SOAN 245/324
Seminar in
Transitional Justice: Dealing with the Legacies of Past Human Rights Abuse
For Graduate and Undergraduate Students
Sari Hanafi
Associate Professor
Spring, 2008
Tuesday 4:30-7:00 pm, Jesup 107a
Phone: 01/350000, extension: 3823; Office: Nicely 201.
Office hours: TT 15:15 to 16:30 and open door policy
,
I. Course Description
II. Objective
III. Format
IV. Assessment
V. Schedule
VI. Topics and Readings
1- Introduction to Transitional Justice: History and Theory
2. Dealing with the Trauma
3. Prosecuting Past Abusers of Human Rights
4. Truth Commission Models
5. Memory and Transitional Justice
6. Memorialization: Case studies
7. Reparations
8. Reconciliation
9. Justice and Transitional Justice in Lebanon: Presence and Potential
10. Transitional justice: Palestinian Case
11. Gender and Transitional Justice
12. Veting and Conclusion
13. Case Studies and Films
14. Case Studies and Films
VII. Bibliography
VIII. Other materials
I. Course Description
Should societies confront the legacies of past human rights abuse or atrocities? If so, how? The field of transitional justice seeks to answer these questions.
The seminar is an exploration of the strategies and courses of action for the post conflict societies. Consistent with the perspectives and premises of transnational justice, the seminar examines the ways in which states and the international community attempt to achieve justice in periods of political transition. Some of the leading theories and applied dimensions will be critically assessed in the light of the operation of international and domestic criminal justice, historical and administrative justice.
II. Objective
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Analyze problems related to the past abuse of human rights in post-conflict societies;
2. Understand main theories of human rights and transitional justice;
3. Apply theories of transitional justice to a wide range of problems arising in societies that are undergoing dramatic transformation;
4. Undertake a critical analysis of the relationship between theory and practice;
5. Undertake research which requires the application of theories of transitional justice to concrete problems.
III. Format
The course will be held in the form of a seminar, including lectures and class discussions.
Seminar Presentation
Each student is required to give an oral presentation on a chosen topic. The presentation should be no more than 15 minutes.
Presenting the reading does NOT mean summarizing these readings, rather it entails raising questions, counterarguments and connections to other theoretical issues, or comparisons with other places and times. The presentation should provide a basis for class discussions. Students will submit a copy of the questions and issues they prepared to their peers and to the instructor, 24 hours before the presentation.
Students are, as such, encouraged to bring newspaper clippings or magazine articles on relevant current affairs. In this way, a logbook of materials can be accumulated throughout the course.
The internet may also be consulted for locating other materials.
A seminar paper of 3000-4000 words, to be submitted within one weeks of the presentation, must follow normal standards of an essay with proper referencing, introduction, discussion and conclusion. You can take one or two points of your topic and develop it based in your readings. Papers are to be submitted exclusively through Moodle.
Research Essay
Each student will choose a topic related to transitional justice. S/he will send me one or two paragraph in how s/he will approach the topic to be approved by me.
Students will be expected to explore the topic in an original fashion, applying concepts you learn in the seminar. The research may be conducted from written primary and secondary source materials and supplemented by original work which may include interviews and observation fieldwork - taking care to follow professional standards of social science methodologies.
The 3000-4000 words essay must be presented in a FORMAL standard format with proper referencing, introduction, discussion and conclusion. Papers are to be submitted exclusively through Moodle.
Course Policies
1- You are strongly encouraged to participate in the discussion periods during classes and indeed beyond the classroom. It will make the classes more interesting and vibrant, and it helps in learning and understanding this course.
2- You should have a sense of responsibility. Class attendance is required and assessed. Coming late is not permitted without a proper justification. In case you are absent, you should send a three –page summary of the reading before the next class.
3- You should read the required materials each week. Otherwise, you should send a three –page summary of the readingbefore the following class.
4- It is strictly prohibited to use or to show mobile during the course.
