Today's New York Times includes a long feature article on democratization in Morocco. The article touches on the work of the country's Justice and Reconciliation Commission, and also on the limits of transitional justice in countries that have made incomplete democratic transitions. This is illustrated by the story of Ahmed Marzouki, who was imprisoned for 18 years at Tazmamart prison for his role in a coup attempt and has recently taken his grievances to the public:
A few months ago, Mr. Marzouki took the extraordinary step of testifying at a public forum about the misery he endured in Tazmamart, whose name has become shorthand for the abuses Moroccans suffered under the 38-year rule of King Hassan II, who died in 1999. But Mr. Marzouki chose not to testify before the official Equity and Reconciliation Commission, established last year by King Mohammed VI, Hassan's son, to lay bare what Moroccans often call the terror of his father's rule and to establish reparations for some 13,000 victims.
The commission's public hearings, which started in December, are without precedent in the Middle East. Royal advisers point to them as evidence of the progress Morocco has made in its democratic transformation. Yet to many abused prisoners like Mr. Marzouki, the commission hearings have proved inadequate. While former detainees freely described kidnappings, torture and gruesome prison deaths - a few times even live on state television - they were barred from mentioning the names of those responsible.
By all accounts, Morocco under Mohammed VI has made considerable progress in democratization and human rights, and while there have been missteps along the way, the king and government seem serious about breaking with the past. The limitations on the truth commission, however, suggest that this may not be an entirely clean break. The government is willing to come to grips with past abuses, but evidently not to call to account individuals who may still hold official positions. By focusing solely on the victims' stories - which can then be portrayed as an aberration of the previous government and a closed chapter in Moroccan history - the commission has put the continuity of past and present beyond examination.
[Crossposted to The Head Heeb]
Dear All,
Having read alot of that transitonal justice practitioners have been writing and placing their arguements on, i have the following observations to make: First the the scope and mechanisms of truth commissions have to be re-evalauted so that the real office holders would not deter justice from being realized. Am arguing this because if the concentration is on victims , so what comes of people who continue to hold offices yet they themslves are perpetrators. More so within a situation where the incoming government may not constitute a credible number of reformers to push for accountability of the past. A case in point is in Kenya, where virtually the entire of previous regimes' civil servants and political class has been reatined or have found their way back into power weheels. These people are hell bent in defending their past and lack any incentive to allow accountability of their past actions. Worse of is where civil society has been dilapidated and copted by incoming government in the pretext that the civil society played crucial role in ushering the new regime. How then do you develop a cushion to ensure the pressure is maintained inon the new regime?
The social and economic crimes have to find their place in transtional justice aganda. From arguements advanced previously, many seems reluctant to accomodate these crimes within the sphere of truth commissions. I think more debates are required over this subject.
Posted by: Ndung'u Wainaina at December 28, 2005 03:35 AM
Transitonal jsutice Agenda challenge in Great Lakes
Can Transitional justice be key a catalyst to instill culture of democracy, human rights and social justice in the Great Lakes region? Majority of the countries in this region are either in the middle of wobbling transition, persistent conflict or political uncertainty.
The handling of the Burundi peace process and its elaborate transitional justice mechanisms will determine a lot about the future of that country and also to a larger extent its neighbours considering the various factors that create connectivity of the conflict between the neighbouring countries. The final outcome of the ICTR and Gacaca processes shall have impact on the peace and democracy not just in Rwanda but the lessons learnt out of these two processes shall inform the future transitional justice agenda in the region.
The ICC referral cases for Uganda and Sudan perhaps generate single biggest challenge to judicial and parliamentary institutions to devise ways of domesticating the ICC treaty a strategy of advancing transitional justice and human security in the region countries. Also the success of these two cases will open a new avenue of dealing with impunity. The International Court of Justice ruling on the reparations to DRC by Uganda over exploitation of its natural resources must have set a new jurisprudence on matters of reparation involving countries’ aggression. The enactment of new constitution in DRC sets in motion the first step on the future of pursuing accountability for the past atrocities However, the debate on this matter needs to be ignited in order to provide more insights to avoid legal limitations and obscuring of the wider picture.
Ethiopia has currently witnessing the re emergence of state repression contrary to Ethiopian government promise when it took power that it shall give human rights and democracy a chance to thrive. The country’s unaccounted past atrocities continue to haunt the present. Sudan, though attempting to rise from war, its human rights record remains uninterrogated. The Darfur massacres and accounting for past SPLM’s and Khartoum government’s atrocities are still food for thought. Somali is yet to attain peace. However, this does not stop documentation and investigation for human rights violations to ensure securing the evidence fro possible future action on perpetrators of human rights.
In Kenya, revitalizing the transitional justice and accountability agenda beginning with the releasing and acting upon the multi-billion corruption Goldenberg report; taking tangible actions to implement the recommendations of Public Land Commission report on Illegally/Allocated acquired public land released on 2004; establishing the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission in accordance with the recommendations of the Prof. Makau Mutua Task force’s report of 2003; and putting in place valid and legitimate mechanisms for auditing and vetting all Public institutions and appointments to public offices are the milestones and challenges facing Kenya.
Dealing with these issues in the Great Lakes form part of the wider struggle to address poverty and human insecurity that people this region are stack in. This will also address the tragedies of social inequality and glaring injustices in the labour relations, gender based exploitation, intergenerational disparities and good governance deficit.
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