impunity

March featured dialogue resources

npearson — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:24:40 -0500

March featured dialogue resources

Our New Tactics featured resources for the March featured dialogue include two tactical notebooks from three of our featured resource practitioners relating to Truth and Reconciliation Commission processes:

Public Audiences by Sofia Macher, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Peru, highlights the use of Public Audiences, created with the aim of legitimizing and dignifying the personal experiences of the victims in order to support the therapeutic and recuperative work on their behalf.

I’ll Walk Beside You by Glenda Wildschut and Paul Haupt, South Africa, outlines the victim accompaniment process for the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that developed the concept of "briefers" to install a victim-friendly process. PHOTO: Witness preparing to provide testimony to the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission

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March 2008 Featured Resource Practitioners - Biographical Information

npearson — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:34:13 -0500

Truth and Reconciliation Processes: Aiding community healing through addressing impunity - March 26 – April 1

New Tactics in Human Rights’ featured online discussion for March will focus on ways in which Truth and Reconciliation processes have and are being implemented to aid community healing. This is an opportunity to connect, discuss and share with New Tactics’ resource people who have served in a variety of roles related to TRC processes. Join us staring March 26 to share your own experiences, insights and questions.

Our featured resource practitions include: (See below for more biographical information on each each practitioner)

Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation process team (Greensboro, North Carolina, USA)

Liberian TRC Diaspora Project team (based at The Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Peru TRC
- Sofia Macher, Former Commissioner, Peru TRC

Sierra Leone
- Neneh Barry, Sierra Leone, TRC witness and accompaniment provider for victims testifying for both the Tribunal and the TRC process

South Africa TRC
- Glenda Wildschut, Former Commissioner, SouthAfrica TRC
- Paul Haupt, Clinical Psychologist, briefer for the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee of the South AfricaTRC

Timor-Leste TRC (CAVR)
- Jose Caetano Guterres, former Truth Commission (CAVR) Senior Staff
- Galuh Wandita, involved with the creation and implementation of the CAVR; and current head of the ICTJ Indonesia and East Timor program.
- Patrick Burgess, former principal legal counsel to the CAVR; former director of the human rights section of UNTAET and UNMISET; and current Asia Director for ICTJ

Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation process team (Greensboro, North Carolina, USA) [PHOTO: The GTCRP organized a 25^th anniversary march in 2004 commemorating the events of November 3^rd, 1979. Over a thousand people marched from the site of the murders in Morningside Homes to the Downtown Greensboro Governmental Plaza.]

GTCRP Team The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Process is a broad community-based initiative that seeks to help Greensboro create a brighter future by earnestly engaging its past, particularly related to the Klan/Nazi killings of November 3^rd, 1979. It is the first attempt in the United States to use the Truth & Reconciliation model to initiate a process whereby a community can resolve painful and divisive aspects of its history in a spirit of truth-seeking, forgiveness, and transformation. This movement has been carried by several groups, but primarily the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project (GTCRP) and the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission (GTRC).

Initiated by the Beloved Community Center and the Greensboro Justice Fund, the Project is shaped and guided by the Local Task Force, a diverse coalition of Greensboro community leaders, and advised by the National Advisory Committee, a distinguished group of individuals from around the nation who provide insight and council to the Project. The Project beginning in 2002 designed, in cooperation with the International Center for Transitional Justice, a democratic selection process which in turn gave birth to the Commission. After two years of public hearings, interviews, and research, the seven commissioners produced a lengthy examination of the context, causes, sequence and consequence of the events of November 3, 1979. The findings of the Commission has served to fuel an extensive community discussion that is currently constructively engaging the confusion, division, and bitter feelings related to the events of November 3, 1979, and hopefully lead to greater understanding, reconciliation, justice, and trust in Greensboro.

Liberian TRC Diaspora Project team, based at The Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA [PHOTOS: All taken during statement taking trips to Buduburam Refugee Settlement in Ghana]

Jennifer Prestholdt is the Deputy Director of The Advocates for Human Rights. She has a B.A. in political science from Yale and a M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she studied international human rights law and international refugee policy. She graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1996.