IV. Assessment
1.Class attendance and class participation (25%)
2.Class seminar presentation and seminar paper on one of the themes assigned (30%) (Due one week after the presentation)
3.Research Essay (45%)(Due May 29)
V. Schedule
Topic / Title / DatePresentation of the course / Tuesday 12 Feb.
Topic 1 / Introduction to Transitional Justice: History and Theory / Tuesday 19 Feb.
Topic 2 / Dealing with the Trauma / Tuesday 26 Feb.
Topic 3 / Prosecuting Past Abusers of Human Rights / Tuesday 4 March
Topic 5 / Memory and Transitional Justice / Tuesday 11March
Topic 9 / Justice and Transitional Justice in Lebanon: Presence and Potential / Tuesday 18 March (Umam)
Topic 6 / Memorialization: Case studies / Tuesday 25 March
Related to topic 5 and 2 / Umam: Opening of exhibition about Algeria Screening of the film / Friday April 4. 18:00 (Umam Office)
Topic 4 and 13 / - Opening ceremony for the exhibition about the disappeared: in UNESCO
April 10, 20.00: Opening ceremony in UNESCO*
* Lecture by Alex Boraine.
. / Thursday April 10, 20.00 (UNESCO)
Topic 4 / Workshop 1: Truth seeking and truth commissions
(Only for two students) / Saturday - Sunday 12 – 13, April
Topic 4 / Truth telling / Tuesday 15 April
Topic 7 / Reparations / Tuesday 22 April
Topic 8 / Reconciliation / Tuesday 29 April
Topic 10 / Transitional justice: Palestinian Case / Tuesday 6 May
Topic 11 / Gender and Transitional Justice / Tuesday 20 May
Topic 12 / Vetting / Tuesday 27 May
VI. Topics and Readings
“*” in front of the reading means that these readingsare required for all the students. They are supplementary readings for the student who presents the specific topic and for those who are interested in the topic.
1- Introduction to Transitional Justice: History and Theory
Confronting the legacies of past human rights abuse and the Rule of Law in Transition
*- (Amstuz, 2005: chapter 1, pp.17-40)
*- Teitel (2000, Chapter 1)
- Alex Boraine, Janet Levy, and Ronel Scheffer (eds), “Dealing with the Past” pp. 1-19; 33-105.
- Elster, Jon (2004). Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective. Chapter 4. Pp. 79-135.
2. Dealing with the Trauma
Film: Death and the Maiden, Roman Polanski (103 minutes)
3. Prosecuting Past Abusers of Human Rights
Legal accountability for past abuse: prosecutions, trials, and civil action in courts
* - Nino, Carlos Santiago (1996) Chapter 1
* - UN OHCHR (2006a)
*- ICTJ (2006) Briefing paper: Dujail: Trail and Error. 17 p.
*- Oomen Barbara (2007) “Rwanda’s Gacaca: Objectives, Merits and Their Relation to
Supranational Criminal Law”. Unpublished paper. In Moodle
- Scharf and Rodley (in Bassiouni), “International Law Principles on Accountability; pp. 89-96.
- Diane F. Orentlicher, Settling Accounts: The Duty to Prosecute Human Rights Violations of a Prior RegimeYale Law Journal Vol.100 No.8 (June 1991) pp.2537-2615
- ICTJ (2006) Lessons from the Deployment of international Judges and Prosecutors in Kosovo. 35 p.
- ICTJ (2006) The Special Court for Sierra Leone Under Scrutiny. 45 p.
- ICTJ (2006) The Serious Crimes Process in Timor-Leste: In Retrospect. 41 p.
4. Truth Commission Models
Understanding different models, especially in South Africa and Morocco
*- Hayner, Priscilla. Unspeakable Truths, 2001. Chapters 3, 4 and 14.
*- Brahm Eric (2007)Uncovering the Truth: Examining Truth Commission Success and Impact. International Studies Perspectives 8, pp. 16–35.
*- ICTJ (2007) “About Morocco: summaries of the IER’s report and findings”
*- Slyomovics Susan (2005) “Morocco’s Justice and Reconciliation Commission”. Middle East Report. 5 p.
