Syria Justice and Accountability Centre: 7 Complex Legal Issues SJAC Has Addressed in its Data Analysis

June 1, 2017

SJAC Update | June 1, 2017

A screenshot of SJAC’s database, Corroborator. SJAC’s Data Analysis team tags, labels, links, and writes descriptions for each actor and piece of documentation in the database according to international standards. The database functions in both English and Arabic.

7 Complex Legal Issues SJAC Has Addressed in its Data Analysis

SJAC aims to achieve meaningful justice for Syria. To contribute to this goal, SJAC activities are designed to produce a complete repository of comprehensive, high-quality, and usable documentation that is prepared to feed into justice mechanisms, both in current court cases in Europe and for future transitional justice processes.

As was highlighted recently on NPR, given the large volume of documentation emerging from Syria, creating a usable and searchable repository requires large investments in tech and big data tools. But even the best tools cannot completely replace manual analysis. SJAC’s team of Data Analysts (DAs) work tirelessly to tag, label, and link documentation and actors, enabling the creation of case files and investigations into specific events.*

Not all of the documentation that the DAs encounter is straightforward, however, and over the past three years of work, the team has had to sort through complex legal and methodological questions. The following are some of the issues that have come up, due to the complicated and multi-faceted nature of the Syrian conflict.

The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) is a Syrian-led and multilaterally supported nonprofit that envisions a Syria where people live in a state defined by justice, respect for human rights, and rule of law. SJAC collects, analyzes, and preserves human rights law violations by all parties in the conflict — creating a central repository to strengthen accountability and support transitional justice and peace-building efforts. SJAC also conducts research to better understand Syrian opinions and perspectives, provides expertise and resources, conducts awareness-raising activities, and contributes to the development of locally appropriate transitional justice and accountability mechanisms. Contact us at info@syriaaccountability.org.

U nsubscribe | Preferences

This email was sent to dmcrane@law.syr.edu
why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences
Syria Justice and Accountability Centre · Laan Van Meerdervoort 70 · Den Haag, 2517 AN · Netherlands

Justice Rapid Response: 2016 Annual Report

June 1, 2017

Dear Friends,

I’m pleased to announce the release of the 2016 Annual Report of Justice Rapid Response:

Read the Report
Our 2016 Annual Report reminds that JRR continues to be the world’s “go-to” facility for a wide range of criminal justice and human rights experts who can ensure investigations are professional, impartial, and prompt. Now in our eighth year of operations, JRR continues to deliver on our promise: rapid availability of highly-qualified, diverse experts to deploy wherever they’re needed most. We are proud to say that the JRR Expert Roster has more than 600 top professionals from over 100 countries and every region of the world. They speak more than 90 languages, and over half are women.

In 2016, we reached a milestone: JRR deployed its 100th mission. It was one of dozens of instances where JRR experts improved the quality of investigations in places such as Burundi, Cambodia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya and South Sudan. Our professionals helped communities of victims in Chad and Guatemala prosecute perpetrators of crimes such as torture, sexual slavery and enforced disappearance. They also provided mentoring to humanitarian responders servicing at-risk populations in the MENA region.

JRR continues to identify new areas where diverse expertise is needed. Last year, we launched a new partnership with the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative to strengthen the capacity of the international community to address crimes and serious human rights violations involving children, while always prioritizing their safety and well-being.

Our work goes beyond improving the standards of investigations we support. The JRR Expert Roster is an efficient, cost-effective way for the international community to access surge-capacity when and where it’s needed most. The JRR model shows how “just-in-time” delivery of the right expertise is making a real difference in our collective ability to deliver justice for atrocities, and deter would-be offenders. Without this, re-building a belief in the rule of law, and breaking the many recurring cycles of violence around the world has proven to be impossible.

On behalf of JRR’s staff and Executive Board, we want to thank all our partners, supporters, and experts for making our work possible. Together, with every mission successfully completed, with every expert deployed, we are moving closer to realizing JRR’s vision: a world where every investigation is professional, impartial and prompt.

Sincerely,

Andras Vamos-Goldman
Executive Director, Justice Rapid Response

You’re receiving this email because you signed up for communications from JRR.
unsubscribe | contact us
© Justice Rapid Response, 7bis Avenue de la Paix 1202 Geneva, Switzerland. All Rights Reserved.

www.justicerapidresponse.org

Taiwan Court Recognizes Same-Sex Marriage

June 1, 2017

By: Brian Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TAIPEI, Taiwan – On May 24, 2017, Taiwan’s constitutional court ruled in favor of same-sex couples and declared that the couples have the legal right to marry. The first such ruling in Asia, the court struck down the Civil Code’s legal definition of marriage as being only between a man and a woman.

Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrating the court’s ruling in Taipei. Photo courtesy of NYT.

The court declared that the Civil Code’s definition of marriage violated articles of the constitution and allowed the legislatures two years to change existing marriage laws. If the body fails to pass a legislation in the next two years, the court wrote that the same-sex couples “shall be allowed to have their marriage registration effectuated to the authorities in charge of household registration.”

The court made its ruling in response to two petitions to review the existing law. One was brought by a longtime gay rights campaigner, Mr. Chi Chia-wei. Mr. Chi was in favor of changing the Civil Code’s definition of marriage. The other petition was brought by the city government of Taipei after being sued for rejecting same-sex couple’s marriage applications.

The decision was celebrated by many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists. Hundreds of supporters gathered to celebrate the decision in Taipei, the nation’s capital.

Democratic Progressive Party that overwhelmingly swept national elections last year supported this change and a bill to enforce the court’s ruling has been presented.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Taiwan court rules in favor of same-sex marriage, first in Asia – 24 May, 2017

NYT – Court Ruling Could Make Taiwan First Place in Asia to Legalize Gay Marriage – 24 May, 2017

Washington Post – Taiwan is set to become the first Asian country to legalize gay marriage – 24 May, 2017