Keeping faith in transitional justice - The SJAC Weekly Update

6/4/13 4:34 PM

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The SJAC Weekly Update- June 4, 2013

Keeping faith in transitional justice

If ever a war-torn country could benefit from transitional justice, it is Syria. But as the conflict becomes more protracted and gruesome, many see transitional justice as a distant mirage, faraway and illusory. While feelings of pessimism are justified, it is more important than ever that Syrians believe that transitional justice will increase accountability and peace. This faith itself will determine, in part, the success of transitional justice efforts. Critics of transitional justice mechanisms emphasize that they cant fix all the problems and that they are idealistic. The first point is certainly true, no single endeavor can solve all the likely post-conflict problems. As the Editorial Note in Marchs International Journal of Transitional Justice admits, Transitional justice has been presented as the ingenious quick remedy for addressing a range of social ills. This is unfortunate, and proponents of TJ should communicate realistic expectations about what TJ can achieve, or else face a backlash against transitional justice mechanisms that fail to deliver on their overblown promises. On the other hand, the claim that transitional justice is idealistic is quite far from the truth. One of the reasons that transitional justice mechanisms are seen as idealistic is because they attempt to address vast and complicated issues, sometimes including fostering national unity, preventing ethnic conflict, distributing reparations, and facilitating institutional growth. If the problems were simple, you wouldnt need transitional justice in the first place. But rather than idealistic, the mechanisms employed are pragmatic-- they are specifically designed to address the apparently intractable issues that arise in the wake of conflict and large-scale crimes and right violations. KEEP READING.

Transitional justice working groups to meet in Istanbul

Building on April's Transitional Justice Strategy Meeting, the SJAC will bring together four working groups of Syrians and international experts to outline detailed strategies for the key areas of truthseeking and reconciliation, reparations and memorialization, prosecutions and judicial processes, and institutional reform. The working groups will meet in Istanbul in June.

Visit the SJAC's Resources Page to access our growing collection of Arabiclanguage resources on documentation and transitional justice.

Advice on best practices for conducting interviews by WITNESS here.

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Keeping faith in transitional justice - The SJAC Weekly Update

6/4/13 4:34 PM

The SJAC is an independent, non-political, Syrian-led, and multi-laterally supported organization that serves as a coordinating body for all actors promoting transitional justice and accountability for Syria. The SJAC provides vetted, accurate data on human rights violations occurring on all sides of the conflict in Syria. The SJAC expertise and data is used in the transitional justice process for Syria.

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