scholarly journals The unique Basque peace process: Linking Basque and European generations for global transitional justice

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 584-615
Author(s):  
Joxerramon Bengoetxea
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Conflict Situation ◽  
Unique Case ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Sociedad Civil ◽  
Pais Vasco ◽  
Sobre Todo

This paper considers the recent and unique case of transitional justice in the Basque Country. Its uniqueness, from a comparative perspective, lies in its unilateral character. It is mostly because of the pressure of Basque Society, together with the tough stance of the criminal justice system of Spain, that ETA dissolved. The analysis of this process discusses some issues of transitional justice, in tension with formal or traditional justice, and the relevance of this new field in Europe, Spain and the Basque Country. The paper spells out the most significant initiatives in the field of transitional justice adopted in the Basque case, stressing the importance of civil society, and the range of issues arising in a post-conflict situation where different agents have significantly different agendas. The paper concludes by suggesting steps towards an inclusive agenda on memory and narratives of the conflict capable of delivering truth and reconciliation. El artículo aborda el reciente proceso de justicia transicional en el País Vasco como un caso único. Su singularidad, desde una perspectiva comparada, reside en su naturaleza unilateral. ETA se ha disuelto sobre todo por la presión de la sociedad civil vasca, junto con la dureza en la aplicación del sistema español de justicia penal. El análisis de este proceso estudia temas propios de la justicia transicional que entran en tensión con la justicia tradicional o formal. Se analiza especialmente la relevancia de este novedoso campo en Europa, en España y en el País Vasco, apuntando las iniciativas más importantes en el campo de la justicia transicional adoptadas en el caso vasco, haciendo hincapié en la contribución de la sociedad civil y reseñando la gama de cuestiones que surgen en un contexto post-conflicto donde distintos agentes tienen agendas significativamente divergentes. En la conclusión se sugieren ideas para trabajar en una agenda convergente e inclusive sobre memoria y relatos del conflicto capaces de aportar verdad y reconciliación.

Transitional Justice, Truth and Reconciliation: An Under-Explored Relationship

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Natalya Clark
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commissions ◽  
Conflict Reconciliation

AbstractMuch of the literature on transitional justice suffers from a critical impact gap, which scholars are only now beginning to address. One particular manifestation of this aforementioned gap, and one which forms the particular focus of this article, is the frequently-cited yet empirically under-researched claim that "truth" fosters post-conflict reconciliation. Theoretically and empirically critiquing this argument, this article both questions the comprehensiveness of truth established through criminal trials and truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) and underscores the often overlooked problem of denial, thus raising fundamental questions about the reputed healing properties of truth in such contexts. Advocating the case for evidence-based transitional justice, it reflects upon empirical research on South Africa's TRC and the author's own work on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Back to the Future? Confronting the Role(s) of Natural Resources in Armed Conflict Through the Lenses of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 373-400
Author(s):  
Eliana Cusato
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Sierra Leonean ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commissions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Conflict Strategies

Abstract Natural resources are critical factors in the transition from conflict to peace. Whether they contributed to, financed or fuelled armed conflict, failure to integrate natural resources into post-conflict strategies may endanger the chances of a long-lasting and sustainable peace. This article explores how Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (trcs), as transitional justice institutions, can contribute to addressing the multifaceted role of natural resources in armed conflict. Drawing insights from the practice of the Sierra Leonean and Liberian trcs in this area, the article identifies several ways in which truth-seeking bodies may reinforce post-conflict accountability and avoid the future reoccurrence of abuses and conflict by actively engaging with the natural resource-conflict link. As it is often the case with other transitional justice initiatives, trcs’ engagement with the role of natural resources in armed conflict brings along opportunities and challenges, which are contextual and influenced by domestic and international factors.

ICERD in the post-conflict landscape: towards a transitional justice role

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia A. Nkansah
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Reconciliation Process

The chapter highlights the potential of ICERD to contribute to the process of transitional justice in post-conflict societies. In particular it identifies truth commissions as having largely ignored the potential for ICERD as a transitional tool, and calls on CERD, States Parties and other actors to better understand and carve out a role for ICERD in the truth and reconciliation process.

