GIJTR’S IMPACT IN DEPTH:
THE TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE FIELD
External Spheres and Actors
In the decade since its founding in 2014, GIJTR has pioneered new approaches to engaging with human rights violations—challenging a transitional justice practice that had become formulaic. As one international scholar put it: “[GIJTR]…is helping to create a new discourse. Transitional justice became quite moribund by sticking to the notion of mechanisms and…not [asking] what’s the end goal? [Because of GIJTR] we are having conversations that this field is not just about mechanisms, but this field actually has to produce transformative change in the lives of ordinary people. And yes, the state is an actor, but the state is not the only actor.” In terms of methodological approaches and connections, GIJTR’s work impacts the field in substantial ways, including by mainstreaming mental health and psychosocial services into all aspects of transitional justice. Further, it legitimizes memorialization and art-based techniques within the field as a concrete way to help survivors heal from trauma and spark more concrete actions that advance justice and accountability. While these impacts have been discussed at length earlier in this report, two additional field-transforming impacts include GIJTR’s pioneering work on atrocity prevention and documentation. Connecting Transitional Justice with Atrocity Prevention The linkages between atrocity prevention and transitional justice are significant, but frequently overlooked. Traditionally, the former seeks to prevent genocides, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing by identifying specific risk factors for mass atrocity. Transitional justice also places at its center goals of justice, truth, reconciliation and non- repetition of past violations, but is routinely seen as distinct from atrocity prevention because it is considered as mostly backward-looking given its focus on redress and coming to terms with the past. In its work, GIJTR counters this historic division by pioneering an explicit connection between the two fields that reveals the powerful role transitional justice mechanisms can play in mitigating atrocity risks by addressing impunity, contributing to institutional reform, allowing spaces for truth-telling and breaking the silences and distortions of the past. This approach is particularly
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Transforming Transitional Justice: A Decade of Change, Growth & Sustained Impact—A Summary Report
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