Proposal Defense: Living Without Justice: Exploring the Dilemma of Human Rights Victims in the Aftermath of Military Rule

The study seeks to develop a comparative approach that will help to understand the plight of the victims of human rights abuses during periods of unconstitutional (military) rule and how they develop principled ways to “live with perpetrators” in West Africa. During conflict resolution processes with military coup leaders, their members are often granted amnesty from persecution to facilitate the peace-making process. Since the perpetrators of criminal acts and violators of human rights are immune to prosecution, the victims are left with no means of seeking justice or redress.

The study will, therefore, explore how victims of human rights abuses cope, and the mechanisms they use to help them cope with the effects of human rights abuses they suffered under military regimes. Also, the study will explore the relationship between the perpetrators and the victims and how such relationships change or evolve from generation to generation.