This dissertation investigates the 1993 Genocide of Burundi's Hutu and Tutsi population as the product of the securitisation of ethnic identities. By utilising an International Security Studies approach in combination with a Fanonian conception of colonial society, this dissertation provides an alternative interpretation as to why the genocide occurred. At heart of its analysis is the question of ‘how did ethnic identities in Burundi become securitised?', which it seeks to answer through a qualitative research design based on the interpretative case study method. By reconstructing particular representations of enmity in historical perspective, the dissertation locates the crux of the Burundian tragedy in the emergence of ethnicised discourses on security. Incidentally, the interpretative analysis reveals a convergence in the subject matter of African Studies and International Security Studies that presents a promising potential for further research. The explorative approach of this dissertation may be of interest to scholars in Conflict Studies, African Studies, International Security Studies, Political Science, and anyone fascinated by the small African country.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-87).

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-106). / This thesis is concerned with the conceptions of three key and interactive groups - human rights lawyers/advocacy officers, asylum seekers and refugees, and Department of Home Affairs officials - who are in different ways involved with asylum seekers and refugees in Cape Town in the dual contexts of the new rights-based Constitution and the recurrence of political xenophobia. More specifically the thesis investigates their respective conceptions of (human/constitutional/legal) rights, citizenship and political xenophobia. The findings suggest that although the respondents hold the Constitution in high esteem in providing for the rights of everyone they also argue that in practice there is a denial of refugee and asylum seekers' rights under the Constitution, making them effectively rightless.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-99).

Bibliography: leaves 157-166. / This study investigates the relation between the narrow "peace process" that followed from South Africa's the National Peace Accord (NPA) and the "truth process" that followed from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) during the country's transition to democracy. The study narrows down these two highly complex processes so that they can be studied in relation to each other. The NPA was instituted during the crucial transition period between 1990 and 1994 in order to contain the political violence that threatened to derail the negotiation process then under way. In contrast, the TRC was established in 1995, the later phase of the transition, as a means to deal with South Africa's conflictual and violent past. It was mandated to uncover past human rights violations under the over-riding objective of promoting national unity and reconciliation. The contributions of both, the NPA structures and the TRC process, to building peace and democracy in South Africa are explored independent of each other before they are set in relation to each other. On the basis of guiding-question interviews conducted with individuals having been part of the NPA and the TRC respectively, preliminary conclusions regarding the historical question of whether a direct link between the NPA structures and the TRC process existed in South Africa are drawn. Departing from there, theoretical implications of the assessed relationship between the "peace process" and the "truth process" in South Africa are discussed. Based on the South African experience the study suggests that conceptually a link between "processes of peace and truth" is desirable as it can provide a more sustainable basis for the building of peace and democracy but it also notes the difficulties of establishing such a link in practice. The study points out that a direct linkage between "processes of peace and truth" could connect the ‘negative' task of peace-building - the reduction of direct violence - to the ‘positive' task of peace building -- the rebuilding of relationships. It is argued that such a linkage would further promote democratic consolidation. Departing from there the study concludes that a substantial or direct linkage between the "processes of peace and truth" is worth considering if other transitional societies opt for managing their transition by means of a "peace process" and a "truth process". peace process" that followed from South Africa's the National Peace Accord (NPA) and the "truth process" that followed from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) during the country's transition to democracy. The study narrows down these two highly complex processes so that they can be studied in relation to each other. The NPA was instituted during the crucial transition period between 1990 and 1994 in order to contain the political violence that threatened to derail the negotiation process then under way. In contrast, the TRC was established in 1995, the later phase of the transition, as a means to deal with South Africa's conflictual and violent past. It was mandated to uncover past human rights violations under the over-riding objective of promoting national unity and reconciliation. The contributions of both, the NPA structures and the TRC process, to building peace and democracy in South Africa are explored independent of each other before they are set in relation to each other. On the basis of guiding-question interviews conducted with individuals having been part of the NPA and the TRC respectively, preliminary conclusions regarding the historical question of whether a direct link between the NPA structures and the TRC process existed in South Africa are drawn. Departing from there, theoretical implications of the assessed relationship between the "peace process" and the "truth process" in South Africa are discussed. Based on the South African experience the study suggests that conceptually a link between "processes of peace and truth" is desirable as it can provide a more sustainable basis for the building of peace and democracy but it also notes the difficulties of establishing such a link in practice. The study points out that a direct linkage between "processes of peace and truth" could connect the ‘negative' task of peace-building - the reduction of direct violence - to the ‘positive' task of peace building -- the rebuilding of relationships. It is argued that such a linkage would further promote democratic consolidation. Departing from there the study concludes that a substantial or direct linkage between the "processes of peace and truth" is worth considering if other transitional societies opt for managing their transition by means of a "peace process" and a "truth process".

