The Legacy of Truth: The Impact of Transitional Justice

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to attend a regional conference entitled The Legacy of Truth: The Impact of Transitional Justice on the Building of Democracy in Latin America. At the conference, I was able to hear experts discuss transitional justice and the challenges facing the peace and justice process in Colombia. In general terms, transitional justice refers to "a range of approaches that societies undertake to reckon with legacies of widespread or systematic human rights abuse as they move from a period of violent conflict or oppression towards peace, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for individual and collective rights."

Panel topics included:

• Contributions of transitional justice in the building and strengthening of democracy;
• The role of truth commissions as catalysts for social inclusion;
  
• The contribution of criminal justice prosecutions in strengthening the rule of law;
• Demobilization processes and their influence on the rule of law, local reintegration, and citizen security;
• The future of political and social reconciliation: Rebuilding social cohesion and civilian confidence.

Speakers and panel moderators included the Vice President of Colombia, the Attorney General, ambassadors from Argentina, France, Switzerland, Peru, Mexico, and Chile, the President of the Colombian Reconciliation and Reparations Comission (CNRR), and numerous experts on transitional justice. I was especially excited to attend a lecture by Carlos Martin Beristain, a highly regarded expert on mass grave exhumations and psychosocial support for victims of political violence and "natural" disasters.

Since Wednesday's conference, I have been researching and writing a report that will provide recommendations to the Attorney General on "best" ways to return to relatives the remains of individuals exhumed from mass graves. This plan will outline several ways to meet the diverse needs of relatives attending such ceremonies. To accomplish this, I have been researching how such ceremonies have been conducted in Guatemala, Peru, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo and I have put together a summary of many "best practices" and "lessons learned." My objective is to develop a pilot project that will be implemented during a ceremony in Santa Marta, Colombia at the end of July. At this ceremony the remains of 30+ individuals will be returned to their families, and if the pilot project goes well this plan could be used during future ceremonies throughout Colombia.

A busy first week

My first few days of work at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have been hectic but very good. I am excited about my internship and the projects that the organization has planned for me. I am especially pleased that my work here directly relates to my areas of interest, current studies at Fletcher, and past work experiences. Here is a brief summary of my first three days of work.

Monday was my first official day at the office and my supervisor put me right to work. He has arranged for me to work on two interesting projects with two other staff members. First, I'll be working with Catalina on developing a National Plan for Exhumations and putting together funding proposals to secure financial support for the Colombian government to conduct mass grave exhumations. The country has been in constant conflict for over 40 years and mass graves have accumulated throughout this period of violence. Second, I'll be working with Peter, a Dutchman based in Geneva, on a report that will provide the government with guidance as it takes its first steps to prosecute individuals responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. These two projects could ostensibly take a while but I think that the plan is that I'll finish these within the next week or so and then move on to my next projects.

I spent a good portion of the day doing research and writing on four past criminal tribunals. Specifically, I am researching recent tribunals and truth commissions in Africa (Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and South Africa) and Southeastern Europe (Former Yugoslavia). My goal is to collect information on these tribunals and summarize the various challenges that these judicial mechanisms have faced throughout their mandate. Colombia has set out to prosecute thousands of individuals responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, however based on past experiences only a fraction of those responsible can realistically be arrested, investigated, and convicted for their crimes. This is a reality that many countries must grapple with as they emerge from conflict situations and seek to re-establish the rule of law.

I had a meeting on Tuesday morning with the District Attorney to discuss the challenges of carrying out exhumations of mass graves in Colombia. The IOM has asked me to work with the District Attorney and members of the Prosecutor's Office to identify their areas of greatest need, to develop a protocol for conducting exhumations, and to devise a budget which we at IOM will then use to solicit funding from the United Nations member states. IOM and the District Attorney are interested in learning from my experiences in Perú and my work in exhumations. Specifically, they are hoping that I will provide them with guidance on "best practices" for returning the deceased individuals' remains to the surviving family members.

I spent the morning on Wednesday at the Foreign Ministry Office getting my immigration visa. For the remainder of the day, I will be writing a summary of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribual for Rwanda (ICTR), the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. These summaries will be included in a report to the Colombian government that will offer recommendations on how best to prosecute the nearly 2,000 demobilized ex-combantants (ex-paramilitaries and ex-guerrillas).