09 Dec “Victims’ Rights, Justice and Reconciliation” at the European Parliament
Posted at 09:16h
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On 10 November, AREU participated in a panel discussion at the European Parliament that aimed to bring the voices of Afghan conflict victims to the forefront.
The panel presented findings of AREU's three-year research project documenting legacies of conflict and Afghan opinions about justice and reconciliation at the community-level in Afghanistan. The project was conceived in cooperation with the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), which generously supported AREU’s participation at the event.
Four project reports, published in October 2011, provide an overview of the transitional justice process in Afghanistan, document wartime experiences in three provinces and provide detailed accounts of how Afghans want to deal with legacies of conflict.
The panel discussion also presented the work of the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) and ICTJ analyzing the link between justice and reconciliation and supporting the establishment of the Transitional Justice Coordination Group (TJCG), a network of victims-centered organizations in Afghanistan. For more information about AAN's research on transitional justice, please visit:Â www.aan-afghanistan.org
The panel speakers:
Sari Kouvo, Afghanistan Analysts Network
Sari Kouvo is co-director and co-founder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent, field-based research organization focusing on political and security related research. She is a Human Rights Lawyer with a focus on the Afghan justice system, women's rights and the human rights situation. Besides her engagement with AAN, Sari teaches international law and related subjects at universities in Brussels. She was a Senior Program Fellow at ICTJ, among many other roles.
Emily Winterbotham, Afghanistan Researcher and Evaluation Unit
Emily Winterbotham led AREU's Legacies of Conflict program and managed the Afghan research teams that conducted the field studies. She has previously conducted research on the issue in Bosnia-Herzegovina and has an MSc in Global Politics from the London School of Economics.
Ajmal Pasthoonyar, visiting professional, International Criminal Court
Ajmal Pasthoonyaar is Afghan-Canadian and currently supporting the International Criminal Court's analysis about war crimes in Afghanistan. His previous engagements include Gordon Global Fellow and a former Justice Sector Officer, Afghanistan Task Force at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs. He is the author of soon to be published report that examines the question of accountability for international crimes in Afghanistan.