ATS3462 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Power Vacuum, Human Security, East Pakistan Central Peace Committee
28 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 10 – Delivering international Justice -informal approaches
• Problems with a formal approach
o Uneven application – itors justie
o Expense -countries involved often have no money
o Limited reach
o Intensifies professional, Western approach
o Works against truth
o Does not address core problems of conflict or violence
• Transition
o A ouded period etee to regies i a partiular tie period
o Moeet i a roadly lieralisig diretio aay fro ditatorship
o Premised upon procedural criteria, e.g.:
▪ Fair and impartial elections
▪ State and justice reform
▪ International recognition
▪ Aeptae of the rule of la
• Transitional justice
o Trasitioal justie = the full rage of proesses ad ehaiss assoiated ith a
soietys attept to oe to ters ith a legacy of large-scale past abuses, in order
to esure aoutaility, sere justie ad ahiee reoiliatio
o Tends to revolve around prosecutions and truth commissions in countries that are
transitioning from conflict or state repression
o Linked to diverse needs
▪ Reconciliation
▪ Peace-building
▪ State-building
o There have to be multiple, culturally-relevant pathways to justice
o Options to deal with to fix the past
▪ Restorative assistance
▪ Honouring through ceremonies, monuments and museums
▪ Official apologies
▪ Further investigation of cases, including exhumations
▪ Restoring memory through formal and social education
o Options to deal with for the future
▪ Attend to different experiences of private and public violence
▪ Overhaul laws and policies to prevent violence and develop rights
▪ Reform, train and monitor state workers
▪ Develop institutions that provide human security
▪ Social justice changes
• Truth commissions
o Temporary investigation of a pattern of abuses over specific period of time
o Completes activities with publication of report
o Officially sanctioned, authorized or empowered
o Victim-centred
o Can include perpetrator testimonies
o Gives official acknowledgment
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Challenges identities
o Develops social history of events
o May facilitate reconciliation
o Provides recommendations
• “outh Afrias truth ad reoiliatio oissio
o To proote atioal uity ad reoiliatio i a spirit of uderstadig hih
transcends the conflict and divisions of the past through investigating and
establishing as complete a picture as possible of the nature, causes, and extent of
gross iolatios of hua rights oitted i the past oflit i “outh Afria
o The commission was charged with uncovering the fate or whereabouts of the
itis of gross iolatios of hua rights etee 96 ad 1994.
o Offenders were offered amnesty from prosecution if they publicly acknowledged
their crimes.
o It was also to make recommendations about reparations for the survivors of
violations.
o In addition, the commission was to recommend measures aimed at preventing gross
violations of human rights in the future and to compile as comprehensive an account
as possible of its activities and findings.
o Pitfalls
▪ Limited Truth-Tellers
▪ Tactical Storytelling
▪ A Gendered Truth
▪ Dominance of Individualized Truths
• Top down and bottom up approaches
o ICC etc versus grassroots, community initiated alternatives – Peace Committees in
South Africa, Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland examples of the
latter.
o In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda (ICTR) was created, situated in Arusha in neighbouring Tanzania.
o The ICTR is isolated fro Rwada i ters of its geography ad ipact, ad its
defendants equally distanced by their former elite status in the genocide, the
indictment of the genocide leaders at the ICTR will have very little impact on
reconciliation within Rwandan communities. In line with RJ, Gacaca is presented as a
shift i power to the couity. -Tiemessen, 2004:6
o Gacaca = people sitting on the grass and resolving conflict (was done historically)
▪ Revived their traditions rather than impose western ones
o In response to this ineffectiveness, the Rwandan government has revived a
traditional form of dispute resolution called Gacaca.
o The norms underlying Gacaca reflect both cultural traditions and restorative justice
characteristics.
o The e gaaa proess has fie goals: estalish the truth aout hat happeed;
accelerate the legal proceedings for those accused of genocide crimes; eradicate the
culture of impunity; reconcile Rwandans and reinforce their unity; and use the
capacities of Rwandan society to deal with its problems through a justice based on
‘ada usto.
• Gacaca courts
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Week 10 delivering international justice -informal approaches: problems with a formal approach, uneven application (cid:448)i(cid:272)tor(cid:859)s justi(cid:272)e, expense -countries involved often have no money, limited reach. It was also to make recommendations about reparations for the survivors of violations. In addition, the commission was to recommend measures aimed at preventing gross violations of human rights in the future and to compile as comprehensive an account as possible of its activities and findings: pitfalls. Limited truth-tellers: tactical storytelling, a gendered truth, dominance of individualized truths. Icc etc versus grassroots, community initiated alternatives peace committees in. South africa, community restorative justice in northern ireland examples of the latter. In the aftermath of the rwandan genocide, the international criminal tribunal for. In line with rj, gacaca is presented as a shift i(cid:374) power to the co(cid:373)(cid:373)u(cid:374)ity(cid:863). Tiemessen, 2004:6: gacaca = people sitting on the grass and resolving conflict (was done historically, revived their traditions rather than impose western ones.
