reconciliation. Most of these mechanisms are not documented as some occur at family and or community level on a day-to-day basis. Although these mechanisms differ from context to context, they exhibit common elements such as the practice of rituals and ceremonies as well as engagement structures where perpetrators and victims of human rights violations meet and dialogue. Traditional justice methods take various forms such as the well-known Gacaca courts in Rwanda. This is a traditional community conflict resolution system that was used to investigate and resolve cases of individuals implicated in the genocide of 1994 (Mutisi. 2011). The Gacaca Courts came in as a response to the criticisms of the ICTR processes which were viewed as “too slow, too expensive and too far removed from Rwanda” (Clark. 2009), and, additionally, was very slow in getting off the ground. In Northern Uganda, the Acholi people used a system known as mato oput, which includes clan and family. The practice was centered on reconciliation where the perpetrator acknowledges wrongdoing, and compensates the victim. Following the resolution of the dispute, parties to the dispute were to share the bitter Oput drink symbolizing the end of bitterness (Majakanja. 2010). Other notable examples include the Fambul Tok (Family Talk) which was used in Sierra Leone to promote reconciliation by bringing together victims and perpetrators to speak about their experiences of the civil war. It draws on the age old traditions of confession, apology and forgiveness (Reeler & Mue.2004). In Mozambique, ordinary people conducted the magamba spirit where traditional healers conducted reintegration rituals for ex-soldiers (Igreja, & Dias-Lambranca. 2008). In Burundi, for example, the National Council of Bashingantahe was constitutionally created to mediate inter-ethnic massacres and violence that occurred since 1993.28 Customary justice mechanisms if administered effectively can “re-establish and produce trust, a value lacking in societies divided by violence” (Bianca De Bortoli 2014). Furthermore, they are less expensive, more accessible, more in touch with community values and easier to understand than their counterpart formal systems due to their use of indigenous languages (Allen. 2013). Traditional justice is intended to restore broken relationships in communities and prevent the recurrence of violence. As such it can be used to supplement the more formal transitional justice mechanisms. From the brief case studies above, African traditional justice mechanisms exhibit the following attributes:   28 focus is on reconciliation; healing the wounds of victims and survivors and restoring social harmony; http://www.idea.int/publications/traditional_justice/upload/Traditional_Justice_and_Reconciliation_after_Viol ent_Conflict.pdf 35