Tunisia: the Academy on Transitional Justice fosters the exchange of experiences between Libyans and Tunisians

Today and until 3 March 2013, Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center (KADEM) and No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) will facilitate a series of legal profession capacity building activities in Tunisia. The event, which takes place within the Academy on Transitional Justice initiative, aims at providing practical and technical support for a group of Libyan lawyers lawho are part of the trial monitoring initiative lead by the NPWJ team in Libya.
 
Statement by Greta Barbone, NPWJ/KADEM Tunisia Project Coordinator:
 
“After more than a year from the launch of the Transitional Justice Academy in Tunisia in December 2011, NPWJ and KADEM are working to foster the exchange of best practices, lessons learned and experiences on accountability and transitional justice through the Academy. In Tunisia the three Libyan lawyers met today with Amna Guellali from Human Rights Watch to discuss their experience in monitoring the Tunisian trials on crimes committed during the revolution. On Saturday and Sunday they will also participate as observers in the meeting organised by the Réseau d’Observation de la Justice and Avocats Sans Frontières, which has built a network to monitor the most important trials throughout the country.
 
“These activities offer to Libyan lawyers a unique opportunity to hear from their Tunisian colleagues the challenges and positive aspects of trial monitoring, reinforcing their capacity to conduct similar projects in their own country. By offering a stable framework under which main stakeholders in the MENA region can enhance cooperation and the exchange of experiences on transitional justice, a regional academy would maximise the impact of individual initiatives on these issues.
 
“The democratic revolution that has been sweeping the Middle East and North Africa countries in the last years has a common denominator in the desire and need for justice, accountability and reconciliation for acts committed during the revolutions and for past decades of human rights abuses. However, under the former regimes, civil society and other actors have had limited exposure to these issues and there is a need to enhance their substantive knowledge and understanding of them. A regional academy would contribute to raise awareness about transitional justice and to reinforce the capacity of various stakeholders to advocate effectively at the political level and to play a dynamic role in supporting the transition of their countries to democracies.”
 
For further information, please contact Greta Barbone on gbarbone@npwj.org or +216 28385079 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 (0)2 548-39 15