Why Transitional Justice? Why Now?

Protests for political change

“All crimes are significant because of the rights they affect, and not of the number of people they affect. Therefore, torture, disappearances, executions, rape are significant because of the inherent offense to human dignity that they entail, more than the number of times they were repeated.”

—Eduardo Gonzalez, director of ICTJ’s Truth and Memory Program.

Although Brazil’s dictatorship ended years ago, focus on transitional justice there is peaking now, as debate stirs over how to best address its past. Recent developments—including the Brazilian government’s proposal of a truth commission, the opening of national archives, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ decision limiting the 1979 amnesty law—are at the core of the discussion. Moreover, Latin America’s significance to the field of transitional justice, with previous groundbreaking initiatives throughout the region, enhances the focus on Brazil’s next steps.

To learn more about the role accountability for the past can play in Brazil today, we spoke to Eduardo Gonzalez, director of ICTJ’s Truth and Memory Program.

Interview with Eduardo Gonzalez, part 1 of 3 (English only)

Eduardo discusses the importance of Brazil and Latin America in developing viable initiatives to redress mass human rights abuses, such as torture, disappearance, and executions.

Interview with Eduardo Gonzalez, part 2 of 3 (English only)

Eduardo discusses how scale affects the gravity of human rights abuses.

Interview with Eduardo Gonzalez, part 3 of 3 (English only)

Eduardo gives a preview of topics that may be discussed during the conference, including the truth commission bill in Brazil and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights limiting Brazil’s amnesty law.

Learn more about transitional justice in Brazil. Learn more about ICTJ’s Truth and Memory program.