Transitional Justice: Rising Trends, Challenges and Opportunities

Must RSVP HERE

This event is co-organized by the NYC Office of Universal Rights Group, and the European Union Delegation to the UN.

Transitional justice covers the spectrum of processes and mechanisms by which countries emerging from conflict or repression seek to reinstate the rule of law and come to terms with serious and systemic human rights violations. Over time, practitioners and scholars identified four key areas of redress: “truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence.” Additional experience and expertise also identified the critical importance of extensive and continuous consultation with all stakeholders, victim participation, a focus on gender, and the fostering of contextual dynamic processes, rather than the installation of pre-made frameworks.

At the beginning of March, High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet spoke to the Security Council on the topic of “human rights, accountability, and justice: contributions to international peace and security,” detailing not only the considerable work on transitional justice carried out by her office and the Security Council, but also linkages to sustaining peace.

Transitional justice work indeed spans the breadth of UN initiatives, and accountability has increasingly become an expectation, rather than solely an aspiration, for those emerging from conflict or oppression. Nonetheless, serious challenges persist. For example, with violations by non-state actors, including terrorist organizations, come questions of which States or mechanisms should repair harm. At the same time rise of tools such as targeted sanctions, and universal jurisdiction for international crimes, open new possibilities for accountability.

This panel is an opportunity for a discussion of emerging trends, opportunities and challenges in the field of transitional justice by panelists well-acquainted not only with the field, but also with international and UN tools and mechanisms, and will feature an opportunity for questions.

Welcome       

Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, Head of EU Delegation to the UN

Panelists

Pablo de Greiff, Senior Fellow and Director of the Transitional Justice Program, The Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU School of Law

Sebastiaan Verelst, Human Rights Officer, focal point on accountability and transitional justice, OHCHR NYC

Priscilla Hayner, Senior Mediation Adviser, UN Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisers, UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs

Moderator

Danica Damplo, Analyst, Universal Rights Group NYC