Human Rights in Situations of Transitional Justice

Abstract:The last couple of decades have witnessed numerous situations of extreme violence: the killing fields in Cambodia, genocides in Guatemala and Rwanda, ethnic cleansings in the former Yugoslavia, ethnic-religious conflicts in East-Timor, Apartheid in South Africa, and successive civil wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is not to mention the ongoing war situations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. In some cases, political regime changes have taken place and new elites have replaced the old ones, while other conflicts leave little imagination to change. New elites and regimes all face the challenge of ‘transitional justice’, namely how to deal with the aftermath of serious human rights violations, international crimes and violent conflict. Transitional justice is understood to encompass four pillars: Criminal prosecutions; Truth commissions; Reparation programmes; and institutional reforms. In each of these, human rights play a crucial role. Our contribution will discuss the development of transitional justice as a notion and a practice, and sketch its relationship with human rights standards and norms. It will also explore the contribution of criminology to transitional justice. These issues will be illustrated with specific reference to violent conflicts in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan and the empirical work conducted in these situations.

ISBN:978-1138931176

Publication year:2016

Accessibility:Closed

Review status:Peer-reviewed