Voices from diverse fields: towards transitional justice ‘from below’

• In Event: Decolonising State Crime and Transitional Justice

Abstract

Transitional justice has emerged in the past decades as an umbrella concept to address serious violations of human rights and international crimes, either during periods of authoritarianism or during war. Many of these take place in countries of the Global South and are committed by state agents. Main pillars of transitional justice typically include a mix of criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, victim reparations programmes, and guarantees of non-repetition. While many such mechanisms in the first years were mostly imposed ‘from above’ by national and international elites, the last two decades have revealed increasing attention to approaches ‘from below’, through the activities of local and regional human rights associations, the media and scholarly work. One aspect of this ‘from below’ approach resides in the collection of information about the needs and opinions of victims and other populations affected by atrocity crimes. This presentation brings a short overview of qualitative data collection methods about the needs and opinions of victims of state atrocities committed in past decades in Northern Uganda and Guatemala. It is argued that such data not only lend an open ear to affected populations, but also constitute an important additional source of information for policy makers and practitioners. As such, they contribute to the further development of ‘justice from below’.

Authors

• Mariana Lara Palacios, KULeuven

• James Henry John Rischbieth, KU Leuven