In discussing restorative justice practices and processes, Moffat Karambamuchero, PFI Regional Envoy for Anglophone Africa, explained the similarity of restorative justice concepts to those of justice systems in pre-colonial Africa. He described the goal of restorative justice as expanding the circle of stakeholders involved in responding to a criminal event beyond the state and the offender. In this discussion, he highlighted the differences between restorative justice and the current justice system.

Ms. Theresa Qhubu, director of Probation in Lesotho and a PF Lesotho volunteer, provided the gathering with an overview of restorative justice. She identified three different types of justice approaches and then explored reasons for considering restorative justice. In describing the concept, she identified ‘harm,’ ‘accountability’ and ‘inclusion’ as three key elements of restorative justice.

A presentation by the director of the Swaziland Association for Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (SACRO) covered previous attempts to introduce restorative justice to the country and raised the possibility of future partnerships with PF Swaziland.

The day ended with the creation of a working group to:

• Review statutes in Swaziland in respect to restorative justice

• Study programmes in other countries and see how restorative programmes could be introduced in Swaziland

Read the full report.

February 2006