Category Archives: Victims Rights

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 17, 2023

Posted under

Human Rights, Post Conflict/Peace, Truth and Reconciliation/TRC, Victims Rights, Women's Rights

The Suitability of Restorative and Retributive Mechanisms to Achieving Transitional Justice for Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in South Sudan

Temitope Adeyemi-Taiye

Introduction

Years of conflict in South Sudan have resulted in widespread acts of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in the nation, especially against women and young girls. The devastating effects of this issue are usually physical harm, psychological issues, and in many cases death of the victims. Despite the peace agreement signed by the political leaders and efforts taken to stop the conflict and the crimes, CRSV is still one of the most prevalent issues in the country. The South Sudanese government and opposition leaders signed the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) in an attempt to stop the fighting. However, conflict resumed in 2016, rendering the agreement temporary. The Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), signed in 2018, included three important components related to transitional justice and peace. The first element is the establishment of a Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing Commission, which is critical for promoting peace. The second component is the creation of an independent hybrid court to hold accountable those who violated national and international laws. The third element is the Compensation and Reparation Authority, which will provide financial and material assistance to those who suffered losses in the conflict.[1] Although this agreement is viewed as a significant move towards peace in the country, it has yet to fully execute its mandates due to the prevalence of conflict-related sexual violence.

Continue reading →
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

October 3, 2023

Posted under

International Law, Truth and Reconciliation/TRC, Victims Rights

Comments

Leave a comment

The prospects of establishing a truth-seeking mechanism in addressing the legacies of human rights atrocities in the Israel-Palestine conflict

Kaye Vassallo

The Israel-Palestine conflict is a complex and long-standing dispute that centres around competing claims to land and sovereignty as both Palestinians and Israelis claim historical and religious ties to the territory. The conflict has been ongoing for seven decades and its resolution is critical to achieving lasting peace and stability in the region. As of yet, transitional justice measures have been largely absent in resolving the conflict. There has been a particular focus in contemporary literature on the merits of establishing a truth commission which is a mechanism of restorative justice.

Continue reading →
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

March 13, 2023

Posted under

Victims Rights

Comments

Leave a comment

The American Bar Association’s Adoption of a Resolution Protecting Civil Society Actors

Corinne Lewis, Partner Lex Justi

The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily represent the views of the American Bar Association.  

Around the globe, governments are increasingly seeking to silence or stifle the work of civil society actors (CSAs), that is, human rights advocates, nongovernmental organizations, and other persons and associations that contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights. Governments are using not only more traditional forms of repression, harassment, disappearance, imprisonment, and execution, but also other measures that are in some ways not as apparent to the public and are more insidious and abhorrent.

Continue reading →
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

October 21, 2022

Posted under

Crimes Against Humanity, Environment, Genocide, Human Rights, International Law, Victims Rights

Comments

Leave a comment

Sudden Leap into Darkness: The case of Maasai Exclusion and marginalisation in Ngorongoro, Northern Tanzania

Joseph Moses Oleshangay[1]

Ngorongoro, a World Heritage Site, Man and Biosphere Reserve, Global Geopark by UNESCO, and home for over 80,000 Maasai is under siege. The Maasai, a Nilotic ethnic group, have moved around the Ngorongoro and Serengeti areas while conserving the land and wildlife for approximately 500 years. Over the centuries the Maasai have developed a finely honed symbiotic relationship with the local environment, which has allowed the domestication of livestock and people to coexist in a dryland and therefore a resource-scarce environment. In addition, their local knowledge has allowed the large mammal population as well as ecological diversity to grow under their stewardship. However currently they are being accused by the government, international conservation lobbyists, and wildlife hunting firms, of threatening what they have kept safely over centuries. As history demonstrates, nothing could be further from the truth. As this article will demonstrate, the ongoing pressure against the Maasai is largely influenced by the potential financial gain resting with the land, wildlife, and ecological biodiversity, rather than their own role in threatening nature and wildlife.

Continue reading →
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 7, 2022

Posted under

International Criminal Justice, People's Tribunals, Universal Jurisdiction, Victims Rights

The Aban Tribunal: Targeting Impunity and Supporting Victim-Survivors

Marilena Stegbauer

When the Aban atrocity took place, nobody ever thought that a Tribunal would be held after two years to bring to justice those responsible. You are putting [them] on trial. While they are not accountable, and we have to cover our faces to testify here, I’m sure that one day, they will have to cover their faces, and our positions will change.

Witness before the Aban Tribunal

From the 10th to the 14th of November 2021, the Iran Atrocities Tribunal, also known as “Aban Tribunal,” in reference to the month in which the nationwide protests erupted, convened in London. “Aban” is the month in the Persian calendar, in which the nationwide protests erupted and partially corresponds to November and is the term widely used by victim-survivors to refer to the bloody protests that left thousands of Iranians dead, severely injured, arrested and detained, with a significant number facing torture, inhumane and/ or degrading treatment in prison. The Tribunal is the latest offspring amongst a continuous trend of International People’s Tribunals emerging over the last few years alone. Other notable People’s Tribunals focusing on gross human rights abuses include The Iran Tribunal (2012), The Uyghur Tribunal (2020-2022), The China Tribunal (2018-2020) and the ongoing People’s Tribunal on the Murder of Journalists (2021-2022).

Continue reading →