Religion & Transitional Justice

My institution (Santa Clara) recently hosted Paul Van Zyl, former Executive Secretary of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, co-founder of the International Center for Transitional Justice, and CEO of Peace Ventures, a new NGO dedicated to identifying and providing market access to responsible businesses that are both profitable and help to prevent conflict or promote peace. The theory is:

By creating jobs, facilitating interaction between groups on opposite sides of the conflict and promoting cooperation across borders, these “peace businesses” can generate profit while making a global contribution to the prevention of conflict and protection of human rights.

Paul's talk focused on religion and its role in transitional justice, particularly in efforts to promote reconciliation—a key feature of many transitional justice efforts—and even forgiveness. Drawing on the case studies of South Africa, East Timor, and Morocco, he discussed:

1. How faith influences what is desirable;
2. How faith can be manipulated to impede peace and justice; and
3. How justice efforts can influence faith and religion

The case of Morocco will be particularly interesting to our readers in that the truth commission there had to decide whether the reparations regime for the families of the disappeared would rely upon Shari'a succession rules. Under these rules, the eldest male heir of the dead or disappeared (such as a brother or male child) would receive the deceased's estate, leaving the wife with nothing. The truth commission decided to depart from these default rules and allow wives, daughters, and mothers to recover in the wake of Morocco's systemic violence. The truth commission thus created a space to consider ways to ensure more just outcomes and ended up prompting a broader and ongoing conversation within Moroccan society about potentially reforming the succession regime for all contexts.

Paul stressed that sequencing is an important component of any transitional justice agenda—what is possible or desirable in the immediate post-conflict period may evolve as a society moves farther away from the period of abuse or repression.

The webcast of Paul's fascinating talk is available here.

Guest blogger: Mary Hansel

It's IntLawGrrls' great pleasure to welcome Mary Hansel (right) as today's guest blogger.
Mary is a litigation attorney and Legal Fellow with the International Center for Transitional Justice, where she has focused on issues of U.S. accountability for torture and other detainee abuses.
She received her B.A. in Psychology from Vassar College and her J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School. She then earned her LL.M in Public International Law at the London School of Economics; Professor Christine Chinkin supervised Mary's dissertation.
Mary has published several scholarly articles on international law and human rights. She recently contributed a chapter for the forthcoming book Feminist Perspectives on Transitional Justice (Intersentia, 2011), to be edited by Professor Martha Albertson Fineman, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law at Emory University in Atlanta, and Dr. Estelle Zinsstag, Director of the Africa Justice Project at the Oxford War Crimes Centre.
In her guest post below, Mary surveys jurisprudence that supports recognizing domestic violence as torture. She dedicates her post to Rhonda Copelon, already an IntLawGrrls foremother. Copelon's work, Mary writes,

broadened my thinking on women’s rights.

Heartfelt welcome!

Nexus of Film & Activism in Kampala

(Delighted to welcome back IntLawGrrls alumna and filmmaker Pamela Yates, who contributes this guest post to IntLawGrrls' series on the ICC Kampala Conference)

