Practical Applications of Transitional Justice: Lessons Learned from International Experiences
Executive Summary:
As part of the Transitional Justice in Syria series launched by the Syrian Dialogue Center, which began with the introductory report Transitional Justice and the Importance of Developing a Syrian Approach, followed by the second paper that focused on special criminal tribunals and the most suitable option for Syria, this new paper addresses the practical applications of transitional justice in various international experiences. Its purpose is to extract lessons learned from these cases, thereby enabling the Syrian context to avoid as many challenges as possible and to draw upon positive practices.
The paper aims to understand the impact of national contexts on the practical applications of transitional justice, analyze the outcomes of different mechanisms and pathways used to achieve the goals of transitional justice, and identify a set of lessons derived from six significant international experiences. These cases were selected to reflect a diversity of contexts (Europe, Latin America, and Africa) as well as chronological variation, with the ultimate goal of informing the development of a Syrian-specific approach to transitional justice.
Using desk research in combination with inductive and comparative methodologies, the paper demonstrates that substantial variation exists among international cases, particularly in the balance between accountability and amnesty depending on the nature of political change. Accountability-oriented approaches tended to prevail in situations where the former regime was overthrown militarily or through popular uprisings, while amnesty-oriented approaches were more prominent in contexts where a negotiated political settlement was reached between the outgoing and transitional authorities.
The paper concludes with a set of lessons applicable to the Syrian case. Chief among them is the tendency of remnants of former regimes to obstruct transitional justice through various strategies, such as pressuring to “close the past” entirely, trading civil peace for amnesty, or framing any measure as an act of revenge. Moreover, the paper finds that significant economic and social challenges—such as high public budget deficits, the large number of victims, and the presence of powerful groups that benefited from violations—often shape the trajectory of transitional justice. In contexts marked by severe societal polarization and economic fragility, the implementation of transitional justice mechanisms tends to be slow and difficult.
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باحث في وحدة التوافق والهوية المشتركة يحمل إجازة في الحقوق وحاصل على شهادة الماجستير في القانون العام، ناشط في المجتمع المدني والمجال الحقوقي وقدم عدداً من البرامج التدريبية
