ICTJ: World Report September 2016 – Transitional Justice News and Analysis

September 29, 2016

ICTJ World Report
September 2016

In Focus

ICTJ Welcomes the Signing of Colombia’s Historic Peace AgreementThe International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) welcomes the historic peace agreement signed yesterday between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – an essential step toward building lasting peace in the country.

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World Report

AFRICAIn the Democratic Republic of Congo at least 17 people were killed in violence in Kinshasa, as the political opposition escalated its calls for President Joseph Kabila to step down. In Kenya human rights organizations called on the country to investigate extrajudicial killings and disappearances. The country’s director of prosecutions snubbed journalists who protested against violent attacks and harassment in the line of duty, including the recent death of reporter Joseph Masha after suspected food poisoning. In Uganda, pre-trial hearings began in the case of former LRA commander Thomas Kwoyelo commenced. Kwoyelo’s lawyers questioned the legality of the presiding judge on the grounds that she is not a judge in the International Crimes Division of High Court, but the Judge overruled the objection. The court further ruled that the participation of victims at the trial will be in accordance with the Rome Statute and ICC Rules of Procedure and Evidence. UN human rights experts say that women have suffered more violence than anyone else in South Sudan. The UN has also launched a 19-day mission regarding the human rights situation in South Sudan. In Zimbabwe opposition political partiesvowed to defy President Robert Mugabe’s threats against demonstrations.

AMERICASIn Colombia, the government and FARC rebels agreed to a historic peace deal, bringing an end to 52 years of conflict. The agreement will be signed in late September and voted on in a national plebiscite on October 2. The International Criminal Court welcomed Colombia’s peace deal, but called for “genuine” prosecution of perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The FARC also began demobilizing child soldiers this month. In Argentina the ex-head of the air force was sentencedto 25 years in prison for the abduction and disappearance of a married couple of young activists during the country’s military dictatorship. In Guatemala, President Jimmy Morales’ family is under investigationover corruption charges, an issue the country has struggled with in the past and sunk Morales’ predecessor. In Peru, a court sentenced 16 former soldiers for the 1985 massacre of 69 people in Ayacucho during the armed conflict with the Shining Path. In Mexico, the chief of criminal investigations for the country’s attorney general resigned amid an internal affairs inquiry into his office’s handling of the case of 43 college students who vanished nearly two years ago. International human rights officials are demanding an investigation into the brutal sexual assaults of 11 Mexican women during protests a decade ago — an inquiry that would take aim at President Enrique Peña Nieto, who was the governor in charge at the time of the attacks.

ASIANepali attorney general said that there would be no amnesty granted for crimes committed duringNepal’s decade-long conflict, which are considered serious by international law. Nepal Army Colonel Kumar Lama was acquitted by a British court in what victims and rights groups maintain is a temporary setback in the push for justice. Myanmar is scrapping its ‘Midnight Inspections’ law, which forced people to report overnight guests and was often used by authorities to barge into houses and target activists. In the Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was accused of ordering members of a death squad to kill criminal and opponents in a senate committee hearing. Since Duterte became president, 1,900 have died in extrajudicial killings. Sri Lanka has vowed to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms, deeming them helpful for institutional reform. Tamil human rights activists, however,delivered a letter highlighting their worries about Sri Lanka’s transitional justice process to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

EUROPEAn Ohio man was arrested after authorities say he was part of a Serbian volunteer army company that participated in crimes in Bosnia. The Constitutional Court in the country’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska ruled that a referendum on the Day of Republika Srpska could proceed. The referendum is designed to challenge last year’s ruling that the holiday is unconstitutional on the grounds that it contributed to the outbreak of war in 1992. In Greece, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipraspledged to do “whatever is necessary” – including taking legal action – to get Germany to pay damages for the wartime atrocities of Nazi troops. Germany has dictated tough austerity terms in return for Greece’s three European bailouts, and maintains that it settled reparations with Greece in 1960. InPoland, the conservative government says anyone who uses language that implies Polish responsibility for Nazi German atrocities will face jail or a fine.