Emotional Legacies, Transitional Justice and Alethic Truth

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-165
Author(s):  
Janine Natalya Clark
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Therapeutic Jurisprudence ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
Emotional Dimensions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Missed Opportunity

Abstract Transitional justice processes seek to address the legacy of past human rights abuses. This article focuses on the emotional dimensions of legacy. It argues that war crimes and human rights abuses leave important emotional legacies that have not received sufficient attention within transitional justice theory or practice, and underscores that any process of ‘dealing with the past’ is necessarily incomplete if powerful emotions connected to that past are overlooked. Drawing on the author’s fieldwork in the Bosnian village of Ahmići, the article aims to demonstrate that the neglect of emotional legacies — which it links to the concept of therapeutic jurisprudence — represents a missed opportunity to explore how the meta emotions that people share constitute potential new bases for building reconciliation in post-conflict societies such as Bosnia-Herzegovina. Reflecting more broadly on the relationship between truth and reconciliation, it emphasizes the utility of alethic truth as a concept that accommodates and draws attention to common emotions — and thus points to unexplored dimensions of the relationship between truth and reconciliation.

La institucionalización del País Vasco norte

2017 ◽  
pp. 329-375
Author(s):  
Eguzki URTEAGA
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Intermunicipal Cooperation ◽  
Sociedad Civil ◽  
To Come ◽  
Elected Representatives ◽  
Pais Vasco

LABURPENA: 2017ko urtarrilaren 1ean, Ipar Euskal Herriko udalarteko lankidetzako hamar establezimendu publikoek bat egin dute Euskal Hirigune Elkargoa eratzeko, lurralde horri erakunde ordezkatzaile bat emanez. Izan ere, hori sortzeko prozesu historiko luze bat gertatu da, zeinean gerrak, iraultzak, erregimen aldaketak eta tokiko hautagaien, sektore ekonomikoen, mugimendu politikoen nahiz gizarte zibileko erakundeen mobilizazioak egon baitira. Hori dela-eta, egokia izan daiteke instituzionalizazio-prozesu horren aurrekariak gogoratzea eta lurralde horren benetako instituzionalizazioa agerian uztea, bere aktoreekin, bere eskaerekin, bere faktore abiarazleekin eta bere ezaugarriekin. Halaber, etorkizunari begira, komenigarria da erakunde horrek datozen urteetan aurre egin beharko dien erronkei buruz galdetzea. Azken horiek erakundeberriaren eskumenei, gobernantzari nahiz finantzaketari buruzkoak dira; lurraldearen ordezkapena eta egituraketa, arlo batzuen erreferente bihurtzeko joera eta estatus berezia daukan lurralde-kolektibitate bat bihurtzeko ahalmena alde batera utzi gabe. RESUMEN: Desde el 1 de enero de 2017, los diez Establecimientos Públicos de Cooperación Intermunicipal del País Vasco norte han fusionado para constituir la Comunidad de Aglomeración del País Vasco, dotando a ese territorio de una institución representativa. No en vano, esta creación es el fruto de un largo proceso histórico marcado por guerras, revoluciones, cambios de régimen y movilizaciones, tanto de electos locales, sectores económicos, movimientos políticos como de organizaciones pertenecientes a la sociedad civil. Por lo cual, parece útil recordar los antecedentes de ese proceso de institucionalización y poner de manifiesto la institucionalización efectiva de ese territorio con sus actores, sus demandas, sus factores desencadenantes y sus características. Conviene igualmente preguntarse, proyectándose en el futuro, sobre los desafíos a los que se enfrentará esta institución en los próximos años. Estos últimos se refieren tanto a las competencias, a la gobernanza como a la financiación de la nueva entidad; sin omitir la encarnación y la articulación del territorio, su propensión a convertirse en el referente de ciertas materias así como su capacidad para transformarse en una Colectividad Territorial con estatus particular. ABSTRACT: Since 1 January 2017, the ten Public Bodies for Intermunicipal cooperation have been merged to constitute an Agglomeration Community ofthe Northern Basque Country, endowing that territory with a representative institution. This creation is after all the result of a long historical process of wars, revolutions, changes of regime and mobilizations both by local elected representatives, economical sectors, political movements as well as by civil society organizations. That is why it seems useful to keep in mind the precedents of this institutionalization process and make it clear the effective institutionalization of that territory with its actors, claims, triggers and features. It would also be worth considering, looking to the future, the challenges this institution will have to face in the years to come. These latter refer both to the powers, governance and funding of the new entity; not omitting the embodiment and articulation of the territory, its propensity to become the reference for certain matters as well as its capacity to transform itself into a Territorial authority with a particular status.

