Ukraine is in the seventh year of an armed conflict. With the Russian occupation of Crimea and two Kremlin-backed puppet ’republics’ often resorting to hostilities and human rights abuses, Kyiv is attempting to ensure that both the Russian state and individuals are held accountable.
To this end, Ukraine has reached out to a number of international courts, most notably the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. However, more steps need to be taken domestically.
This two-part virtual roundtable discusses Ukraine’s emerging transitional justice policy and explores the experience of other conflict-affected states that could assist Ukraine’s efforts.
Day 1: 9 July 2020, 13:00 – 14:30
Transitional Justice Policymaking: Lessons for Ukraine
This session explores the best practices of transitional justice policymaking and assess the inherent difficulties while a conflict is ongoing. The speakers analyze the connections between a conflict-affected state’s international proceedings and its domestic transitional justice efforts. The discussion also focuses on the interplay between the state and civil society in developing a viable transitional justice path for a nation also afflicted by economic hardship and disinformation.
Day 2: 10 July 2020, 10:00 – 11:30
Truth-telling, Amnesties and Reconciliation During and Post-Conflict
This session examines three complex issues impacting reconciliation - truth-telling, amnesties and lustration. Whereas Russia, within the Minsk process, demands guarantees of immunity for all sides, Ukraine is developing Criminal Code amendments and a transitional justice strategy that denies amnesties for serious human rights abuses. Lustration – the purging of the previous regime - is a related issue involving an assessment of collaboration with occupying authorities. As the domestic war crime trials have not built a comprehensive narrative about the traumatic events, more discussions will emerge about non-judicial truth-telling initiatives - something totally new for the country’s social and legal fabric.
This event is held in partnership with the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and Center for Civil Liberties.