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-135). / This study is about the ending of conflicts. It examines the United Nations (UN) capacities in Conflict Transformation activities through the deployment of multifunctional peace operations. It is a study of how the UN seeks to transform violent conflicts into the state of being non-violent conflicts. Thus, a study that examines the process of creating a self-sustaining peace (positive peace), and not only examining how to reduce the risk of resumption of violent conflict (negative peace). Herein, the study favours the concept Conflict Transformation as an extension of the term Conflict Resolution.

Includes bibliographical references. / There is little doubt that traditional leaders continue to make an indelible mark on the practice of politics across the continent of Africa. In democratising South Africa, the relevance of this institution is debated extensively. In the main, traditional leaders are described as the embodiment of patriarchy, comprised of unelected male representatives who rule with "clenched fist" on an unwilling populous (Mamdani, 1996:23). It is argued that traditional authorities "...can only secure legitimacy by drawing its sustenance from the modern state, working as a complement to democratic local government" (Southall and Kropiwnicki, 2003:76). In light of these assertions, this thesis answers two questions: do traditional leaders have a role to play in democratising South Africa?

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112). / In July 2009, following the issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the African Union (AU) passed a declaration of non-cooperation with the ICC. While all of the other cases in which the ICC had been involved also were located on the African continent, the AU's declaration was the first time any collective of African nations expressed significant dissatisfaction with the ICC. This thesis examinens the reasons the AU reacted so publicly and strongly to the ICC's pursuit of Bashir (and not to the cases already on the ICC's docket).

This thesis seeks to examine the interplay between business and human rights within the context of political transitions from authoritarian to democratic rule. In the wake of the globalisation process and the subsequent breakdown of the Westphalian state system, transnational corporations (TNCs) have acquired augmented powers at a global level where previously states had been the only players; and yet TNCs have none of the human rights obligations of states, particularly under international law. This dissertation aims to examine why this accountability lacuna exists in relation to corporations, specifically in relation to state-sponsored human rights violations in which TNCs are complicit.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-106). / The topic of this Masters mini-dissertation is amnesty and the principle of individual accountability for gross human rights violations. The field in which this topic is located is that of transitional justice. The issue with which this mini-dissertation is concerned is the practical, political and moral problems which states in transition from authoritarian regimes to newly established democratic government based on human rights have experienced in the last three decades when seeking accountability for the past atrocities. These state transitions have significantly employed amnesty as a means to address the need for peace and stability at the end of conflict, but this has tended to foreclose the possibility of holding the previous regime accountable for its legacy of human rights abuse. The historical context of this enquiry is the the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT) in Germany 1945 1946, which established a precedent for individual criminal accountability for crimes against humanity. The Nuremberg precedent fundamentally assumed that individuals at every level of the authorisation of crime are accountable for their own actions. Since the Milgram experiment on obedience to orders in the 1960s, social science experiments have shown, however, that individuals acting under orders do not perceive of their moral autonomy as clearly as previously assumed. In the light of the historical transitions since Nuremberg, the recent innovation in the South African Constitution in 1995, which introduces the notion of conditional amnesty, represents a novel attempt to hold individuals accountable. It required individual acknowledgement and full disclosure in public of the responsibility for heinous deeds. This framework also grants amnesty for gross human rights violations committed in the execution of an order of, on behalf of or with the approval of a political organisation. Few commentators have addressed the question of whether such conditional amnesty may be compatible with the Nuremberg model of accountability. The specific task which this mini-dissertation sets out is, therefore, to 1) clarify the concept of accountability, 2) determine in which senses one may hold individuals accountable for their actions, and 3) assess whether, to what extent and how the South African amnesty may achieve the accountability required by a liberal-democratic framework which upholds the moral principle that individuals are responsible for their actions.