Transitional Justice Archives

Abstract

After the global proliferation of numerous transitional justice mechanisms such as international criminal ad hoc tribunals and truth and reconciliation commissions, many are nearing, or have come to, their completion. What will remain are their archival records that document not only the heinous crimes committed in the countries concerned, but also how those transitional justice mechanisms operated. Often however, the contribution of archives to on-going transitional justice mechanisms is neglected and remains at best obscure. This panel will bring together researchers and practitioners working on and in archives documenting gross human rights abuses. It will explore challenges of preserving and managing archives in volatile post-conflict contexts and discuss issues arising around access, location and ownership of archives and how such affect the impact of archives to transitional justice processes. These rather technical questions will be complimented by a discussion on what we can learn from archives about the transitional justice mechanisms themselves and particularly what narratives are represented in those archives; in short what ‘historical record’ is created, what is forgotten and what is remembered? The analysis of archival narratives can challenge presumptions about reconciliation, truth, healing and justice - notions that are believed to be the outcome of many transitional justice processes.