Conference on transitional justice
Clive Ndou
29 March 2005
Delegates from more than 15 countries are meeting at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West outside Cape Town to share experiences and debate different approaches to justice in transitional societies.
Speaking at the Transitional Justice and Human Security Conference on Tuesday, the chairman of the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in South Africa, Alex Boraine, said "transitional justice" was a convenient way of describing the search for a just society in the wake of undemocratic, often oppressive and even violent systems.
"Transitional justice offers a deeper, richer and broader vision of justice and seeks to confront perpetrators, address the needs of victims and assist in the start of a process of reconciliation and transformation", Boraine said.
Sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the ICTJ, the conference is debating what Boraine dubbed the "five pillars" of transitional justice:
accountability, truth, reconciliation, institutional reform and reparations.
Opened by Japan's ambassador to SA, Toshinori Shigeie, the five-day conference has a strong contingent from the South African human rights fraternity.
These include renowned advocate George Bizos, former National Assembly Speaker Frene Ginwala, former education minister Kader Asmal and a number of former members of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The president of the ICTJ, and UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Juan Mendez, recounted the ways in which the human rights arena had been transformed by the influence of those who experienced gross human rights violations.
"Victims' testimonies, broad consultation across society and a spirit of transparency built the power of the idea that we owe something to the victims and can't just ignore their plight", Mendez said.
Shigeie said it was appropriate that the event was being held in South Africa,
which had "built bridges to the future so few thought was possible".
Case studies from East Timor, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Peru, Ghana and Sri Lanka will be showcased throughout the week, and there will be contributions drawing on experiences of transitional justice processes in Japan, Yugoslavia and Colombia among others.
Source: BuaNews
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