342
The World Bank Legal Review
to using ICT in a context of transitional justice, such as information sharing, cost efficiency, access to the court system, participation, and outreach.76 This chapter focuses on the la er. The criticism has often been made that when it comes to transitional justice, some institutions, particularly international criminal tribunals, have neglected to take into consideration the needs and concerns of local populations. Furthermore, people living in remote areas have often not been able to take part in proceedings that usually take place far away from where the abuses or crimes being tried were commi ed. Local populations also lack a clear understanding of the mandate and work of these institutions.77 ICT initiatives could help improve this type of situation. “New technologies may . . . play an important role in increasing access to transitional justice institutions and in facilitating communication between the institutions and their constituencies. Especially communities with low literacy rates may benefit from visual—ideally live—representation of proceedings held in other areas.”78 Given that a large part of the population in developing countries lives in rural areas, courtrooms are often located miles away and traveling conditions are often far from ideal.79 Therefore, physically accessing the justice system and transitional justice institutions remains one of the biggest challenges for people living in developing countries. In this context, using ICT tools can help alleviate the difficulties of reaching places that are far away in unsafe areas after a conflict for such purposes as participating in inquiries or witness interviews. Also, increasing communication with local communities enhances ownership over transitional justice mechanisms. Using ICT tools can also lead to exchanges of information or dialogue between the different communities affected by the situation in the country, thus promoting social cohesion and national unity.80 “It would, therefore, be useful to encourage decentralized, bo om-up approaches that give a greater voice to grassroots organizations, even in the planning phase of a particular mechanism. The result may be a more collective, and collectively-owned, perhaps even continuously evolving process, exactly what may be needed to deal with situations of massive trauma.”81
Conclusion The recent spread of mobile technologies worldwide has allowed people in developing countries to bypass the landline infrastructure phase and gain almost complete mobile access to networks from their phones. Nowadays, one 76
Id., at 7–8.
77
Id., at 8.
78
Id.
79
McDonald, supra note 25.
80
Kastner, supra note 75, at 9.
81
Id.