At Skylight Pictures we (Peter Kinoy, Paco de Onís, and I) spend a lot of time thinking about ways to heighten the impact of our films in order to increase awareness of human rights and justice issues. For over 25 years we’ve been committed to the art of storytelling through the language of cinema – lush cinematography, music woven in to enhance the narrative, thoughtful editing that seamlessly transports the viewer through time and space – in the belief that it will bring audiences to a deeper level of engagement.
In recent years, as social media tools have proliferated, we have adapted many of them to our mission. An example is the international justice Twitter feed on the IJCentral map, about which I blogged in this IntLawGrrls post.
But because much of our outreach work is in developing countries, we also produce lo-tech projects designed to engage audiences on the ground, for whom traveling through cyberspace is not an option.
And that’s the reason that Skylight's at the International Criminal Court Review Conference in Kampala, with 1,000 Screening Kits of our film The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court (prior IntLawGrrls posts here and here) -- to give out free of charge to civil society organizations, to country delegations, and to the press. (Thanks to generous support from Humanity United and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.) The Kits are in English and French, and include:
► The Reckoning (60-minute version)
► ICC and Africa (20-minute film)
► Peace & Justice (20-minute film)
► Screening/Discussion Guide
► Audience Survey Form
► FAQs about the ICC
The impetus to make the Screening Kits came from 180 African civil society organizations that banded together and signed a petition to protest the 2009 declaration (available here) by the African Union (logo at right) of non-cooperation with the ICC with regard to the arrest warrant it issued for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. While the international press focused on the AU declaration and its critique of the ICC, the pushback against impunity coming from the civil society organizations wasn’t getting any attention. The latter organisations were saying that the AU wasn’t offering the victims any justice alternative to the ICC -- that it was effectively declaring Africa an “impunity zone”. They wanted to raise public awareness of how the ICC works and how it operates as a court of last resort.
So we reached out to these organisations to see if we could produce a media tool they could use to increase awareness of the role that the ICC can play in the battle against impunity. In coordination with Pivot Pictures, a media initiative of the International Center for Transitional Justice, we coordinated with the ICTJ country offices in Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, and South Africa to work out what materials and themes to include in the Kit. After a period of exchanging ideas and getting feedback from the civil society organizations on 2 short films that we produced for the project, we arrived at the menu listed above. Now those organisations will receive their Screening Kits and go forth to use them – we’ve created an online Screening Report form for the them to use, so that we may track the use of the Kits and the impact they are having.
The Kampala ICC Review Conference is an extraordinary opportunity to have massive impact with The Reckoning and a range of short films and microdocs we produced about international justice themes. We will be screening all this material non-stop at the RC Media Centre, and we also have several screenings planned at the People’s Space, where civil society organizations from around the world are gathered this 2 weeks in order to discuss the ICC. The Kampala theatrical Premiere of The Reckoning was at Watoto Church yesterday, and there will be a national broadcast on UBC, Ugandan national television, today.
And watch for our video blogs at the RC Media Centre. They'll be posted daily at IJCentral.

David Tolbert to Head the ICTJ

A short note by way of announcement: our colleague David Tolbert (prior post), a contributor to the International Criminal Law Review Special Issue on Women in International Criminal Law announced earlier and co-sponsored by IntLawGrrls (see the Call to Papers under our globe map at right)), will assume the position of President of the International Center for Transitional Justice in March 2010.
Tolbert has enjoyed a stellar career in international law. Prior to accepting this post, he was Registrar for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He’s also served as a Senior Legal Advisor in the United Nations, Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the ICTY, and U.N. Assistant Secretary General with a focus on the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Heartfelt Congratulations!

Seeking Truth, Justice & Reconciliation in Kenya

The Government of Kenya (flag right) recently announced the nominees for the proposed Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) established last year to study human rights violations committed since Independence, including the inter-ethnic violence that followed the disputed elections in December 2007.



I am delighted to report that our friend and colleague, Ron Slye from Seattle University School of Law (left), is among the foreign nominees to serve on the Commission. Prof Slye served as a legal consultant to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 1996 to 2000. He is currently writing a book on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its amnesty process. Ron, who will be the only non-African commissioner, is also an honorary professor at University of Witswatersrand.

By way of background, in the wake of the inter-ethnic violence following the contested elections of December 2007, the African Union’s Panel of Eminent African Personalities (chaired by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan) intervened to negotiate a power sharing relationship between Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity and Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement. The Panel hosted a series of sessions, called the National Dialogue and Reconciliation, to deliberate on the root causes of the post-election violence. This process resulted in the recommendation that Kenya establish the TJRC to examine human rights abuses committed since independence through February 2008. This long time frame is the result of conclusions that the post-election violence stemmed at least in part from unresolved historical injustices (such as unequal distribution of land) and alleged human rights violations by previous governments. Those found guilty of serious rights violations will not be eligible for amnesty; however, those who committed corruption or other economic crimes for personal gain can apply for amnesty under the legislation. For more details see here and the website of the International Center for Transitional Justice, which has served as a consultant to the government. The Kenyan Parliament passed a final bill to establish the TJRC on October 23, 2008. The Commission will consist of six Kenyans and three foreigners. The latter were identified by the Eminent African Personalities. Nine Kenyans have also been nominated, of which six will be chosen by the government.

A separate Commission of Inquiry on Post-Election Violence, headed by Justice Phillip Waki, recommended the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute specific individuals responsible for the post-election violence. The commission gave a sealed list of suspected perpetrators to Annan on the understanding that he would forward them to the ICC in the event that Kenya did not move forward with prosecutions.

The proposed tribunal has yet to be established; however, a delegation from Kenya met on July 3, 2009 with ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo (left), who opened his own investigation into the situation in February 2008. The two sides discussed the legal and other steps needed to bring a special tribunal to fruition. In “agreed minutes” of the meeting, the Kenyan delegation pledged that if these steps fail, Kenya will refer the situation to the Prosecutor in accordance with Article 14 of the Rome Statute. This article states:

1. A State Party may refer to the Prosecutor a situation in which one or more crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court appear to have been committed requesting the Prosecutor to investigate the situation for the purpose of determining whether one or more specific persons should be charged with the commission of such crimes.