Jennifer has worked on refugee and asylum issues for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland. She has also interned for the Reebok Human Rights Program and the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination Against and Protection of Minorities. Prior to becoming Deputy Director of The Advocates for Human Rights, Jennifer practiced asylum law for five years as the Director of the Refugee and Immigrant Program. As The Advocates’ Deputy Director, she assists in fundraising for and directing organizational operations. She also supervises the development and administration of special projects dealing with emerging human rights issues, including the International Human Rights Monitoring Project. Jennifer is an adjunct faculty member at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, where she teaches International Human Rights Law.

Ahmed K. Sirleaf II is a Program Associate focused on coordinating community outreach for the Liberian Truth & Reconciliatoin Project. A human rights advocate and scholar, Ahmed has a special interest in efforts to implement transitional justice initiatives in societies that have experienced severe violence. He holds an M.A. in International Law and the Settlement of Disputes from the University for Peace (United Nations mandated), San Jose, Costa Rica, and a B.A. in Legal Studies from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has studied at the International Center for Transitional Justice with its New York University’s School of Law ’s joint transitional justice Essentials Course training in New York.

Ahmed has served as guest lecturer and co-taught courses in Transitional Justice, International Human Rights and the international practice of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis and Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has served as panelist, and presented scholarly papers on ADR and Transitional Justice before bodies and institutions such as the Minnesota State Bar Association’s ADR Section and the International Law Students’ Association’s 2006 Fall Conference at Hamline University School of Law.

Laura A. Young is the Wellstone Legal Fellow at The Advocates for Human Rights. Laura received her B.A. from the University of Virginia. She received her J.D. magna cum laude in 2005 from the University of Minnesota Law School and received her Master of Public Health from Emory University in 1999. Laura has worked on criminal law and human rights issues throughout her professional career, specifically violence against women and the death penalty.

She was a domestic violence educator and volunteer trainer at the Women’s Center of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, was employed by the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Project, which provides legal representation to Mexican nationals facing capital punishment in the U.S, and most recently was a judicial clerk for the Hon. Wilhelmina M. Wright of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Peru TRC

Sofia Macher is a former Commissioner for Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She has been involved in the human rights movement for nearly three decades, including tenures as the first female head of the Peruvian branch of Amnesty International, three consecutive terms with the Executive International Committee of Amnesty International, and a position on the Executive Secretariat of the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (National Organizing Committee of Human Rights, a coalition of sixty-five NGO’s dedicated to human rights) when she represented civil society in the negotiations that led to the OEA, the agreement and crucial organism that paved the way for Peru’s democratic transition. Currently, she continues her human rights work as a member of the professional team of the Instituto de Defensa Legal, (Institute for Legal Defense, IDL).

Sofia is the recipient of the 2004 Notre Dame Prize for Distinguished Public Service in Latin America and the 2007 Human Rights Award from the Advocates for Human Rights.

Sierra Leone

Neneh Binta Barrie was born and raised in Sierra Leone. Due to the war (1991 – 2002) she was forced to flee to neighboring Guinea as a refugee and lived in the refugee camps for six years. Whilst in the camps, she was hired by the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) as a psychosocial worker where she was trained on the job to provide mental health support for refugees who were subjected to various forms of human rights violations. Neneh personally testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and during the period when she was working for CVT worked with other witnesses testifying for the TRC.

Neneh rose to the position of Senior Counselor and Training Supervisor, CVT-West Africa. Subsequently, she was hired by The Special Court for Sierra Leone as a Senior Psychosocial Counselor, Witness and Victim Section, to conduct psychosocial assessments of victims of human rights violations who testified before the international war crimes tribunal; identify witnesses who required supplemental psychosocial support and counseling before, during, or after their testimony; as the senior representative of the psychosocial team, regularly attended trial sessions in which vulnerable witnesses were testifying; as well as a wide variety of other roles including advising the Psychologist and other team members about cultural issues and local customs. Neneh is presently a student majoring in psychology with a minor in peace studies at the Fairleigh Dickinson University Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck New Jersey USA.

South Africa TRC

Glenda Wildschut was appointed in 1995 by President Nelson Mandela to serve as a commissioner on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the chairmanship of Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, she served on the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee. Until recently, she served as the Director of the Desmond Tutu Leadership Academy. Currently, she is an independent leadership consultant and facilitator, providing an extensive executive coaching programme and works to assist leaders, particularly women in leadership positions, to be more effective in their roles.