MENAIn Tunisia, the head of the Anti-Corruption Commission reported that almost $1 billion has been drained from the state budget, calling the problem an “epidemic”. Top U.S. and Russian diplomats, along with more than a dozen of their Arab and European counterparts, met in New York on September 20 but left Syria no closer to peace. The same day of the meeting, an aid convoy was attacked, killing 20 civilians. U.N. investigators said they found it increasingly difficult to interview newly arrived Syrian refugees in Europe and urged countries to allow access to them to help document suspected war crimes. Lebanon’s national dialogue sessions, which were intended to resolve a number of deadlocks including the presidency, were suspended over a lack of progress. On the 34th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, a march was organized in Beirut in remembrance of the victims of the massacre of thousands of civilians by militias allied with Israel in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. In Yemen, calls for an independent investigation into alleged breaches of humanitarian law escalated when the Dutch government requested an inquiry at a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva. In Egypt, parliament ended a legislative year without passing the transitional justice law, or the unified media law and the local municipality election law, despite constitutional obligation.The country also froze the assets of five prominent human rights defenders as part of an ongoing crackdown against the government’s critics.

Publications

Media and Transitional Justice: A Dream of Symbiosis in a Troubled Relationship

In transitional contexts, reporting does not simply present the facts, but instead shapes the parameters for interpreting divisive political issues. Coverage in such polarized contexts can mitigate or obscure the substance of transitional justice efforts to establish what happened, who the victims were, and who was responsible for the violations.

View Report

The Case for Action on Transitional Justice and Displacement

As the refugee crisis deepens, does action on transitional justice issues have to wait for peace? A new paper explores what sort of consultation and documentation work can be done now, while conflict is ongoing, to shape outcomes moving forward.

View Report

More Publications

Upcoming Events

October 06, 2016

The Obscured Role of Women in Nonviolent Movements Location:Washington, D.C. View Details

November 03, 2016

Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir, International Organization for Migration Location: New York, NY View Details

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VDC: Who kills the civilians in Syria?

September 29, 2016

Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism: Running for Cover: Syrian Conflict Will Be the Subject of Media, Law, & Politics Dialog

September 29, 2016

Running for Cover: Syrian Conflict Will Be the Subject of Media, Law, & Politics Dialog

SEPTEMBER 23, 2016

Accountability in the Syrian conflict will be the focus of a daylong event hosted by the Newhouse Center for Global Engagement in Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications next month. “Running for Cover: Politics, Justice and Media in the Syrian Conflict” will take place Oct. 6, 2016, beginning at 9 a.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse 3. The event will be streamed live at http://newhouseglobal.syr.edu. Follow on Twitter at #SUSyria.

The event will analyze the international community’s response to the Syrian conflict and its effects, as well as the challenges to reporting the war, developing political solutions, and seeking justice for victims. The interactive event is designed as a “fishbowl” conversation among academics, policymakers, human rights advocates, journalists, and the audience. Participants will explore how the international community captures news and images from the conflict, investigates alleged war crimes and human rights violations, and protects refugees. They also will discuss lessons learned from this conflict that might inform the response to future conflicts.

“Our aim is to critique the failures of the international response to the Syrian conflict and introduce ways in which we can collectively achieve positive change,” says Ken Harper, director of the Newhouse Center for Global Engagement and chief organizer of the event. “We are crafting the event to be less of a ‘sage on the stage’ and more of a ‘guide on the side’ experience. We hope it’s a useful event that speaks to the seriousness of the situation and honors those suffering with an honest conversation.”

A series of five panel discussions will cover a range of topics. An empty chair will allow audience members to join and rotate through each panel. Syrian activists on the ground and around the world will be invited to participate anonymously via social media.

Schedule

Opening Remarks

Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham and Ken Harper

The Geopolitical Situation in Syria

Panelists will address the historical context of the conflict and offer a critique of the political, military, and humanitarian responses of the international community, including an assessment of where we stand now.

