2019 Year in Review
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‘The Future of the Past’
Occurring at the end of February, the tenth annual Emilio Mignone Lecture ushered us into March. ICTJ and New York University School of Law’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice proudly presented the lecture, welcoming as speaker former UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff.
Addressing the more than 200 attendees, including Isabel Mignone, the daughter of Emilio Mignone, the renowned Argentine human rights lawyer and early transitional justice architect after whom the lecture series is named, de Greiff took stock of the field, its accomplishments in the past 30 years and the challenges it faces today and in the years to come.
“The future of dealing with the past,” de Greiff said in his opening remarks, “is another way of referring to transitional justice.” “The question remains about the amazing endurance of the past, the fact that is does not go away. That, for example, efforts to bribe people by offering them economic development instead of justice may work for a while but only that, for a while,” he continued. “There are things that we cannot reasonably expect our fellow citizens to forget…. In many ways, [not] dealing with the past is not an option.”
De Greiff pointed to the field’s many triumphs in its relatively brief history, especially its normative impact on both human rights discourse and practice. The Special Rapporteur, however, insisted on modesty in his overall assessment of the field and its capacity for transformative change. “As it has been said of peace agreements, I think transitional justice is not meant to take people to heaven; it is meant to take people out of hell,” he said. “Transitional justice, I want to insist, is not is a universal policy tool, a cure for all sorts of maladies. It is a small, albeit important, part of a broader transformative agenda.”
A Letter from the Executive Director
As we bid farewell to 2019 and commence a new decade, we take this opportunity to reflect on the past year and look ahead to a defiant future. It is a time to recognize the achievements and challenges of 2019 and consider the lessons we learned through our experience and research to help us work better in the future.
At the dawn of this second decade of the 21st century, we are witness to a world in constant and rapid flux, full of uncertainty, and all too often driven by the self-interest of elites rather than universal principles and human rights. We continue to grapple with many of the same challenges of yesterday: devastating conflicts around the world that have left behind millions of victims; persistent impunity for the most heinous of crimes; the dismissal of justice, human rights, and humanitarian law; and the rise of nationalist narratives that perpetuate and further entrench racism, marginalization, and exclusion.
Those of us committed to justice and human rights, however, have reason to be hopeful for positive change, justice, and inclusion. This past year, we have also been buoyed by massive, mostly peaceful social protests in capitals and regional hubs in country after country, in which broad sections of society have filled the streets to demand their rights, access to justice, an end to endemic corruption and political and economic disenfranchisement, and urgent and long overdue redress for past injustices and historical grievances. Especially uplifting is the fact that leading these demonstrations, and in some cases revolutions, have been women, youth, and grassroots civil society organizations.
These citizen- and civil society-led movements, which have taken shape and come to life independently from the political establishment in often starkly different countries and regions, have breathed revitalizing fresh air into what has been a bleak global climate for justice and human rights for much of the past decade. Though not an antidote, they clearly articulate social demands, spark new ideas for solutions, and offer inspiration and hope for a better tomorrow.
ICTJ remains steadfast in its mission to help societies dealing with legacies of massive human rights violations and break cycles of violence to build a more peaceful, just, and inclusive future. At the heart of all that we do are the voices and needs of victims and the civil society organizations that advocate for them; they are the most powerful catalysts for real change. Disproportionately among victims in these societies are women, young people, and members of marginalized ethnic or religious communities. They are most often the targets of human rights abuses and bear the brunt of discriminatory political, social, and economic policies. The only path to a truly sustainable peace and development that guarantees justice for all is one where victims and civil society actively and meaningfully participate in transitional justice processes.
ICTJ partners with victims’ groups, women’s associations, youth-led action networks, and other local and national civil society organizations all over the world. We work with and support these groups because they know the local context — the social and political actors and dynamics, the extent and impact of the violations, and the root causes of conflict. They gather evidence and document abuses, they provide psychosocial support to victims and their families, and they mobilize the local population to take action in pursuit of justice and inclusion. For our part, we share our technical expertise and accumulated international experience, we help connect them with other political stakeholders and representatives of national institutions and international and multilateral organizations, and we offer a platform to share their stories with and influence the wider public. Together, we strive for redress, justice, accountability, and meaningful reforms.
In 2020 and the decade to come, we intend to strengthen existing and nurture new partnerships with grassroots civil society organizations and champions of justice at the local level. We will build on the achievements and lessons learned of last year and seize the opportunities they have opened. Side by side with victims, we will secure justice for all.
Fernando Travesí
Executive Director, ICTJ
