Justice in times of War : First attempts toward transitional justice in Syria, a comparative case.

Abstract: Transitional Justice emerged as an exciting field three decades ago after the Nuremberg trials. Attempts to seek justice have been prolific and diverse in many countries including Syria. This research aims at revealing the factors that impact the transitional justice process in Syria by analyzing the first attempts at transitional justice in Syria. Therefore, this paper uses a case comparison of the first attempts at transitional justice in Syria and Rwanda and uses critical discourse analysis to do so. This paper recognizes four factors that made transitional justice successful in Rwanda when compared to Syria, namely: the absence of foreign powers, a decisive victory, the decentralization of justice, and the level of community involvement. This paper contributes to reducing the literature gap on transitional justice in Syria by proposing an analysis of the first signs of transitional justice.