Glenda has been involved in human rights advocacy since the early 1980s, working particularly with political prisoners in South Africa and Namibia, their families, exiles and orphaned returnee children. In 1998 she worked at the World Health Organization (WHO) at the Headquarters in Geneva examining the role of health workers in transitional societies. On behalf of the African National Congress (ANC), she co-chaired the placement board that facilitated the integration of all military health personnel into the national defense force (SANDF) and was involved in numerous structures to facilitate the transition to democracy in South Africa including the Transitional Executive Council (TEC). Her special interests are violence, trauma and torture rehabilitation, women and children in armed conflict, health workers and their contribution to post war reconstruction and impunity, truth and reconciliation. Glenda is a registered nurse, midwife, psychiatric nurse (specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry), community nurse practitioner and nurse educator. She is also a mother, sister, daughter and aunt, with interests in the arts, particularly choral music, and she trained as a classical singer. She is a member of the Cape Town Symphony Choir.

Paul Haupt is a Clinical Psychologist. He worked as a briefer for the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, providing emotional support for victims appearing in public hearings (including hearings on human rights violations and amnesty). He has extensive experience in the workings of the commission and has been engaged in the debates surrounding its work and South Africa’s political transition in general.

Paul is a therapist and an independent consultant focusing on organizational and individual transformation and development. Paul is a visiting lecturer at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business where he is the academic director of an Advance Leadership Programme. Previously, Paul was director of perpetrator studies at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town. In this capacity, he conducted more than 80 in-depth interviews among South Africa’s former antagonists from across the political divides. This work aimed to deepen understanding of the motives and perspectives of South Africans engaged in armed political conflict. The findings of this research were published in a book entitled Theater of Violence: Narratives of Protagonists in the South African Conflict (2005) HSRC, the book is available on the HSRC press website at www.hsrcpress.ac.za.

Timor-Leste TRC (CAVR)

Jose Caetano Guterres is a former Truth Commission (CAVR) Senior Staff and currently the Coordinator of ETCRN (East Timor Crisis Reflection Network). He was born in Betulari (a sub village) under the foot of Matebian Mountain in the Eastern part of Timor Leste. He was a member of East Timor Students Solidarity Council for resistance in Timor Leste from 1998 – 1999. Jose was a founding member of SATILOS foundation and became General Secretary of the foundation from 1999 – 2002. In addition, he acted as Board Member of Timor Leste's NGO Forum from 2001 – 2002.

Jose joined the small interim office to prepare the establishment of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) in Timor Leste in 2001. In February 2002 when the Commission was officially formed, he became the Coordinator of the Program Support Division, which was responsible for institutional development, community outreach, media liaison and public information. From May 2004, at the end of Commission, Jose became Coordinator of Archives Team which was responsible for the preservation of CAVR archives. When the Commission was dissolved in December 2005 he continued with the Technical Secretariat Post CAVR (STP-CAVR). From 2005 to March 2008, Jose served STP-CAVR as Manager of the Documentation Center. In addition, in 2006 he founded and became Coordinator of the Coordinating Committee Member of the East Timor Crisis Reflection Network (ETCRN). He has been participating in many international conferences on archives, justice reconciliation and community developments in Italy, Germany, Australia and Cambodia.

Galuh Wandita has worked over the last decade with several local human rights organizations in East Timor and Indonesia. In 2000, she worked as a human rights officer for the United Nations in East Timor, and in 2002 was appointed as the Deputy Director/ Program Manager of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR). After 2003, she continued as Program Manager, and later on joined the Editorial Team for the writing of the Commission’s Final Report.

Before moving to East Timor in 1999, Galuh worked for 10 years with Oxfam, focusing on support for local NGOs working in conflict areas in Eastern Indonesia (Nusa Tenggara Timur, East Timor (then part of Indonesia), Papua, and Kalimantan), with a focus on gender approach to development. In 1999, she worked with East Timorese human rights NGOs, during the crisis around the ballot, monitoring the human rights situation, providing support for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and women victims of violence. Galuh joined the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in 2006 as the head of the Indonesia and East Timor program. In this capacity she has worked with civil society and other stakeholders involved in combating impunity and protecting victims' rights in the two countries. She obtained a BA in Anthropology from Swarthmore College, and completed a Masters in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.

