Students organized a panel discussion on transitional justice in central asia and Georgia

14 July 2020

Students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law (MTJ) continued their extracurricular activities online, organizing a series of events to exchange with professionals who work in Geneva or in the field on human rights and transitional justice. In this edition, they explore the subject of Transitional Justice in Central Asia, Georgia and Kazakstan with highly qualified experts.

Transitional Justice in Central Asia and Georgia: Reviewing Past, Present and Future

On 29 June, our MTJ students held an online panel on the state of transitional justice issues as well as the challenges in dealing with the past, present and future of TJ in post-Soviet states. Speakers included Dr. Anna Dolidze, who worked as the Parliamentary Secretary of the President of Georgia and Deputy Minister of Defense, overseeing the areas of education, social benefits and the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers.Dr. Anna Dolidze’s most recent position is: a non-judicial member of the High Council of Justice, the highest regulatory agency for the judiciary. Ilya Nuzov, Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). And Professor Alexei Trochev, associate Professor of political science at Nazarbayev University in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, who also edits the journal 'Statutes and Decisions: The Laws of the USSR and Its Successor States', which has recently covered issues of judicial politics in Ukraine, police reform in Russia, and criminal justice reforms in Kazakhstan.

During the discussion, Dr. Anna Dolidze highlighted the importance of truth commissions, the lack of transitional justice processes in Georgia and how assumption of responsibility in relation to some of the acts committed, would help Georgia become more powerful in relation to the challenges that it has has been facing historically.

Ilya Nuzov focused on Eastern Asia and more specifically, on how the lack of transitional justice influenced the post-soviet period. He underlined the importance of separating the different transitions these countries went through over the years, as well as the impact soviet politics played in shaping their independence.

Finally, Professor Trochev underlined the issue of transitional justice in the midst of divided societal attitudes towards Stalinism and the variations among the post-soviet states. He provided a detailed explanation on how Kazakhstan dealt with the Stalinist past, with a specific focus on rehabilitation and commemoration of victims of Famine and Purges.