Since time immemorial, justice for a crime has generally meant punishment of the wrongdoer. Even today, some members of society, including victims and lawmakers, still believe that justice is not served unless the guilty party receives a stern and punitive sentence, such a long prison term or even capital punishment for the most serious crimes.
However, the theory of justice has evolved tremendously in the last century, and especially in recent decades. Transitional justice processes, in particular, have helped shift the focus of criminal accountability for gross human violations from punishing the offender to fulfilling the victim’s rights to truth, redress, and guarantees of non-recurrence. In doing so, these processes seek to mend the social fabric in societies emerging from, and often torn apart by, violent conflict or repression and to lay the foundation for lasting peace and reconciliation.
A justice that focuses on repairing the harm rather than punishing the crime is commonly referred to as reparative justice. Restorative justice traces its roots to traditional and indigenous judicial systems, in which the whole community often participates in administering justice for a crime. Colombia’s ongoing Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) represents the most ambitious process to date to incorporate restorative justice practices into its mandate and operations. Established by the 2016 peace agreement to hold to account those responsible for mass human rights abuses committed during Colombia’s 50-yearlong civil war with the guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the JEP takes an unprecedented mixed approach that integrates substantive restorative justice strategies alongside retributive justice sanctions. As part their sentencing before the court, perpetrators who acknowledge their responsibility for crimes actively participate in restorative justice measures that serve to repair the harms inflicted on the victims and their communities. The recent ICTJ report A Mixed Approach to International Crimes: The Retributive and Restorative Justice Procedures of Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace describes the court’s mixed model, delves into its innerworkings, and critically assesses its restorative justice components and their impact.
Last year, ICTJ hosted a weeklong conference on restorative justice in Bogotá, Colombia, led by three of the world’s most prominent experts in the field: Roberto Cornelli and Adolfo Ceretti from Italy, John Braithwaite from Australia, and ICTJ’s own Deputy Director and Director of Programs Anna Myriam Roccatello.
Over the course of the week, these experts met both publicly and privately with members of the JEP, victims, ex-combatants, members of the armed forces, and academics to discuss the role of restorative justice in criminal accountability in general and specifically in the implementation of Colombia’s peace agreement. John Braithwaite, Adolfo Ceretti, and Roberto Cornelli, also made some time to sit down with ICTJ to discuss restorative justice and Colombia’s transitional justice process. The video below presents excerpts from these filmed interviews.