* Garrett, Stephen A. (2000) Models of Transitional Justice - A Comparative Analysis. International Studies Association.
- Morocco IER report and Finding.
- South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Final Report, “Findings and Recommendations”
- Boraine, Alex. A Country Unmasked, 2000. Chapters 8 and 10.
- ICTJ (2006) Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission: A Comparative Assessment. 49 p.
5. Memory and Transitional Justice
*- (Young, 1996: pp. 1-91; 243-262; 283-322)
* - King, Alex (2001) Remembering and Forgetting in the Public Memorials of the Great War” in Forty, Adrian & Kuchler Susanne. (2001) The Art of Forgetting. N.Y.: Berg.
- (Linenthal, 2001)
- Bickford, Louis (2006) “Human Rights, Justice and the Struggle for Memory” in: Transitional Justice and Human Security
- (Teitel, 2000: chapter 3)
Brito, Alexandra Barahona de; Carmen Gonzalez-Enriquez and Paloma Aguilar (Eds.) (2002) The politics of memory: transitional justice in democratizing societies.
6. Memorialization: Case studies
*- Coombes, Annie E. (2003) chapters 1-2-3.
*- Hanssen, J. & D.Genberg, (2003) “Beirut in memoriam: a kaleidoscopic space out of focus”. A. Pflitsch & A. Neuwirth (ed.)Crisis and memory in Islamic societies: proceedings of the Third Summer Academy of the Working Group Modernity and Islam: (Orient Institute).
*- Neuwirth, Angelika and Andreas Pflitsch (2003) “Crisis and memory dimensions of their relationship : an introduction”. Pflitsch & Neuwirth (ed.)Crisis and memory.
*- Khalili, Laleh (2005) “Commemorating Contested Lands”. Ann M. Lesch and Ian S. Lustick (Eds.) Exile and Return Predicaments of Palestinians and Jews. Pennsylvania University Press, pp. 106-132.
7. Reparations
*- (Bloomfield et al., 2005: Chapter 9)
*- Pablo De Greiff, (2006) “Introduction” The Handbook of Reparations. Oxford : Oxford University Press.pp. 2-18.[1]
- Elazar Barkan, “Toward the Theory of Restitution,” in: The Guilt of Nations (2000)
- Erin Daly, “Reparations in South Africa: A cautionary tale”, The University of Memphis Law Review, Memphis: Winter 2003. Vol. 33, Issue 2.
- (Teitel: 2000: Chapter 4)
- ICTJ (2007) The Contemporary Right to Property Restitution in the Context of Transitional Justice. 52 p.
8. Reconciliation
*- (Amstutz: 2005: Chapter 6)
*- Nadim N. Rouhana ‘Reconciling History and Equal Citizenship in Israel:
Democracy and the Politics of Historical Denial’ in Will Kymlicka and Bashir Bashir. (Eds.). The Politics of Reconciliation in Multicultural Societies. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Forthcoming)
*- (Peled and Rouhana: 2004)
- Rouhana, Nadim (2005) “Truth and Reconciliation: The Right of Return in the Context of Past Injustice”. Ann M. Lesch and Ian S. Lustick (Eds.) Exile and Return Predicaments of Palestinians and Jews. Pennsylvania University Press, pp. 106-132.
9. Justice and Transitional Justice in Lebanon: Presence and Potential
1- What are the purposes of dealing with the past in Lebanon? Can reconciliation in Lebanon be achieved without transitional justice processes?
2- How important is memory/memorialization as a way to deal with the past at the time in Lebanon?
3- What strategies social actors use to move these issues forward in Lebanon?
*- (Khalaf, 2002: Chapter 1)
*- Lebanese Amnesty Law
* - Ta’if Agreement
- (Bronkhorst, 2005)
10. Transitional justice: Palestinian Case
*- Lustick, Ian (2005) “Negotiating Truth: The Holocaust, Lehavdil, and al-Nakba”. Ann M. Lesch and Ian S. Lustick (Eds.) Exile and Return Predicaments of Palestinians and Jews. Pennsylvania University Press, pp. 106-132.
