NEWS ARCHIVE

Upcoming Impunity Watch Event - The Hague, 15 December

In the past twenty years, it has become an international given that truth, justice, reparation and non-recurrence of abuses should be promoted in troubled states emerging from conflict. Few would disagree that we stand a better chance of breaking what are often recurrent cycles of violence if we address the grievances, power structures and prejudices that surround war crimes.

As a result, ‘transitional justice’ projects now play a central role in broader efforts to build peace, democracy and the rule of law. But even in countries where huge international support has been given to prominent measures, progress towards accountability is frustratingly slow.

Impunity Watch, a research-for-policy group, was established to work out why this is, and to  propose more effective strategies for combatting impunity. Having recently completed in-depth studies of the situations in Guatemala and Serbia, we believe an examination of how the international community makes transitional justice strategy is timely.

These two reports, Recognising the Past: Challenges in the Combat of Impunity in Guatemala and Dealing with Impunity in Serbia - Options and Obstacles, examine the legacies of very different conflicts in very different countries, and evaluate the steps taken there to address them. In this respect, they highlight the tendency to emphasise one aspect of transitional justice at the expense of all others, and the consequences that has for achieving progress: in the former Yugoslavia, criminal prosecution in local and international courts has overshadowed all other areas, and only now are we seeing a serious truth-seeking initiative taking off; Guatemala shows a mirror image.

Impunity Watch invites you to join this panel discussion, where we will explore the extent to which post-conflict states and the international community understand the inter-relation of different measures, and how they reflect this in their transitional justice strategies. Ultimately, we will ask if the stark gap between investment and results in many post-conflict states is the result of a ‘checklist’ approach to transitional justice, and what is needed to see more sensitive responses taken to individual situations.

Panellists:

* Jelena Milic, Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies, Belgrade
* Mo Bleeker, Senior Adviser to the Foreign Ministry of Switzerland
* Barbara Oomen, Associate Professor of Law at Roosevelt Academy, Middelburg

* Jonathion Sisson, Programme Officer, Centre for Peacebuilding (KOFF), Swisspeace, Bern

Click here to download a flyer for the event