scholarly journals A cat-and-Maus game: the politics of truth and reconciliation in post-conflict comics

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (04) ◽  
pp. 588-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Redwood ◽  
Alister Wedderburn
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Visual Media ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Sierra Leonean ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The People ◽  
Aesthetic Politics ◽  
Commission Report ◽  
The Aesthetic

AbstractSeveral scholars have raised concerns that the institutional mechanisms through which transitional justice is commonly promoted in post-conflict societies can alienate affected populations. Practitioners have looked to bridge this gap by developing ‘outreach’ programmes, in some instances commissioning comic books in order to communicate their findings to the people they seek to serve. In this article, we interrogate the ways in which post-conflict comics produce meaning about truth, reconciliation, and the possibilities of peace, focusing in particular on a comic strip published in 2005 as part of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report into the causes and crimes of the 1991–2002 Civil War. Aimed at Sierra Leonean teenagers, the Report tells the story of ‘Sierrarat’, a peaceful nation of rats whose idyllic lifestyle is disrupted by an invasion of cats. Although the Report displays striking formal similarities with Art Spiegelman's Maus (a text also intimately concerned with reconciliation, in its own way), it does so to very different ends. The article brings these two texts into dialogue in order to explore the aesthetic politics of truth and reconciliation, and to ask what role popular visual media like comics can play in their practice and (re)conceptualisation.

scholarly journals Restorative Justice in Transitional Sierra Leone

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Apori Nkansah
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Sierra Leonean ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The People ◽  
Conflict Reconciliation

Intense debate surrounds truth commissions as to their mission, perceived roles and outcomes. This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of truth commissions in post-conflict settings. It examines the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for Sierra Leone, the first truth commission to be engaged concurrently with a retributive mechanism, the Special Court for Sierra Leone for transitional justice. The study finds that the TRC provided an opening for conversation in Sierra Leonean communities to search for the meanings of truth about the conflict. In this way the communities simultaneously created an understanding of the situation and set reconciliation directions and commitment from the process of creative conversation.  This notwithstanding, the TRC did not have the needed public cooperation because the people were not sure the war was over and feared that their assailants could harm them if they disclosed the truth to the TRC. The presence of the Special Court also created tensions and fears rendering the transitional environment unfriendly to the reconciliation and truth telling endeavors of the TRC. The study has implications for future truth commissions in that the timing for post-conflict reconciliation endeavors should take into consideration the state of the peace equilibrium of the societies involved. It should also be packaged for harmonious existence in a given transitional contexts, particularly where it will coexist with a retributive mechanism.

Reconciliation as Process or Catalyst: Understanding the Concept in a Post-conflict Society

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 785-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshihiro Abe
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Problematic Issue ◽  
Theoretical Frame ◽  
Reconciliation Project ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract While the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission has brought various new issues in the study of post-conflict society and transitional justice, a problematic issue that remains is how we should understand the ideal of reconciliation. This paper first critically traces previous theoretical works on reconciliation policy in South Africa, particularly paying attention to the arguments in political philosophy that have been deployed to incorporate the post-TRC condition into a theoretical frame. This examination is followed by a discussion invoking René Girard’s notion of desire to capture the dilemma of people in a post-conflict society. Finally, the uniqueness and importance of the reconciliation project is inferred to have the possible function of affecting the collective relationships among former enemies.

Using African Truth and Reconciliation Commission documentation for truth telling and reconciliation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Proscovia Svärd
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commissions ◽  
Reconciliation Process

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) are established to document violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in post-conflict societies. The intent is to excavate the truth to avoid political speculations and create an understanding of the nature of the conflict. The documentation hence results in a common narrative which aims to facilitate reconciliation to avoid regression to conflict. TRCs therefore do a tremendous job and create compound documentation that includes written statements, interviews, live public testimonies of witnesses and they also publish final reports based on the accumulated materials. At the end of their mission, TRCs recommend the optimal use of their documentation since it is of paramount importance to the reconciliation process. Despite this ambition, the TRCs’ documentation is often politicized and out of reach for the victims and the post-conflict societies at large. The TRCs’ documentation is instead poorly diffused into the post conflict societies and their findings are not effectively disseminated and used.

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