Regional Conference on Transitional Justice: From a Civil initiative to a political commitment

Tunis, 13-14 December 2011


 
On 13-14 December 2011, Al Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center (KADEM) organised a “Regional Conference on Transitional Justice: From a Civil initiative to a political commitment”  in Tunis, Tunisia, with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and in the framework of a project on transitional justice carried out in partnership with No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ).
 
The Conference brought together a number of national, regional and foreign experts, including from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Germany and Tunisian participants also included members of political parties and the Constituent Assembly, judges of the National Fact-Finding Commissions to Investigate Abuses and Embezzlement and Corruption, members of the judiciary, legal professionals and academics, the media, civil society, representatives of victims groups. The conference offered an opportunity to share experiences, best practices and lessons learned on how the need for accountability, which is shared by victims, affected communities and the general public in countries in transition, can be brought to the attention of governments and decision-makers and included in their political agenda. The Conference explored how the various local actors and main stakeholders can reinforce each other and strengthen their cooperation to support the adoption of a national transitional justice process by governments.
 
The experts from Morocco and Germany presented their experiences of having already engaged in transitional justice processes in their countries.  They then assisted in the analysis of the experiences presented by advocates and experts from Tunisia , Egypt and Libya who are seeking to engage in this process.
 
The need for a national dialogue to identify objectives for transitional justice in Tunisia , and specific mechanisms to help meet those aims, was discussed, as was a strategy to promote their adoption. During the Conference, victims and representatives of victims’ families from Tunisia also had the opportunity to express their views and concerns about possible objectives and mechanisms for a transitional justice process in the country.
 
The Conference also offered an excellent opportunity to launch the Transitional Justice Academy (Academy), which is a joint initiative of KADEM and the Arab Democracy Foundation in partnership with NPWJ and GIZ. The Academy was welcomed by participants in the Regional onference and experts from Egypt and Libya expressed their particular interest in creating a similar initiative in their countries.
 
Click here for further information on Transitional Justice Academy