*- Barkan, Elazar (2005) “Considerations Toward Accepting Historical Responsibility”. Ann M. Lesch and Ian S. Lustick (Eds.) Exile and Return Predicaments of Palestinians and Jews. Pennsylvania University Press, pp. 106-132.
*- Michael R. Fischbach, “Palestinian and Mizrahi Jewish Property Claims in Discourse and Diplomacy” Ann M. Lesch and Ian S. Lustick (Eds.) Exile and Return Predicaments of Palestinians and Jews. Pennsylvania University Press, pp. 106-132.
*- Tamari, Salim (2005) “Palestinian Refugee Property Claims: Compensation and Restitution”. Ann M. Lesch and Ian S. Lustick (Eds.) Exile and Return Predicaments of Palestinians and Jews. Pennsylvania University Press, pp. 106-132.
11. Gender and Transitional Justice
*-Rubio-Marín, Ruth ed. (2006) (Introduction and Chapter 1) pp. 20-91.
*- ICTJ on gender. 3 p.
*- (Copelon, 1995)
- ICTJ handbook on gender and truth commissions.
12. Vettingand Conclusion
*- UN OHCHR (2006b) pp. 1-42.
*- Mayer-Rieckh Alexander and Pablo de Greiff (2007) Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public employees in Transitional societies. Introduction: pp. 17-38.
- UNDP & ICTJ (2006)
- Kingma, Kees (Editor) (2000) Demobilization in Subsaharan Africa: The Development and Security Impacts.
13. Case Studies and Films
14. Case Studies and Films
VII. Bibliography
Databases
The University of Wisconsin has launched a Transitional Justice Database, which you can find here
< It is generalist in nature, rather than region-specific, but there are references to materials of interest on a broad range of subjects and covering all regions of the globe.
Umam, a Lebanese organization, has been working called Memory at Work < This may interest those of you engaged in memory work in particular.
Other
Amstutz, Mark (2005) The Healing of Nations. The Promise and Limits of Political Forgiveness
Bloomfield, David ; Teresa Barnes and Luc Huyse (2005) Reconciliation after Violent Conflict. Stockholm: International IDEA . (available on-line, downloadable at:
Boraine, Alex et al. (eds), “Dealing with the Past”.
Brito, Alexandra Barahona de; Carmen Gonzalez-Enriquez and Paloma Aguilar (Eds.) (2002) The politics of memory: transitional justice in democratizing societies. Oxford : Oxford University Press.[2]
Bronkhorst, Daan (2005). Truth Commissions And Transitional Justice: A Short Guide. (available on Moodle)
Cobban, Helena (2006) Amnesty After Atrocity?: Healing Nations After Genocide And War Crimes. Paradigm Publishers.
Cohen, Stanley (2005) States of denial: knowing about atrocities and suffering. Oxford University Press.
Connerton, Paul. (1989) How Societies Remember (Cambridge University Press).
Coombes, Annie (2003) History After Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa. Duke University Press.
Coombes, Annie E. (2003) History After Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa. Duke University Press.
Copelon, Rhonda (1995) `Gendered War Crimes: Reconceptualizing Rape in Time of War', in Julie Peters and Andrea Wolper (eds) Women's Rights Human Rights, pp. 197-214. New York: Routledge.
Elster, Jon (2004). Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Garrett, Stephen A. (2000) Models of Transitional Justice - A Comparative Analysis. International Studies Association.
Hanafi, Sari and Linda Tabar (2005) The Emergence of a Palestinian Globalized Elite. Donors, International Organizations and Local NGOs. (Muwatin and Institute of Jerusalem Studies)
Hanssen, J. & D.Genberg, (2003) “Beirut in memoriam: a kaleidoscopic space out of focus”. A. Pflitsch & A. Neuwirth (ed.) Crisis and memory in Islamic societies: proceedings of the Third Summer Academy of the Working Group Modernity and Islam: (Orient Institute).
Jaspers Karl (2001) The Question of German Guilt. Fordham University Press.
Khalaf, Samir (2002) Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon. Colombia University Press.
