Marek Nowicki Memorial Lectures

The Marek Nowicki Memorial Lectures honors the memory of Marek Nowicki (1947-2003), an eminent international human rights activist and defender. The two annual lectures are funded by the Open Society Institute and are organized by the Central European University in Budapest as well as the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.

Marek Nowicki was Polish human rights expert. He coauthored the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and helped to shape the Polish Constitution. Marek Nowicki wrote extensively on the history and the philosophy of human rights, he created documentary films and educational programs. He was the supporter of human rights movements in authoritarian countries and new democracies – especially Poland and the other post Soviet states. Marek Nowicki also gave numerous lectures around the Russian Federation, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.

Professor Juan E. Méndez

This year’s lecturer, Juan E. Méndez, is a special advisor on crime prevention to the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court. He is also Co-Chair of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association. Until May 2009 he was the President of the International Center for Transnational Justice (ICTJ) and in the summer of 2009 he was a Scholar-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation in New York. Concurrent with his duties at ICTJ, the Honorable Kofi Annan named Mr. Méndez his Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, a task he performed from 2004 to 2007. He has recently been appointed as a UN Special Repporteur on Torture.

A native of Argentina, Mr. Méndez has dedicated his legal career to defending human rights and has a long and distinguished record of advocacy throughout the Americas. As a result of his involvement in representing political prisoners, the Argentinean military dictatorship arrested him and subjected him to torture and administrative detention for more than a year. During this time, Amnesty International adopted him as a “Prisoner of Conscience.” After his expulsion from his country in 1977, Mr. Méndez moved to the United States.

“Recent Trends in Transitional Justice” – lecture in Warsaw

The lecture of Juan E. Méndez in Warsaw was delivered on November 10, 2010 at the Warsaw University. It was organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights together with Open Society Institute under the auspices of the Warsaw University.

The Warsaw lecture of Juan E. Méndez was entitled “Recent Trends in Transitional Justice”. In the course of the lecture, Juan E. Méndez presented the development of transitional justice over the last few decades, drawing attention to new trends in the dynamics of transitional justice mechanisms. 

In the introduction, after recalling definitions of what the concept of the transitional justice embodies and mentioning its key features, Professor Méndez underscored that there are many sources of international law according to which the principles of transitional justice are now rules of international law and constitute obligations on the part of the State.

According to  Professor Méndez Rome Statute for an International Criminal Court was the turning point in the evolution of the international law, due to the fact that it was signed by more than 110 countries who agreed on three key principles: 1) that impunity for  mass atrocities is unacceptable to the international community and therefore they pledge to cooperate with each other and with the ICC to bring those crimes to justice; 2) that “crimes against humanity” can be defined with precision so that there is no ambiguity as to which patterns trigger this obligation; 3) that a permanent instrument of justice is created to ensure there will  be no impunity where the territorial State is unwilling or unable to live up to its obligations. Although the principles of transitional justice are universal, their implementation may differ. As a result transitional justice is today a collection of diverse practices. 

After the introduction, the lecture was divided into two parts. First, Professor Méndez spoke of patterns across the four areas of focus of transitional justice efforts. The areas distinguished by Professor Méndez included: prosecutions, truth-telling, reparations and institutional reform.

Furthermore, Professor E. Méndez indicated that the development of transitional justice had a big impact on prosecutions. The focus on formal accountability for the perpetrators of human rights abuses remains the corner-stone of transitional justice initiatives. Professor Méndez underscored that justice in the form of criminal prosecutions are still the most challenging of all transitional justice initiatives. This results not only from the fact that there exists the pressure not to go back to painful matters of the past, but also because they require utmost respect for well-established principles of due process and fair trial. Professor Méndez also referred to the recent trials where the head of the countries were convicted.

Concerning the question of truth-telling, according to Professor Méndez despite the renewed interest in criminal prosecutions, truth commissions have not lost their attractiveness as a transitional justice mechanism. Although there is a recurrent habit of thinking of truth-telling as an alternative to prosecution, there is a growing recognition that both must be done and that both must be done well. Professor Méndez reminded that the international law that imposes the obligation to offer reparations to the victims, says little about the form and amount of reparations to be paid. According to him due to the nature of the crimes involved, it is important to offer both individual and collective reparations.

In the second part of the lecture, Professor Méndez highlighted new dimensions to the traditional framework namely memorialization, reconciliation, the rise of regional and civil society processes, and a holistic approach to transitional justice.

Professor Méndez concluded by saying that societies emerging from dictatorship or from war now have many examples to draw upon. The examples he referred to in the lecture, show that transitional justice has not become any easier or less controversial, and that it is often difficult to overcome the obstacles. This explains why practitioners of transitional justice, especially those working in new and changing scenarios, are displaying creativity and imagination in their efforts to achieve peace with justice and in establishing or re-establishing the rule of law.

More information about Marek Nowicki Memorial Lectures are available at: http://www.hfhr.org.pl/Nowicki.