U.S. Institute of Peace holds roundtable on justice and reconciliation.

WASHINGTON --On January 24, the United States Institute of Peace and U.S. Department of State joined to facilitate a multinational discussion of the role of justice and reconciliation in democratic transitions. The roundtable discussion, held in at as part of a small conference in Washington, assembled participants from six countries (Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Indonesia, South Korea, and South Africa) along with several experts in transitional justice issues. At this meeting the participants were able to share lessons learned from democracies that recently have grappled with issues of justice and national reconciliation after periods of repression or civil strife.

Designed as an important expression of the growing level of international cooperation among democracies, the conference included participants who have played critical roles in their respective nations' handling of justice and reconciliation issues. Issues discussed at the roundtable included: the role of truth and reconciliation commissions, compensation for victims of human rights abuses, and lessons learned from several countries during the transition to democratic governance in various states around the world. The Institute's goal in co-organizing this meeting was to assist young democracies emerging from recent conflicts in examining and addressing transitional justice issues in a manner that will allow them to build and strengthen stable democratic institutions and help to prevent the continuance of conflicts.

Neil Kritz, the Institute's Rule of Law Program Director (who along with Research and Studies Program Director Patrick Cronin helped organize the roundtable) has examined and worked on transitional justice in over 50 countries across the globe. The Rule of Law Program, created by the Institute's Board of Directors in 1990, recognizes the relationship between the rule of law and a nation's ability to manage conflict and seeks to provide practical guidance for foreign countries on issues such as: transitional justice, war crimes, international accountability, constitution making, and national reconciliation.

Based on extensive work of the Rule of Law Program, in 1995 the Institute published the three-volume compendium, Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Can Reckon with Former Regimes. Edited by Kritz, with a foreword by Nelson Mandela, the three-volumes bring together the collective experience of numerous countries and cultures over the past fifty years, and has proved to be an invaluable resource for government officials, private organizations, scholars, and others involved in the democratic transitions of today and tomorrow.

 


The U.S. Institute of Peace is a non-partisan, independent organization created and funded by the U.S. Congress to promote prevention and resolution of international conflicts. Created in 1984, the Institute is governed by a 15-member, bipartisan board of directors, appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.

For further information on the Institute's work on transitional justice, the Rule of Law Program, the Research and Studies Program, or to obtain a copy of a sampler of Transitional Justice please contact the Office of Communications. For related Institute online resources visit the Institute's online resources on truth and reconciliation commissions: www.usip.org/library/truth.html.

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