Facilitator: Sherine Tadros, Representative and Head of New York (UN) Office, Amnesty International.

Panelists: Lamis Abdelaaty, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Maxwell School; Bassam al-Ahmad, Executive Director, Syrians for Truth and Justice; Consultant, International Federation for Human Rights; and former Spokesperson, Violations Documentation Center in Syria; William Banks, Founding Director, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, Syracuse University; and Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Chair of Political Science, Maxwell School.

Accountability for Atrocity

This panel will explore the various justice options available to the people of Syria and the surrounding region who are victims of the atrocities committed during the Syrian conflict, and the likelihood of those options being utilized by the international community.

Facilitator: David Crane, Founding Director, Syrian Accountability Project, SU College of Law.

Panelists: Bill Wiley, Head of Operations, Commission for International Justice and Accountability and Radwan Ziadeh, senior analyst, Arab Center Washington DC, and founder and director, Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies.

The Media’s Role

A once well-funded international press corps has been depleted to the point where accurate reporting on one of the most complex conflicts of the 21st century is almost impossible. This panel will look at how the conflict has been reported and how reportage can be improved.

Facilitator: Hub Brown, Associate Dean for Research, Creativity, International Initiatives, and Diversity, Newhouse School.

Panelists: Roy Gutman, former Foreign Editor, McClatchy and Newsday; Ned Parker, Enterprise Reporter, Reuters; Reza, Photojournalist, National Geographic, and Founder, Reza Visual Academy; and Ben Taub, Contributing Writer, newyorker.com.

Social Media in Reporting War

Social media has forever changed the way we report on and bear witness to conflict and atrocities. This panel will explore the intersection of social justice and oppression. Is social media aiding transparency and accountability in Syria or is it a tool of oppression?

Facilitator: Jennifer Grygiel, Assistant Professor of Communications, Newhouse School.

Panelists: Ammar Abdulhamid, President, Tharwa Foundation; Andrew Beiter, Education Director, I Am Syria; and Fadi Hussein, Co-Founder, Instant Reporting Team.

Next Steps

Now what? This panel will discuss current and new initiatives from NGOs, media, governments, and the academic community that address the complex challenges of the Syrian conflict and outline action items for moving forward.

Facilitator: Ken Harper

Panelists: Beiter; Gutman; Wiley; and Elijah Shama, Founder, Reporters Without Borders SU Chapter.

Closing Remarks

David Crane

PLUS … An exhibit featuring photos of those directly affected by the Syrian conflict will be on display inside and at the entrance to the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium. Images are provided by Pictures of the Year International and Ed Kashi of VII Photo Agency and Talking Eyes, as well as from the special gallery “Exile Voices,” which comprises images taken by children at Kawergosk Refugee Camp in northern Iraq as part of the Reza Visual Academy.

For more information, visit http://newhouseglobal.syr.edu/event/syria.

The conference is co-sponsored by the International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies programs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism Carol Becker Middle East Security Speaker Series. Additional support comes from Impunity Watch and the Syrian Accountability Project (SU College of Law) and the Alexia Foundation.

Syrian Network for Human Rights: Multiple Evidences Indicating that Russian and Syrian Forces Deliberately Targeted the U.N. Aid Convoy in Aleppo

September 29, 2016

Multiple Evidences Indicating that Russian and Syrian Forces Deliberately Targeted the U.N. Aid Convoy in Aleppo

I. Incident Details, Evidences, and Accounts
On Monday 19 September 2016, government helicopters and fixed-wing warplanes we believe that were evidently Russian took part in a concentrated attack that comprised multiple airstrikes on a center for the Red Crescent in eastern Urm Al Kubra town where the bombardment lasted for three hours.
The government helicopters dropped no less than four barrel bombs while the fixed-wing Russian warplanes carried out nine airstrikes at least in which they used missiles and heavy machine guns.

