Transitional Justice and Protracted Accountability in Re-democratised Uruguay, 1985–2011

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUIS RONIGER
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth Commission ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Electoral Democracy ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
The Government

AbstractThis article analyses the protracted process by which democratised Uruguay has come to terms with its legacy of human rights violations. Central to this process has been the nature of Uruguayan transitional policies and their more recent partial unravelling. Due to the negotiated transition to electoral democracy, civilian political elites approached the transitional dilemma of balancing normative expectations and political contingency by promulgating legal immunity, for years avoiding initiatives to pursue trials or launch an official truth commission, unlike neighbouring Argentina. A constellation of national and transnational factors (including recurrent initiatives by social and political forces) eventually opened up new institutional ground for belated truth-telling and accountability for some historical wrongs – and yet, attempts to challenge the blanket legal impunity failed twice through popular consultation and in a recent parliamentary vote. Each time, the government officially projected a narrative that sacralised national consensus and reconciliation, now enshrined in two sovereign popular votes, and the adoption of a forward-looking democratic perspective.

Transitional justice and constitutionalism: The case of Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 543-562
Author(s):  
Marian Yankson-Mensah
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth Commission ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Military Regimes ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
The Right ◽  
Reform State ◽  
Constitution Making

The delicate process of constitution-making during transition covers a range of issues, but usually features questions on how to address past human rights violations, change repressive laws, recognise basic rights and reform state institutions. Hence, the constitution-making process can have significant implications on the transitional justice mechanisms that are adopted and how they are implemented. In the case of Ghana, the 1992 Constitution came into force after decades of political instability. On 28 April 1992, a draft constitution for Ghana’s fourth republic was approved in a referendum. As part of the transitional provisions in the 1992 Constitution, amnesty provisions were enshrined to protect members of all previous military regimes from prosecution. However, the 1992 Constitution did not contain express provisions for initiation of other transitional justice mechanisms. In a bid to reflect on the rarely examined relationship between transitional justice mechanisms and constitutionalism, this paper shall examine Ghana’s amnesty laws, truth commission and reparative measures in relation to the constitution-making process and constitutional norms. The paper opines that as separate processes towards a common end, proper synchronisation of Ghana’s transitional justice processes and constitution-making could have shaped the country’s transitional justice mechanisms in the right direction towards achieving their perceived goals.

scholarly journals Ditadura e Democracia: o impacto da conciliação sobre as memórias e a constituição da Justiça de Transição no Brasil

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (38) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Garcia Araújo ◽  
José Alves Dias
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth Commission ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Special Committee ◽  
Porto Alegre ◽  
De Se ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact

Ditadura e Democracia: o impacto da conciliação sobre as memórias e a constituição da Justiça de Transição no Brasil Dictatorship and Democracy: the impact of conciliation on the memories and constitution of Transitional Justice in BrazilAlexandre Garcia Araújo* José Alves Dias**  REFERÊNCIA ARAÚJO, Alexandre Garcia; DIAS, José Alves. Ditadura e Democracia: o impacto da conciliação sobre as memórias e a constituição da Justiça de Transição no Brasil. Revista da Faculdade de Direito da UFRGS, Porto Alegre, n. 38, p. 121-139, ago. 2018. RESUMOABSTRACTO propósito do artigo é demonstrar como o mecanismo da conciliação foi utilizado para superar a ditadura e retornar à democracia, impactando as memórias construídas sobre o período autoritário, e limitando a conformação de uma Justiça de Transição no Brasil. Os debates em torno do tema se acentuaram, sobremaneira, com a formação da Comissão Especial de Mortos e Desaparecidos Políticos, em 1995, a proposição de revisão da Lei de Anistia, em 2010, e a instituição da Comissão Nacional da Verdade (CNV), em 2011. Neste processo, as vítimas e familiares dos atingidos, e os governos de Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva e Dilma Rousseff intentaram, em graus e modos diferentes, promover a investigação e responsabilização pela violação de direitos humanos durante a ditadura militar. No contraponto, permaneceram os participantes do Clube Militar que obliteravam quaisquer iniciativas nesse sentido. Diante da correlação de forças, as memórias registradas, inicialmente contrapostas, foram cedendo lugar a um enquadramento gradativo ao ponto de se tornarem difusas no processo de definição da Justiça de Transição. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate how the conciliation mechanism was used to overcome the dictatorship and to return to democracy, impacting the memories built on the authoritarian period, and limiting the conformation of a Transitional Justice in Brazil. The debates on this theme were especially marked by the formation of the Special Committee on Political Deaths and Disappearances in 1995, the proposal to revise the Amnesty Law in 2010 and the establishment of the National Truth Commission (CNV), in 2011. In this process, the victims and relatives of those affected, and the governments of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, tried in different degrees and in different ways to promote investigation and accountability for human rights violations during the dictatorship military. In counterpoint, the active and reserve military (through the Military Clubs) remained that obliterated any initiatives in this direction. Faced with the correlation of forces, the recorded memories, initially counterposed, gradually gave way to a gradual framework to the point of becoming diffuse in the process of defining the Transitional Justice. PALAVRAS-CHAVEKEYWORDSDitadura. Democracia. Memória. Justiça de Transição.Dictatorship. Democracy. Memory. Transitional Justice.* Professor Substituto da Universidade do Estado da Bahia - UNEB: Campus XX, Brumado-BA. Mestre em Memória, Linguagem e Sociedade pela Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia. Advogado.** Professor Titular no Departamento de História e professor permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Memória: Linguagem e Sociedade (PPGMLS), da Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia.

