Truth is the First Step Towards Peace

As we search for ways to halt the violence and foster lasting peace in societies grappling with a legacy of massive human rights abuse, there is arguably no more important day to reflect upon the importance of the struggle for truth and justice than today, March 24. Thus, we take a moment to mark the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.

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AFRICA

Former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba, was convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes committed in the Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003. It was the first time a commander of a military force was convicted by the ICC both for the crimes of his subordinates and for using sexual violence as a weapon of war. The trial of Congolese militia commander Germain Katanga started in Kinshasa over new charges in his native country. The warlord left prison in January after serving the term handed down by the ICC in The Hague. On the same week,the ICC confirmed all the 70 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity brought against the Ugandan commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Dominic Ongwen. A court in Ivory Coast sentenced Simone Gbagbo, the wife of the former president Laurent Gbagbo, to 20 years in prison for her role in a 2011 post-election crisis in which around 3,000 people were killed, her lawyer said. The army of Nigeria has established an office of human rights, which will train soldiers to respect the rights of civilians in the continuing fight against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups. In Kenya, international judges have barred the use of recanted testimony in the ongoing trial of Kenyan Vice President William Ruto, who is accused of committing crimes against humanity during the violence that followed the 2007 elections. In Sudan, a human rights body called on South Sudanese leaders to establish a unity government in order to bring to justice those who committed crimes during the 21-month conflict. Several days later, South Sudanese government troops attacked a U.N. base, killing at least 18 civilians. Since the attack, investigations have found that soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army planned and carried out the attack, possibly with the help of militias. In South Africa, the national human rights commission has expressed concerns that racism is still an issue for the country, noting that 10% of violations reported to the commission had to do with inequality, with more than half of those complains related directly to racial discrimination.

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AMERICAS

Colombia’s government and left-wing FARC rebels missed the March 23 deadline for the signing of a peace agreement. While peace was not obtained, some progress has been made in the past six months.The peace talks have established the need for a Special Tribunal for Peace, which will investigate over 100,000 crimes in 32,433 open trials. Santiago Uribe, brother of the former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe, was arrested for creating and leading a death squad known as the Twelve Apostles. In Guatemala, two former military members were sentenced to 360 years in prison for the murder, rape, and sexual enslavement of indigenous women during Guatemala’s military conflict in the 1980s. In Mexico, a report released by the Oaxaca Truth Commission documented massive and systemic human rights abuses committed in 2006 and 2007, including widespread torture and extrajudicial killings. Additionally, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights declared in a report that Mexico is currently undergoing a human rights crisis, as evidenced by thousands of deaths, disappearances, kidnappings, and threats. Chile has been investigating human rights abuses that occurred under military rule, utilizing soldiers’ testimonies to uncover the truth about any atrocities they witnessed or took part in.

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ASIA

In Nepal, the government has endorsed the regulation of the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP), providing an impetus in the previously delayed transitional justice process. However, victims still complain about the inefficiency of Nepal’s transitional justice bodies, and victims criticize their lack of sensitivity and sympathy toward survivors. The UN has warned that it cannot provide financial support to Nepal’s transitional justice bodies in their present condition. A human rights report on Sri Lanka has urged the Sri Lankan government to translate its promises on transitional justice into action. Although Sri Lankan President Sirisena has been opposed to foreign involvement in national war crimes investigations, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera assured that foreign participation is in fact being considered. The UN strongly suggested that Sri Lanka accept foreign help due on the grounds that they lack the technical competencies to handle the war crimes probes. In Bangladesh, Prosecutor Mohammad Ali was suspended from his role in ongoing war crimes trials due to professional misconduct. The Bangladeshi Supreme Court has expressed displeasure with the investigators and prosecutors involved in the cases, claiming that they have not been effective despite their having sufficient financial resources to properly investigate and prosecute crimes.

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EUROPE

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić guilty of genocide over the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and sentenced to 40 years in jail. Karadžić was found guilty of 10 out of the 11 charges, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, like murder, terror and extermination. Atifete Jahjaga, president of Kosovo, has ratified an agreement with the Netherlands regarding the establishment of a special war crimes court in The Hague to address crimes possibly committed by ex-guerillas from the Kosovo Liberation Army. Additionally, Kosovo high schools are set to begin teaching transitional justice as part of their curriculum thanks to the implementation of a proposal from the Humanitarian Law Centre.

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MENA

Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission, which has been established to uncover past human rights violations and compensate victims, is struggling to remain effective given its decreasing political support and resistance from some members of the ruling elite. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a special court set up to try the killers of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, quashed on appeal the conviction of Karma Khayat, a senior TV journalist accused of obstructing justice. In Libya, delegates from rival factions have proposed the establishment of an 18-member unity government, a proposal which requires approval from the internationally recognized parliament based in eastern Libya. In Egypt, a prominent human rights organization that documents allegations of torture, death, and medical negligence in police stations and prisons was closed by the Egyptian government. Following a series of incidents involving police abuse, the Free Egyptians Party demanded rigorous implementation of existing laws and new regulations from the Ministry of Interior to restrict the authority of police officers. Tensions in Egypt have been further stoked by recent incidents involving torture and murder at the hands of police officers, including the shooting of a 21-year-old cab driver in late February.

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More Than Words: Apologies as a Form of Reparation

This report explores many of the issues and challenges likely to be faced by those considering a public apology as a form of reparation for victims of serious human rights violations.

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Opening Up Remedies in Myanmar

This briefing paper calls on the soon-to-be-established NLD-led Burmese government to seriously consider taking steps to deal with Myanmar’s troubled past as a way to help end the cycle of violence and human rights violations in the conflict-torn country.

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