A/HRC/39/53
procedures of the Human Rights Council, national human rights institutions, civil society
organizations, representatives of victims, other practitioners and academic entities.
23.
Human rights and the State obligations that stem from them are dynamic and
progressive. The Special Rapporteur will identify in a continuous manner updated aspects
of each of the four elements of the mandate, including new jurisprudence from relevant
international, regional or domestic entities, and good practices that he deems important to
share.
24.
The content of the right to the truth and of what is expected from the proper
functioning of truth commissions, the parameters of justice and the scope of measures of
reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence cannot be devised in exactly the same way
today as they were understood when the first transitional justice processes were
implemented.
25.
Much of this progress made has been the result of the work done by international
and regional human rights monitoring bodies, and by related advocacy efforts of civil
society actors. In order to comply with the above-mentioned objective, the Special
Rapporteur will reflect and draw on the analysis of transitional justice processes carried out
by the relevant bodies of the United Nations and regional organizations. Naturally, the
development of the mandate must be in harmony with the human rights system of which it
is part, ensuring cross-fertilization and the prioritization of a “pro persona” perspective as
hermeneutical method. On this basis, the Special Rapporteur is keen to keep stakeholders
up to date on the most recent developments.
26.
Transitional justice situations are diverse and do not have the same origin; some
processes derive from situations of armed conflict, others from authoritarian regimes, or a
combination of them. There may also be other forms of violence, or specific and particular
situations in a State that give rise to the application of measures of transitional justice,
which do not precisely fit in the above-mentioned categories.
27.
The Special Rapporteur therefore deems it important to assess whether different
situations can, or indeed must, give rise to different solutions under the broad spectrum of
transitional justice measures, and how they can have an impact on each of the pillars of the
mandate and its comprehensive approach.
28.
For example, in situations of post-conflict transitional justice, it will be essential to
address, through an array of public policy measures, the structural causes that gave rise to
or allowed the conflict. Such causes are often linked to situations of extreme poverty,
diverse forms of discrimination or denial of individual or collective rights. This constitutes
an area of interest for the future substantive work of the mandate; in particular, exploring
how to undertake transitional justice processes that do not continue to foster or deepen
stigmatization and discrimination.
29.
In this vein, the Special Rapporteur also undertakes to work with Member States
initiating or undertaking transitional justice processes, by means of an interactive and open
dialogue and in the spirit of full cooperation, to technically advise and assist them to carry
out such processes in compliance with international human rights law, in the design and
consolidation of peace and security, centred on a “pro persona” perspective and aimed at
building and strengthening robust and sustainable societies based on the rule of law.
V. Preliminary outline of areas of interest to the Special
Rapporteur
30.
Beyond the commitments regarding the discharge of the mandate made in the
section above, the Special Rapporteur would like to highlight key areas of interest that he
deems priorities as he takes on the mandate and that he intends to develop and assess
throughout his mandate. These areas relate to a broad array of issues, such as those at the
core of the transitional justice field and cross-cutting questions, but also adjacent areas
where similar challenges are posed.
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