Transitional Justice and Socio-Economic Harm

Huma Saeed is an affiliated senior researcher at the Leuven Institute of Criminology, Belgium, and an independent consultant on transitional justice and human rights.

Preface and acknowledgments

Introduction: Setting the scene

A land-grabbing case in the Sherpur neighborhood of Kabul

Relevance of Sherpur for the current study

Sherpur and beyond

Research aim

Introduction to the conceptual framework

Critical criminology

Transitional justice

Introduction to the empirical component

Methodology

Desk research

Fieldwork

Data analysis

Ethical considerations

Research limitations and challenges

Security

Data saturation

Validity and reliability

Researcher’s positionality

Emotional challenges of the data analysis

Book structure

References

1 Socio-economic harm in violent conflicts, transitional justice and critical criminology

Socio-economic harm in times of violent conflicts

Socio-economic harm, transitional justice and criminology

Transitional justice and socio-economic harm

Transitional justice and development

Transitional justice and structural inequality: A move towards transformative justice

Critical criminology and a harm-based approach to crime

Critical criminology

An understanding of crime

Harm-based approach to crime

State crime

Approaches to state crime

State crimes as serious human rights violations

Approaches to economic crime in criminology

Conclusion

References

2 Housing, Land and Property (HLP) loss in violent conflict

The right to adequate housing in the human rights regime

HLP rights violation in violent conflicts and peace settlements

Land grabbing and transitional justice

Land dispute, urbanization and criminology

Conclusion

References

3 Violent conflict, socio-economic harm and transitional justice in Afghanistan

Conflict background

The Bonn Agreement

Transitional justice in Afghanistan

“A Call for Justice”

The Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice

Bottom-up approach to transitional justice

The impact of violent conflict on the socio-economic fabric of the Afghan society

Market economy and liberal peacebuilding in Afghanistan

Conclusion

References

4 Housing, Land and Property rights in Afghanistan

Background and legal framework for HLP rights in Afghanistan

HLP rights, women and the marginalized population

Land titling and registration

Land dispute mechanisms in Afghanistan

Conflict impact on HLP rights in Afghanistan

The returnee IDPs’ perception on HLP harm

The returnees’ perception on HLP harm

Perceptions of victims of land grabbing

Conclusion

References

5 Land grabbing in Afghanistan

General background and definition of land grabbing in Afghanistan

Definition of land grabbing in Afghanistan

Land grabbing in the Afghan law

Tackling land grabbing in practice

The Strategic Plan to combat land grabbing

Other measures by the government to tackle land grabbing

Conclusion

References

6 Land grabbing in Afghanistan, economic-state crime and transitional justice

Land grabbing as economic crime

The actor

The motive behind the act

The contextual factors and means employed

The consequences and harm

Land grabbing as state crime

State crimes of commission

State crimes of negligence

State crime by omission

Land grabbing as economic-state crime

Transitional justice and land grabbing

Land grabbing and impunity

Land grabbing and property restitution/provision to the IDPs and returnees

Land grabbing as serious human rights violations

Quality (the degree of gravity)

Quantity (level of frequency)

Conclusion

References

7 Transitional justice and criminology: Bridging the gap

Through the prism of crime

The gap between criminology and transitional justice

Towards bridging the gap by combining fieldwork and an interdisciplinary approach

Crime as injury and social harm

State crime victims

Through the methodological prism

Conclusion

References

Conclusion

Main argument and research contribution

Recommendations

Recommendations for future research

References

Appendix A: Questionnaire

Appendix B: List of interviews

Index