Memorialization Processes in the Context Human Rights Violation and International Humanitarian Law: the Fifth Pillar of Transitional Justice
Fabian Salvioli
UN Special Rapporteur
In that sense I would like to express, at the beginning, my outmost solidarity with the victims of the massacre and their families, noting that it is always essential to memorialize these events, to remember them so that they are never repeated again in the history of the country or in any other parts of the world.
Human rights violations can be of different nature, but when human rights violations are massive, as in the case of a massacre, or are systematic in time, or are combined with other types of violations, such as violations of international humanitarian law in the context of armed conflicts, addressing those cases require a special approach.
That special approach takes place through the adoption of transitional justice processes; which of course are very rigorous from the point of view of the applicability of international law, and must always be undertaken in compliance with international human rights obligations.
Transitional justice processes have evolved throughout history, up to a point where the United Nations Human Rights Council decided to establish the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.
This mandate, under my responsibility today, has indicated which are the directives that must be followed to address past human rights violations in compliance with international standards.
A massacre is not an individual human rights violation. A massacre affects the direct victims, their families, the group affected by the events that caused this harm, the community to which victims belong, and society as a whole.
When violations are carried out under certain parameters, they affect the international community as a whole and can be considered crimes against humanity.
For this reason, this type of violations must be addressed properly by the governments which succeed dictatorships, authoritarian governments or situations of conflict.
The first duty established by human rights law is the establishing the truth.
The right to truth is and individual and a collective right. Not only victims are entitled to this right but society as a whole. Truth commissions must carry out their work comprehensively. They must generate trust amongst victims and their families so they can come forward to provide testimony. They must carry out their work professionally and take into account the different dimensions related to the violations concerned, such as for example their gender dimension. They must also always take into consideration the perspective of victims. These commissions must arrive to precise conclusions.
The establishment of the truth is not in itself sufficient to fully comply with the duty of States to promote and respect human rights and duly address past human rights violations. These violations cannot be left unaccounted for and their perpetrators and masterminds must be brought to justice. It is unacceptable that acts of this nature remain unpunished. They must be criminally sanctioned with penalties that are proportionate to the seriousness of the crime committed.
Besides adopting truth and justice processes, it is important that victims are given center stage in transitional justice process. Victims must participate in the design, implementation and evaluation of transitional justice processes with a privileged voice.
Of course, victims have the right to receive reparation. As it logically follows that all harm suffered creates the right to receive reparation, victims in this case are entitled to full reparation. Full reparation entails addressing human rights violations holistically, and must encompass the different aspect of those violations.
Besides compensation, which of course is due to victims, victims and their families must also be provided rehabilitation such as psychological and medical assistance.
Reparation also entails adopting measures of satisfaction, which entail the recognition of the responsibility of the State, the adoption of public apologies and the organization of public ceremonies in which the State provides its apologies. Those ceremonies must be organized in full consultation with the victims and in agreement with them. These ceremonies should not revictimize them.
Once the facts have been recognized and public apologies have been expressed, no regression is allowed. Denying the facts and their effects entails inflicting a new human rights violation upon victims and their families.
Reparation processes should include the above mentioned measures as well as guarantees of non-recurrence. Non-recurrence entails institutional reforms needed to avoid the repetition of past violations. They entail not only the reform of the legal framework to bring them in line with international human rights standards, but specially the change in public practice, particularly of the security forces so their duties are always discharged in compliance with the relevant human rights and humanitarian law standards.
The fifth pillar of transitional justice is memorialization. Memorialization is comprised of several aspects and must be carried out with full respect for victims, as it is done by you through this annual event, in which I'm honoured to participate. Adopting memorialization processes is essential to prevent the recurrence of past violations.
They include not only the establishment of museums or memory sites, but also measures to ensure easy public access to those spaces where people can be taught about those past events in a clear and understandable manner. It is also important to facilitate access by the youth so they get informed about what has happened. And also the adoption of educational programmes in the school and university curricula that address the serious and systematic human rights violations that the society has endured.
Once more, in this sense, the voice of the victims must be granted privileged status. In no way should a memorialization process attempt to or succeed in legitimizing the voice of the perpetrators.
All these elements are essential. The State cannot pick and choose them. Memory, truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence. The five essential elements to address a painful past; to avoid leaving the victims behind, and to support them, as required, in the path that they follow.
Once again, I congratulate you for the organization of this event.
I note my outmost support to the victims in their commemoration of the terrible events that had taken place; my outmost solidarity with their families; and my outmost support to the country so it can advance as much as possible in meeting its international obligation to address past violations such as the massacre that we are remembering today.
I thank you very much for your attention and wish you a good continuation of the work to be carried out during the Forum.