More …

ICTJ: Transitional Justice and Media: A Crucial But Neglected Relationship

September 29, 2016

Media and Transitional Justice: A Dream of Symbiosis in a Troubled Relationship

by Refik Hodzic and David Tolbert

Media can either catalyze or paralyze debate on transitional justice.

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“We’ve gotten used to the conflict; and that habit has created a vicious situation in which many prefer the certainty of war – with its clear rules and predictable risks, with the dead being a burden for others, with its hate routines and well-defined enemies – than the uncertainty of peace. The decision ahead of us, the citizens, will demand unprecedented responsibilities from us. The main one, maybe, will paradoxically be the easiest: to inform ourselves well. For that we will have to search – within the tangled mess of the right’s demagogy and the populisms of the left – the scarce resources of truth, judgment and magnanimity. For now, I hope that we measure up to the moment.”

Download briefing paper

These words from Colombian writer Juan Gabriel Vásquez were published recently in a text which considers the historical opportunity presented to the people of Colombia in the upcoming plebiscite on the peace agreement between the government and FARC rebels. They capture brilliantly the struggle in societies dealing with legacies of conflict or violent state repression to mobilize informed citizenry to stand up for truth and victims’ rights, to make informed judgments on how to deal with the past, and disentangle the facts from the sticky web of political rhetoric, denial, and polarizing propaganda. This struggle for informed citizenry crucially depends on the direction taken by one key agent of social change – the media.

Transitional justice measures signal a shift of values dominant in a society – from an environment in which no person is safe if they belong to a targeted group, to a sustainable peace and a system of values in which the rule of law is respected and citizens trust the state to be a guarantor of their rights. There is no magic bullet to make this shift happen overnight – it usually takes years, if not decades, to unfold and must often take root in deeply polarized societies, where trauma and mistrust shape public opinion.

In such circumstances media reporting does not simply present the facts, but instead shapes the parameters for interpreting divisive political issues. Coverage in such polarized contexts can mitigate or obscure the substance of transitional justice efforts to establish what happened, who the victims were, and who was responsible for the violations. It can either catalyze or paralyze the debate on how to repair victims and ensure that systematic violence does not recur.

This relationship between media and transitional justice efforts is delineated by two diametrically opposed manifestations: symbiosis and conflict. There are countless examples of media projects that have been crucial in promoting victims’ rights, championing accountability, and even catalyzing transitional justice processes by uncovering hidden truths about crimes and their perpetrators. In South Africa, the media played an instrumental rolein the early successes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. On the other hand, the examples of Peru, countries of the former Yugoslavia, and numerous other transitional contexts show that media has often played a decisively negative role in mediating information about war crimes trials or truth commissions, often cementing public misperceptions and fueling political polarization in already-fractured societies. Such negative impacts often stem from the politicization of coverage, the ‘us-versus-them’ narrative, and some journalists’ inadequate knowledge of procedures and legal concepts.

However, transitional justice practitioners must shoulder their share of responsibility for this troubled relationship. Transitional justice institutions often see media not as an ally but as an ill-informed nuisance, if not an adversary. The philosophy of ‘our work speaks for itself’ permeates many a courtroom and office staffed by those whose decisions could irreversibly shape societies’ ability to reckon with a violent past. In some cases, the furthest they go in ensuring a social impact of transitional justice work is to task special offices with public relations under the guise of ‘outreach’, while the idea of working with media to ensure this broader impact is reduced to organizing ‘trainings’ and ‘education seminars’ for reporters.

Arriving at a collective memory of the past is one of the greatest challenges facing a post-conflict society because it implies reaching a degree of consensus in a polarized context. While truth commissions attempt to present an objective account of a society‘s repressive or violent past, they inevitably contend with multiple perspectives and interpretations of this history. In essence, truth commissions and other transitional justice mechanisms must mediate this conflict to bring society to a shared version of this past, which often entails a society-wide admission that egregious human rights violations occurred and that victims must be acknowledged. However, to generate such an admission, transitional justice efforts rely on the media to encourage consensus-making about the past—a daunting task.