27.06.08 Transitional Justice – Does It Help Or Does It Harm?
NUPI-notat 737 | 26 sider.
Begrepet ’Transitional Justice’ (overgangsjustis) dekker en rekke tiltak og tilnærmingsmåter som kan anvendes for å hanskes tidligere massive brudd på menneskerettigheter og hjelpe berørte samfunn med å komme videre med oppbygging av demokrati og lovbaserte rettighetssystemer. Som eksempler på slike tiltak kan nevnes internasjonale og nasjonale domstoler, forsoningskommisjoner og andre sannhetssøkende og justisfremmende tiltak.
>> Summary
Transitional justice refers to a range of approaches that may be used to address past massive human rights violations. Transitional justice mechanisms include international tribunals, reconciliation commissions and truth-seeking measures. In recent years their importance and visibility increased due to gross human rights violations associated with armed conflicts in different parts of the world. While the crimes committed in Srebranica and Rwanda shocked the public opinion and paved the way for establishment of international judicial bodies, the peaceful transition in South Africa drew attention to its Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as a possible model for seeking peace and justice through non-judicial means. So what is the added value of Transitional Justice for coming to terms with the past and building just and peaceful societies? The author reviews some past experiences and models of Transitional Justice and points to their weaknesses and strengths. As the main achievements she cites the international tribunals’ contribution to the development of jurisprudence in some areas of international criminal law and the delivery of justice in a manner impossible for local courts in post - war countries; as their weaknesses, the perception of delivering the “winners` justice” and rather limited involvement of populations from the affected countries. She also provides sets of recommendations as to how to improve the effectiveness of reconciliation commissions established in post-conflict countries, in the context of the United Nations peace operations.
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