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García-Godos, Jemima --- "Building trust through accountability: transitional justice in the search for peace" [2019] ELECD 510; in Bailliet, M. Cecilia (ed), "Research Handbook on International Law and Peace" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 401

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Law and Peace

Editor(s): Bailliet, M. Cecilia

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781788117463

Section: Chapter 18

Section Title: Building trust through accountability: transitional justice in the search for peace

Author(s): García-Godos, Jemima

Number of pages: 23

Abstract/Description:

This chapter addresses national and international efforts of post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation in societies emerging from armed conflict or authoritarian regimes. Such efforts place great emphasis on the need for accountability for past human rights violations. The assumption behind these efforts is that justice must be addressed if the goal is a stable, long-lasting peace. Based on a discussion of victims’ rights and the links between justice and peace, this chapter argues that transitional justice is a constitutive element of positive peace because it contributes to rebuild relations of trust in post-conflict societies. The chapter addresses the main transitional justice mechanisms applied by countries seeking to establish some form of accountability for past violations: prosecutions, truth commissions, and victim reparations, providing examples from specific transitional justice experiences in Latin America.