiers in Northern Uganda and the country's current and historic conceptions of justice. Defending the use of accountability, including exceptionally the use of criminal trials under a juvenile system, Fisher argues that an approach to transitional justice which takes seriously the agency of these participants in violent conflict as responsible moral entities is necessary to advance post-conflict social reconstruction. This book will appeal to a wide range of scholars from International Relations, Criminal Justice, Law, Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Development and African studies.