Democratizing Societies Confront Their Past

2021 ◽  
pp. 159-180
Author(s):  
Luis Roniger
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
The Past

This chapter examines various processes of democratization and confrontation within the legacies of the last wave of repressive authoritarianism in the Americas. Undergoing periods of civil unrest, repression, and human rights violations, these societies faced a tortuous process of coming to terms with that experience, enforcing policies of transitional justice without an easy way of closing the book on the past. This chapter suggests a comparative look at various policy paths and their consequences, highlighting a transnational spillover effect as countries looked upon one another and drew inferences for calibrating and advancing their own processes of overcoming the scars of authoritarian repression. The analysis identifies the constellation of national and transnational factors that eventually opened institutional ground for belated truth telling and accountability for historical wrongs.

scholarly journals Gendering transitional justice processes in Africa: a feminist advocacy approach to truth commissions

2021 ◽  
Vol 9s2 ◽  
pp. 35-52
Author(s):  
Elias O. Opongo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
Truth Commission ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

Highlighting the place and role of women in transitional justice processes draws attention to two main aspects: the need for a holistic approach to transitional justice processes, and paying attention to the sensitive nature of gender-based violence in the whole cycle of truth commissions from articulation of the mandate of the commission, composition of the commissioners, categorisation of crimes, to the writing and implementation of the final report. A feminist advocacy approach to transitional justice is framed under a critical feminist strategy that draws attention to diverse forms of human rights violations against women in situations of conflict; structures of exclusion of women�s concerns; the agency and presence of women in truth commission processes. Hence, discourse on gendering transitional justice processes has recently emerged, especially given that women have been targeted in conflict situations, giving rise to sexual and gender-based violence, and indiscriminate killing of women despite their non-combatant role. This article discusses the extent of marginalisation of cases of women�s gross human rights violations in truth commission processes, while acknowledging positive attempts made so far, through critical feminism, to include women�s concerns in these processes.

scholarly journals Agensi Perempuan Penyintas dalam Inisiatif Keadilan Transisi di Tingkat Lokal

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-240
Author(s):  
Mulki Makmun ◽  
Atnike Nova Sigiro
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Women Survivors ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Participation Of Women

This article will describe the contribution of women survivors of human rights violations in promoting transitional justice initiatives at the local or community level in Indonesia. In their marginal position, both as women and victims of human rights violations, the women survivors show their agencies to face social, political, cultural and structural barriers. The initiatives and participation of women survivors in Central Sulawesi, Aceh, and Yogyakarta Province, have contributed to the emergence of transitional justice models at the local level, such as apologies for victims, health assistance programs, scholarships, and truth-telling. These transitional justice initiatives at the local level not only fill the gap in the accountability that should be borne by the state, but they also strengthen the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms organized by the state or government, both at the local and national levels.

