TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN CONTEXT
Online Symposium, 2017
Truth, reconciliation, accountability, and reparation are generally identified as the core components of transitional justice. When it is not politically or practically feasible to hold perpetrators of human rights violations criminally accountable, is it acceptable to settle for alternative–more limited–forms of accountability for the sake of advancing the objectives of truth and reconciliation? In a number of post-authoritarian and post-conflict settings, specialized courts and commissions have been created to administer alternative judicial and non-judicial forms of accountability and redress for victims.
Today, efforts are underway to initiate truth commissions and courts of special jurisdiction in Colombia, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia. In these articles, transitional justice experts–many of them working in these three countries–discuss how to strike a balance between flexibility and accountability in transitional justice processes, the implications of transitional justice for human rights and democracy, and how transitional justice processes can succeed in fraught political contexts.
Judge Chang-ho Chung
An Introductory Note on Reflections on Transitional Justice: The ‘Hybrid’ Perspectives on Transitional Justice at the ECCC
Mytili Bala
Where Justice is Non-Negotiable: Pragmatic Engagement for Accountability in Sri Lanka
Dr. Mario Gomez
The Politics of Dealing with the Past in Deeply Divided Sri Lanka
Selima Kebaili
Transitional justice in Tunisia: perspectives, limits, and challenges of a politicized process
Professor Danushka Medawatte
Walking on a Tight Rope: Sri Lanka’s Fragile Transitional Justice Process
Juan Calderon Meza & Sothie Keo
What Transitional Justice Means to Cambodians and Colombians:
Standing & Reparations to Civil Parties
Diana Acosta Navas
The Search for Truth and the Dignity of Victims: Analysis of the Colombian Peace Accord
Santiago Alberto Vargas Niño
The Concession of Amnesties under the Rome Statute: Balancing Peace and Justice through the Law
Professor Héctor Olasolo, Joel Ramirez, & Professor Antonio Varón
Have the Colombian Government and the FARC learnt the lessons of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission as to the need to clearly define and prioritize the main goals of a truth commission?
Jimena Reyes
How do choices of transitional justice mechanisms affect human rights and democracy?
Professor Dinesha Samararatne
The Quest for Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka
Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Challenges to Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka