"This book examines the understudied, yet increasingly applied, concept of Guarantees of Non-Repetition under international human rights law and transitional justice. Guarantees of Non-Repetition (GNRs) are measures taken to ensure that human rights abuses do not recur. They are especially crucial in post-war contexts marked by severe and systematic violations. However, although they are increasingly invoked, GNRs are not well understood, and they have so far received only limited theoretical and practical analysis. Tracing their development to the influence of international human rights law, this book considers what GNRs are, how and why they have come about, and how GNRs are implemented. Through an explication of the history, law and jurisprudence of GNR's - in regional mechanisms in Latin America, Europe, and Asia, as well as in international bodies - the book maintains the increasing importance, and as yet unfulfilled potential, of this legal obligation in transitional justice settings. This first book to analyse the development of GNRs and their application will appeal to scholars in the areas of law and transitional justice, public povlicy, and socio-legal studies, as well as lawyers and policy-makers working in post-conflict situations"--

Transitional justice has become the principle lens used by countries emerging from conflict and authoritarian rule to address the legacies of violence and serious human rights abuses. However, as transitional justice practice becomes more institutionalized with support from NGOs and funding from Western donors, questions have been raised about the long-term effectiveness of transitional justice mechanisms. Core elements of the paradigm have been subjected to sustained critique, yet there is much less commentary that goes beyond critique to set out, in a comprehensive fashion, what an alternative approach might look like. This volume discusses one such alternative, transformative justice, and positions this quest in the wider context of ongoing fall-out from the 2008 global economic and political crisis, as well as the failure of social justice advocates to respond with imagination and ambition. Drawing on diverse perspectives, contributors illustrate the wide-ranging purchase of transformative justice at both conceptual and empirical levels.

The failure to fulfil economic, social and cultural rights and the outright violation of these rights are often at the root of conflict. Furthermore, the actions and omissions by States and non-State actors during conflict can also amount to violations of economic, social and cultural rights, and particularly affect the most vulnerable. Yet, there has been no widespread move in transitional justice processes to examine the root causes of the conflict or to look into violations of economic, social and cultural rights. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has explored in greater depth the ways in which transitional justice processes have addressed or could address violations of economic, social and cultural rights. This publication presents the outcome of that work.

Scholars and practitioners alike agree that somehow the past needs to be addressed in order to enable individuals and collectives to rebuild trust and relationships. However, they also continue to struggle with critical questions. When is the right moment to address the legacies of the past after violent conflict? How can societies address the past without deepening the pain that arises from memories related to the violence and crimes committed in war? How can cultures of remembrance be established that would include and acknowledges the victims of all sides involved in violent conflict? How can various actors deal constructively with different interpretations of facts and history? Two decades after the wars, societies in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia – albeit to different degrees – are still facing the legacies of the wars of the 1990s on a daily basis. Reconciliation between and within these societies remains a formidable challenge, given that all three countries are still facing unresolved disputes either at a cross-border level or amongst parallel societies that persist at a local community level. This book engages scholars and practitioners from the regions of former Yugoslavia, as well as international experts, to reflect on the achievements and obstacles that characterise efforts to deal with the past. Drawing variously on empirical studies, theoretical discussions, and practical experience, their contributions offer invaluable insights into the complex relationship between transitional justice and conflict transformation.

The United Nations has established a right to the truth to be enjoyed by victims of gross violations of human rights. The origins of the right stem from the need to provide victims and relatives of the missing with a right to know what happened. It encompasses the verification and full public disclosure of the facts associated with the crimes from which they or their relatives suffered. The importance of the right to the truth is based on the belief that, by disclosing the truth, the suffering of victims is alleviated. This book analyses the emergence of this right, as a response to an understanding of the needs of victims, through to its development and application in two particular legal contexts: international human rights law and international criminal justice. The book examines in detail the application of the right through the case law and jurisprudence of international tribunals in the human rights and also the criminal justice context, as well as looking at its place in transitional justice. The theoretical foundations of the right to the truth are considered as well as the various objectives appropriate for different truth-seeking mechanisms. The book then goes on to discuss to what extent it can be understood, constructed and applied as a hard, legally enforceable right with correlating duties on various people and institutions including state agencies, prosecutors and judges.

This book offers a synthesis of the main achievements and pending challenges during the thirty years of transitional justice in Chile after Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. The Chilean experience provides useful comparative perspectives for researchers, students and human rights activists engaged in transitional justice processes around the world. The first chapter explains the theoretical foundations of human rights and transitional justice. The second chapter discusses the main historical milestones in Chile’s recent history which have defined the course of the process of transitional justice. The following chapters provide an overview of the key elements of transitional justice in Chile: truth, reparations, memory, justice, and guarantees of non-repetition.