King, Alex (2001) Remembering and Forgetting in the Public Memorials of the Great War” Forty, Adrian & Kuchler Susanne. (2001) The Art of Forgetting. N.Y.: Berg.
Kingma, Kees (Editor) (2000) Demobilization in Subsaharan Africa: The Development and Security Impacts. Vhps Distribution.
Linenthal, Edward (2001) Preserving Memory: the struggle to create America's Holocaust Museum; Columbia University Press.
Mayer-Rieckh Alexander and Pablo de Greiff (2007) Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public employees in Transitional societies. New York: ICTJ.[3]
Neuwirth, Angelika and Andreas Pflitsch (2003) “Crisis and memory dimensions of their relationaship : an introduction”. A. Pflitsch & A. Neuwirth (ed.) Crisis and memory in Islamic societies: proceedings of the Third Summer Academy of the Working Group Modernity and Islam: (Orient Institute).
Nino, Carlos Santiago (1996) Radical evil on trial. New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press.
Peled, Yoav and Nadim Rouhana (2004), “Transitional Justice and the Right of Return of the Palestinian Refugees”. Theoretical Inquiries in Law. Volume 5, Number 2 July 2004 Article 4. The Berkeley Electronic Press.
Roht-Arriaza Naomi and Javier Mariezcurrena (2006) Transitional justice in the twenty-first century: beyond truth versus justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Rousso Henry (2002) The haunting past: history, memory, and justice in contemporary France. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press.
Rubio-Marín, Ruth ed. (2006) What Happened to the Women?: Gender and Reparations for Human Rights Violations. New York: Social Science Research Council.
Schabas A. William and Shane Darcy (Ed.) (2004)Truth commissions and courts: the tension between criminal justice and the search for truth. Publication Dordrecht, NL : Kluwer Academic Publishers.[4]
Schabas, William A. (2002) “The Rwanda Case: Sometimes It’s Impossible”. Post Conflict Justice (M. Cherif Bassiouini, ed.). Pgs. 459-485.
Scharf, Michael. (2000) He Tools for Enforcing International Criminal Justice in the New Millennium: Lessons from the Yugoslav Tribunal.” DePaul Law Review.
Schwartz Herman (2000) The Struggle for Constitutional Justice in Post-Communist Europe (Constitutionalism in Eastern Europe). University Of Chicago Press.
Stacey, Simon (2006) Political [sic] theory and transitional justice. ProQuest / UMI.[5]
Teitel, Ruti (2000) Transitional Justice. Oxford University Press.
UN OHCHR (2006a) Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conflict States. Prosecution Intiatives.
UN OHCHR (2006b) RULE-OF-LAW TOOLS FOR POST-CONFLICT STATES. Vetting: an operational framework
UNDP & ICTJ (2006) Vetting Public Employees in Post-Conflict Societies - Operational Guidelines.
William A. Schabas, Introduction to International Criminal Court; Cambridge University Press, 2001
Wolin, S.S. (1989) The Presence of the Past (John Hopkins).
Young, James E. (1993) The texture of memory: Holocaust memorials and meaning.New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, c1993.
Pouligny,Béatrice (2007)“The forgotten dimensions of ‘transitional justice’ mechanisms:Cultural meanings and imperatives for survivors of violent conflicts”.
Darwish, Mahmoud.Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982.Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, 1995.
VIII. Other materials
-Film: "For you whenever you are" Borhan Alaouiyé 2000 (52 min)
-Film "Facing the enemy" by Paul McGuigan, 2001 (66 min)
Film “Gacaca, living together again in Rwanda?” by Anne Aghion, 2002 (55min)
-Film "In my Country " by John Boorman, 2005 (103 min)
-Film “The Flute Player” by Jocelyn Glatzer, 2003 (53 min)
-Film "Confronting the Truth" by Steve York and Neil J. Kritz, 2007 (73 min)
-Film “If the People One Day” by the Citizen Movement (26 min)
-Film Bringing down a dictator / a production of York Zimmerman, Inc. in association with WETA-TV, Washington D.C. ; produced, written and directed by Steve York ; managing producer, Miriam Zimmerman