American and Canadian Civil Actions Alleging Human Rights Violations Abroad by Oil and Gas Companies

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Horlick ◽  
Joe Cyr ◽  
Scott Reynolds ◽  
Andrew Behrman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
Forum Non Conveniens ◽  
The Government ◽  
Oil And Gas Companies ◽  
Political Question ◽  
The U.S

Under the United States Alien Tort Statute, which permits non-U.S. citizens to bring lawsuits in U.S. courts for human rights violations that are violations of the law of nations, plaintiffs have filed claims against multinational oil and gas corporations for the direct or complicit commission of such violations carried out by the government of the country in which the corporation operated. In addition to exercising jurisdiction over U.S. corporations, U.S. courts have exercised jurisdiction in cases involving non-U.S. defendants for alleged wrongful conduct against non-U.S. plaintiffs committed outside the U.S.The exercise of jurisdiction by U.S. courts over non-U.S. defendants for alleged wrongful conduct against non-U.S. plaintiffs committed outside of the U.S. raises serious questions as to the jurisdictional foundation on which the power of U.S. courts to adjudicate them rests. Defences that foreign defendants can raise against the exercise of jurisdiction by the U.S. courts are an objection to the extraterritorial assertion of jurisdiction, the act of state doctrine, the political question doctrine, forum non conveniens, and the principle of comity. These defences are bolstered by the support of the defendant’s home government and other governments.

scholarly journals Is the Responsibility to Protect an Accepted Norm of International Law in the post-Libya Era?

2018 ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Jeremy Sarkin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
One Dimensional

This article explores the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) in the post-Libya era to determinewhether it is now an accepted norm of international law. It examines what RtoP means intoday`s world and whether the norm now means that steps will be taken against states thatare committing serious human rights violations. The building blocks of RtoP are examined tosee how to make the doctrine more relevant and more applicable. It is contended that theresponsibility to react should be viewed through a much wider lens and that it needs to bemore widely interpreted to allow it to gain greater support. It is argued that there is a need tofocus far more on the responsibility to rebuild and that it ought to focus on the transitionallegal architecture as well as transitional justice. It is contended that these processes ought notto be one-dimensional, but ought to have a variety of constituent parts. It is further arguedthat the international and donor community ought to be far more engaged and far moredirective in these projects.

scholarly journals Os acervos documentais produzidos pelas comissões da verdade no Brasil onde estão hoje?

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 203-217
Author(s):  
Mônica Tenaglia ◽  
Georgete Medleg Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
Truth Commission ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Do So

This paper provides the work of identifying and locating the archives produced by twenty truth commissions created in Brazil between 2012 and 2018. To do so, it uses the final reports and virtual pages of the commissions, the electronic citizen information service (e-SIC) and state and municipal ombudsmen and contact with former truth commission members. The results show the difficulty in locating these collections due to the lack of information about Brazilian truth commissions and the lack of information about the presence of these collections in archival institutions. Furthermore, it points to a worrying scenario regarding the protection and disclosure of archival collections which hold information about human rights violations in Brazil.

Transition, ‘Never Again’ and ‘Moving On’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Hearty
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
Irish Republicanism ◽  
Difficult Issue ◽  
Subsequent Replacement

Viewing Irish republican policing memory primarily through a transitional justice lens, this chapter critically examines how Irish republicans, as a principal party to the conflict, approach the difficult issue of ‘dealing with the past’ as both collective victims and perpetrators of human rights violations during the conflict. It will interrogate the range of divergent views within modern Irish republicanism on issues such as victimhood, truth recovery, ‘moving on’ and ‘dealing with the past’. In particular, it looks at how the memory of human rights violations framed the wider policing debate and led to a master narrative of ‘never again’ whereby the value of ‘remembering’ past abuses lay in helping to prevent future repetition. This is placed against a more general backdrop of the stop-start ‘dealing with the past’ process in the North of Ireland that has included the establishment, operation and subsequent replacement of the Historical Enquiries Team (HET), the passage of the Civil Service (Special Advisers) Act (Northern Ireland), and proposals like the Haass/O’Sullivan document and the Stormont House Agreement.

22. Transitional Justice

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna R. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Retributive Justice ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Difficult Question ◽  
The Social

This chapter examines the link between transitional justice and human rights. Atrocities such as genocide, disappearances, torture, civil conflict, and other gross violations of human rights leave states with a puzzling and often difficult question: what to do with the perpetrators of such acts of violence. Transitional justice takes into account the social implications of such conflicts. Its emphasis is on how to rebuild societies in the period after human rights violations, as well as with how such societies, and individuals within those societies, should be held to account for their actions. The chapter considers three paradigms of transitional justice, namely: retributive justice, restorative justice, and reparative justice. It also discusses the proliferation of the number of mechanisms of transitional justice at work and concludes with a case study of transitional justice in Uganda.

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