Transitional Justice Cafés: Meeting the Actors and Tackling the Challenges

Olivier Chamard / Geneva Academy

From the peace agreement in Colombia to the situation in the Central African Republic or the role of armed non-state actors in transitional justice processes, seven Transitional Justice Cafés allowed students of the Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law (MTJ) to discuss topical issues with leading expert in the field.

For the first year of the MTJ, the following Transitional Justice Cafés were organized:

• On the Road to Transitional Justice: Memorialization in Russia and the Balkans, with Verna Terselic (Documenta, Croatia) and Grigory Okhotin (Memorial, Russia), in cooperation with the Right Livelihood Award Foundation
• Transitional Justice and the Central African Republic, with Pierre Hazan
• Conflict and Transitional Justice: The Case of Northern Ireland, with Fionnuala Ní Aoláin
• The Current Transitional Justice Process in Colombia: Where do we Stand?, with Rodrigo Uprimny Yepes (De Justicia)
• Acuerdos de Paz: Miradas Cruzadas entre Guatemala y Colombia, with Berenice Celeita (NOMADESC, Colombia) and Marcos Ramirez (Comunidad de Poblaciones en Resistencia del IXCAN, Guatemala), in collaboration with Peace Brigades International
• Armed Non-State Actors and Transitional Justice, with Dr Annyssa Bellal and Carla Ruta (Thematic Adviser, Geneva Call)
• Displacement and Transitional Justice, with Larbi Mebtouche (UNHCR) and Norbert Wühler

Each café is divided in two parts: a presentation followed by a discussion where the guest speaker engages with students on the issues and challenges they raise. ‘With these cafés, our students get exposure to practical situations and can develop their networks in the field of transitional justice’ underlines Thomas Unger, co-director of the MTJ. ‘The format allows our students to have in-depth discussions with experts and practitioners ’ adds Frank Haldemann, also co-director of the MTJ.