Session 6: The Driving Force for Justice

The final session of the conference focused on the role of civil society in transitional justice.

Javier Ciurlizza

Javier Ciurlizza, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Program at the International Crisis Group started the conversation with an overview of the power of social movements in transitional justice in Latin America.

He used examples from Chile, Spain, Colombia, Argentina and Guatemala to illustrate the relationship between social movements and human rights with regard to political transitions. Groups like the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, for example, were and continue to be a moving force in transitional justice in the region.

He emphasized the connection between violence today and violence from the past.

Structures of impunity continue in society, even years after a transition. The current problems facing a society are rooted in a social and political context and cannot be disconnected from the past.

Thus it is important to think of the fight against impunity as something beyond transitional justice. Civil society must carry the fight for the principles behind transitional justice—victims’ rights, security, peace, democracy, and social justice—beyond the transition. These principles, and the idea of “nunca mais”—never again—should be transferred to the children and grandchildren of a society to ensure a rights-respecting society.

View Javier Ciurlizza's Presentation (PDF File)

Maurice Politi, director of the Center for the Preservation of Political Memory then spoke about the history of civil society in the fight for transitional justice in Brazil. He explained that the process began with families looking for information about missing family members during the dictatorship. The churches, especially the Catholic Church, were also instrumental in theearly days.

He then outlined possible ways in which civil society can support the upcoming truth commission process. Some ideas included helping with access to documents, including testimonies; helping the commission decide priorities; helping the commission decide the geographic zones on which to focus investigations; offering psychological and emotional support to victims; focusing on outreach about the objectives and purpose of the commission; and assisting with distributing news from the commission.

He did outline some challenges for civil society, including not having a critical mass behind the commission and the many misconceptions about the dictatorship accepted by the population.

View Maurice Politi's Presentation (PDF File)

Rose Noguiera, president of the Group Tortura Nunca Mais of Sao Paulo spoke. She gave contemporary examples of how the culture of impunity from the past is creating a culture of impunity today.

She described the extreme violence that still happens as a result of the military police. And told a story of a woman who died just this week on her street in Sao Paulo. She noted that an average of 500 people die per year because of police brutality. These crimes are not natural, she said. They are historical. They are due to the lack of transitional justice.

The final speaker was Iara Xavier, member of the Commission of the Relatives of the Disappeared. She first discussed the importance of civil society and of working together with political parties, unions, academics and others in civil society to create a collective group that works for truth and justice.

She then put forth the civil society demands for transitional justice, namely a financially independent and sovereign truth commission, the opening of national archives, the right to memory, and, importantly, justice.

She congratulated the youth of the universities for coming together and expressing themselves through new groups asking for accountability. She remarked that she strongly believes that, working with the youth, the civil society movement can reach its goals for transitional justice.

The questions focused on the role of women in social movements and the role of gender in human rights crimes committed. There was also discussion about the feasibility of successful truth-seeking mechanisms when government institutions have yet to be reformed.