The Sharp End: Armed Opposition Movements, Transitional Truth Processes and the Rechtsstaat

Abstract

While ex-combatant and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration issues have generated rich literatures, transitionary armed opposition movements – actors central to transitional justice processes – have been neglected. This article addresses part of this research gap, focusing on the agency of armed movements with respect to three key transitional justice themes: transition, law and truth processes in the law-based rechtsstaat . Drawing on examples from South Africa, Namibia, Israel/Palestine and the Basque country, the article offers a framework for analyzing this agency by exploring the political opportunity structures presented by truth processes, as well as their implications for the movements’ mobilizing structures and framing processes. This analytical framework is grounded in original Northern Ireland data drawn from interviews with former Irish Republican Army (IRA) activists, IRA public statements and Sinn Féin election manifestos. The data suggests that transitionary armed opposition movements see transitional justice as a site for continuing their political projects and potentially inflicting political damage to their opponents, as well as of attrition, given the victim–perpetrator character of such movements. The truths emerging from transitional processes may reflect the degrees of agency, entrepreneurship (including deliberate silences) and resources deployed by both state and nonstate actors.