Bringing Them All Back Home: The Challenges of DDR and Transitional Justice in Contexts of Displacement in Rwanda and Uganda

This article engages with recent attempts to bridge the apparent divide between disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and transitional justice, and their implications for post-conflict environments characterized by large-scale displacement. Much of the literature on technical, institutional remedies to better coordinate DDR and transitional justice and respond effectively to displacement overlooks a series of theoretical and empirical challenges stemming from diffuse or decentralized conflict in the post-Cold War era. The article highlights these general problems by examining the cases of Rwanda and Uganda, neighbouring countries recovering from continuing cycles of mass conflict and forced displacement over the last two decades. Based on the author's interviews with over 1,000 respondents, it shows that attempts to coordinate DDR and transitional justice have been much more problematic in both countries than most commentators suggest. Greater recognition of the challenges of diffuse violence, and more careful policymaking by national and international actors, are required in the pursuit of lasting peace and security after mass conflict and displacement.