Patrick Burgess is currently the Asia Director for International Center on Transitional Justice (ICTJ) located in Jakarta, Indonesia. He is an Australian barrister specializing in international human rights and criminal law.

Patrick spent six years continuously working in East Timor between 1999 and 2005. During this time he held the positions of Director of Human Rights for the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNISET), and was Principal Legal Counsel for the East Timor Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR.)

Patrick has worked in other post-conflict situations in Rwanda, DRC, Yemen, Burundi and Indonesia.

Together We Are Stronger

bharris — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:08:19 -0500

Together we are Stronger

By Erika Bocanegra, Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Perú

Download full notebook in English and Spanish below. [*note]

Peru’s Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (National Coordinator for Human Rights, CNDDHH) is globally recognized as one of the most successful and effective coalitions in the world. We always talk about the importance of bringing ourselves together in order to have more strength and greater impact, but few have been able to achieve this as successfully as the Coordinadora.

Unfortunately, the global experience of the human rights movement is filled with coalitions that have failed as a result of division as well as lack of advocacy. This notebook analyzes the characteristics of a strong coalition and shows how to successfully fight against an authoritarian government, like that of Fujimori in Peru the 1990s.

The Coordinadora is a coalition of 63 human rights organizations in Peru. Founded in 1985, it has survived by its ability to join together and adapt itself to the changing political environment. The Coordinadora is composed of diverse organizations–urban and rural, Catholic and Evangelical church groups, national and regional focuses, among others. This broad variety in institutional profiles has legitimized CNDDHH at both the national and international level.

Among the strengths that have made the Coordinadora a significant reference point for the defense and promotion of human rights in Peru, and throughout the Americas, is the ability to make innovative political decisions while maintaining its unity, adhering to principles that guide their actions and utilizing mechanisms to find agreement about priorities in order to act with coordination because "together we are stronger."

*Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the files marked with an asterisk (*). You can download a free version of this program from www.adobe.com.

Reparations

bharris — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:08:13 -0500

Reparations

by Sandra Coliver and Moira Feeney, (CJA)

Download full notebook below. [note*]
A Spanish translation of this notebook will be available soon.

In this notebook we learn how civil laws can be used to hold torturers and other human rights abusers accountable, and to gain reparations for survivors. The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) represents survivors using the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA, dating back to 1789) and the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, which gives both U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike the right to sue human rights abusers who live in or visit the U.S. CJA has effectively used these acts to help end the possibility of abusers using the U.S. as a safe haven, to assist survivors in gaining reparations, and to break the silence that has enabled abusers to live in impunity. This notebook demonstrates how countries with laws similar to the ATCA can put them to work to end such impunity. Activists around the world can consider ways to use their own civil laws, and to target abusers who travel to the U.S. by building collaborations among diverse groups that include activists in the U.S and abroad, refugees, lawyers, and people skilled in using the media

When speaking about his involvement as one of the plaintiffs in Romagoza, Gonzalez, & Mauricio v. Garcia & Vides Casanova, a case against two high ranking Salvadoran generals for torture committed in 1979-1983, Carlos Mauricio said, "I am participating in this case in order to help send a message to military leaders around the world that, if they commit atrocities, they will not be able to visit or live in the U.S. with impunity. They will always have to fear that someone someday may recognize them and bring them to justice. I am involved in this case to try to deter people, especially military people in El Salvador and elsewhere, from committing atrocities in the future. Let me tell you, many military officers in Salvador dream of living in the United States after they retire. My case and other cases are sending a powerful message to them. Resolutions passed by the U.N. General Assembly and reports by human rights organizations are effective in publicizing what happened, but they do not send a strong message to military leaders, who think they are above the law. They may be above the law in their home countries, but these lawsuits tell them that they are NOT above the law in this country."

Since 1980, 18 non-U.S.-born human rights abusers who moved to or were visiting the United States have been successfully sued by their victims in civil proceedings. The victims have been able to use two U.S. laws--one enacted in 1789 as part of the very first Judiciary Act, the other enacted in 1991--that enable victims of certain egregious human rights violations, wherever committed, to bring civil lawsuits in U.S. federal court against those responsible for the violations, so long as they are physically present in the United States.

*Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the files marked with an asterisk (*). You can download a free version of this program from www.adobe.com.