Report on Impunity Watch Panel Discussion

Transitional justice: are we ticking the boxes when we should be joining the dots?

Café Dudok, The Hague, 15 December 2009

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Report on Impunity Watch Expert Debate

1 July 2009, Amsterdam: Remembering the Srebrenica and Rwanda genocides: Do war memorials unite or divide?
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Dealing with Impunity in Serbia - Options and Obstacles

Now available in English, this document provides a summary of a research project conducted over the past two years in Serbia, examining the root causes and nature of impunity for crimes committed by the Serbian state and citizens during the wars of Yugoslavia's dissolution during the 1990s.
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Recognising the Past: Challenges in the Combat of Impunity in Guatemala

Now available in English, this document provides a summary of a research project conducted over the past two years in Guatemala, examining the root causes and nature of impunity for crimes committed during its long civil war.
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The Persistence of Truth

This report looks at progress in truth-seeking and the combat of impunity in Guatemala ten years after its UN-backed truth comission, the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH), published its findings on the events of the internal armed confrontation of 1960-96.
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Impunity Watch Research Instrument

This Impunity Watch tool offers a basic framework for researching the state of accountability in post-conflict societies.
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NEWS ARCHIVE

Impunity Watch opens Guatemala justice forum

13/03/2009 - Progress was made towards increased cooperation between justice systems, civil society actors, victims groups and governments to achieve justice for past crimes against humanity at a conference held in Guatemala City on 11-12 March. The event was attended by judges, prosecutors and experts from throughout Central America, as well as Spain’s Judge Baltasar Garzon, known for his pursuit of former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet and cases related to the Guatemalan genocide under universal jurisdiction rules.

The conference, entitled “Universal jurisdiction and transitional justice,” was opened by Impunity Watch’s Susan Kemp with a speech on the Guatemalan criminal justice system’s response to the crimes of the past, and featured a one-day closed session for justice operators, civil society actors and international community representatives, followed by a public panel discussion featuring veteran human rights lawyer and Impunity Watch Advisory Board member Roberto Garreton, Inter-American Human Rights Commissioner Florentin Melendez, director of criminal policy at the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office Alejandro Rodriquez, and victim representative in the trial of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, Ronald Gamarra. Themes discussed included the reach and limits of the state to respond to serious crimes under international law, cooperation mechanisms between states within the framework of universal jurisdiction and the impact of such caes on national justice systems.

There was a large public turnout at the panel, and press interest in the event was keen, not least because of the presence of Judge Garzon, who represents the potential of universal jurisdiction to catalyse national proceedings, much as the threat of International Criminal Court action has led to domestic measures being put in place by countries such as Colombia and Kenya.

The event was organised by the Dutch Platform against Impunity in Guatemala, CALDH, the Inter-American Commission of Jurists and Impunity Watch.

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