The delegation also agreed to provide to Ocampo by the end of September 2009 the following:

1. a report on the status of investigations


2. information on measures to ensure the safety of victims and witnesses


3. an update on prosecutorial modalities with benchmarks
   

Last week, it was reported that Annan gave the envelope to the ICC Prosecutor, annoying the Kenyans who claimed they had been blind-sided. Stay tuned…

As a TJRC Commission, Ron joins an august group. The Kenyan appointees have been narrowed to nine individuals, who include:

Bethwel Kiplagat (right), a career diplomat and renowned peace negotiator, expert on conflict management, former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1983-1991), and the special envoy to the Somalia peace talks. He was also the Executive Director of the African Peace Forum and has worked on de-mining and demobilization issues in the horn of Africa.


Betty Murungi (left) is co-founder and former executive director of Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, which supports innovative and rapid initiatives on women’s leadership in peace building and access to justice in Africa, and an expert on international human rights and transitional justice. Ms. Murungi received the national honour of the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear in December 2003 for her work in human rights. She is currently an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and has been affiliated with the International Criminal Court, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone, the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the East African Centre for Constitutional Development in Uganda. In her words:

My activism is motivated by the resilience and strength of African women who have endured struggles including armed conflicts, exile, disease and impoverishment. Yet through all of this, their spirit remains resilient and renews itself at every turn. They know that women’s rights are human rights.

Dr. Timothy Njoya (right), a retired Presbyterian cleric and outspoken government critic.

Thomas Letangule is a human rights lawyer who has represented victims of government violence, including lawsuits against retired President Moi, his son Jonathan, and aide Joshua Kulei.

Margaret Shava (left), also a lawyer, is the chairperson of Women in Law and Development in Africa and a peace builder with International Alert, an independent organisation working in over 20 countries and territories around the world.

Abubakar Zein Abubakar has served as the spokesperson of the People’s Commission of Kenya (PCK), a consultation committee under the multi-faith Ufungamano Initiative launched to promote unity following the Kenyan elections.

Tom Ojienda is a former Chair of the Law Society of Kenya and the former East Africa Law Society president. Mr. Ojienda has consulted for the Njonjo and the Ndung’u Land Commissions, which aim to establish more equitable land distribution and rights in Kenya and served on a national task force on HIV and Aids.

The other two foreign appointees are Judge Gertrude Chawatama from Zambia and Berhanu Dinka from Ethiopia (left).



Chawatama, a High Court judge, served on a special commission of inquiry into torture claims made by apparent coup plotters in 1997.



Dinka served as U.N. Special Representative for Burundi and is formerly the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Regional Humanitarian Adviser for the Great Lakes Region. Dinka was also a former United Nations envoy for his native Ethiopia, but was recalled by Lieut. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam in the mid-1980’s and immediately imprisoned. He was released in 1989 along with other political prisoners in a deal brokered by the international community.



With this group, some measure of truth, justice and reconciliation in Kenya may actually be possible...

Guest Blogger: Cecily Rose

It's IntLawGrrls' great pleasure today to welcome guest blogger Cecily Rose.

Cecily (right) is an associate at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington, D.C., where she is a member of the International Regulation & Compliance Group in the International Department.
Before joining the firm, she worked as Law Clerk at the International Court of Justice and as an Associate Legal Officer at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and interned with the International Center for Transitional Justice in New York and with the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control in Washington, D.C. Articles that Cecily has written focus on issues of international criminal law; an examination of reconciliation mechanisms in northern Uganda, for instance, as well as consideraton of the International Criminal Court's oral proceedings. Her guest post below discusses her article, forthcoming in the Journal of International Criminal Justice, which criticizes the indictment of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. (The trial of Taylor, about which IntLawGrrls have posted here, may be watched via webcast here.)

Cecily dedicates her post as follows:

I have long admired Katharine Graham [right] for what she accomplished in the world of journalism, and at a time when women did not rise to such heights in this field. She led the Washington Post for over two decades, including the period in which the paper published the Pentagon Papers, leading to the Watergate scandal. Her memoirs are remarkably candid and inspirational.

Graham, a pathbreaker among women in business and journalism who died in 2001 at age 84, today joins other IntLawGrrls transnational foremothers in the list just below our "visiting from ..." map at right. (photo credit)

Heartfelt welcome!