Authors: Dima Hussein & Bassam al-Ahmad – A documentation process is not an end by itself, but it is a basic stage for many steps to come which aim to uphold rightfulness, observe justice, and acknowledge crimes among other goals. Documentation is not about registering testimonies and violations committed by this party or that party. It is also about observing phenomena and patterns, and thus deciding whether committed violations are, for example, systematic, have a certain nature, aim to accomplish specific “military victories” through extermination, starvation, using sexual assaults and forced disappearances as a weapon of war. The documentation process in general, and human rights violations documentation in particular, is one of the most important stages to reach accurate credible information, as well as detailed evidence and a more comprehensive overview of the context in which the incident, the violation, or the crime took place. Needless to say, all other stages following the documentation process are closely built on the type of information collected as well as its credibility and accuracy. Any fault in any part of the documentation material itself, or the collected evidence, will inevitably lead to a fault in the advocacy, accountability, reparation stages and other subsequent procedures. It may be detrimental to the case as a whole. This brings us straight to the relationship between documentation and accountability, how the former is the basis of the latter, and how the latter complements the former and is affected negatively or positively by it.
The “documentation process” itself goes through many stages, such as monitoring, fact finding, and documentation (i.e. the stage of writing down the data). All these stages depend on concepts and rules of human rights and international laws, hence the close connection between documentation and spreading a culture of human rights in society and working on its promotion. As civil society in Syria is still in its formation phase, building on human rights principles and international laws will certainly establish a civil society built on solid foundations.
Documentation is also closely connected to the transitional justice stage or what is known as “post-conflict justice”. It differs from general justice rules as it is not only judicial but includes many procedures, beyond accountability, like reparations, rehabilitation, truth telling, acknowledging responsibility, offering public apologies, and reconciliation, as well as everything that may end the suffering and restore civil and political life into its normal condition. Its goal is creating an atmosphere that helps peaceful and civil coexistence return and ensures the past, with its atrocities, are not repeated.
As transitional justice is based on dealing with the past and the legacy of the conflicts, such justice needs a real and comprehensive unveiling of the truth. And it depends on systematic documentation for this unveiling process. Documentation also leads to revealing committed violations and the perpetrators of those violations. This helps prevent concealing the truth or politicizing it by the victorious party which could potentially lead to future disputes. The documentation process also has a role during the ongoing conflict itself by exposing violations and perpetrators. This work can challenge alliances on the ground and affect the “collective consciousness” of the community who now know about the ongoing violations and the perpetrators of those violations. This sets the foundation for a peaceful transitional period after the end of the conflict. Further, such work constitutes a warning for the perpetrator that they are being monitored through exposing violations as well as regularly sending a message that violations will not go unpunished. This helps spread the culture of human international law in times of war, thus limiting violations themselves during the conflict. Again, this work will lay the foundations for a less bloody transitional period.
Tackling the transitional justice phase also leads us to even more delicate detail in the documentation process or, what we can call, the “documentation justice” or “justice of the documentation process itself”. By these terms, we mean the right of all victims and survivors to document their suffering as well as the violations committed against them regardless of the perpetrator. Lately, at least, we started to witness attempts to conceal the truth through documenting the violations of some parties and deliberately hiding the violations and crimes of other parties. It has become a frightening trait infiltrating into the work of many initiatives in this domain. This can be considered one of the most dangerous actions since it will have adverse effects in the future and prevent real justice for all Syrians. And this situation will inevitably lead the groups against whom violations were neglected to feel wronged and lose their sense of belonging to the new state. We may even witness individual cases of revenge that may affect stability in general.
Morocco and Tunisia experiences in transitional justice as a model:
The Moroccan experience in transitional justice is considered the first of its kind in the Arab world. It started in 1990 when, after local and international pressure, King Hassan II established “the consultant council of human rights,” among other reform initiatives that aimed to examine human rights violations that had occurred since nation’s independence in 1956. Additional committees/government initiatives were established to pay damages and compensate the victims of arbitrary detention. In 2004, another quantum leap in transitional justice occurred when in Morocco, King Muhammad VI, successor of King Hassan II, established the “Equity and Reconciliation Commission” which enjoyed wider powers than its predecessor. This new commissions powers included uncovering the truth, providing compensation, paying damages, and taking the necessary measures to prevent future violations.
But what makes the Moroccan experience stand out is that it was done through an initiative by the ruling regime itself, a fact in which some may see a step towards “a peaceful transition of power”. On the other hand, that step was done in the presence of the same political bodies who committed the violations. Thus, the actual the scope of scope of accountability does not include the royal “institution,” who began this initiative. Consequently, transitional justice here may remain incomplete and be more of a reform effort that aims to calm down civil society and ease tension among people.
Although it is recent, the Tunisian experience may be closer in terms of context to the future transitional justice which Syria may witness since it came through a revolutionary process in the context of what is now known as “the Arab Spring”, although Tunisia did not witness a long lasting bloody conflict as is the case in Syria. The Tunisian government established the ministry of “Human Rights and Transitional Justice.” The Tunisian cabinet also approved the law of transitional justice at the end of 2012 which includes establishing “the Dignity and Truth Commission” to investigate human rights violations committed between 1955 and 2013. The commission works on gathering information, listening to witnesses’ complaints, and documenting violations. It has a four-year mandate.
There are many experiences in the domain of transitional justice around the world, in Eastern Europe, or South Africa which may also be beneficial, but the experience of transitional justice cannot succeed without building a local model and without building and preparing society such efforts. This needs to occur for such efforts to succeed and be sustainable.
We must use previous experiences and the human legacy of transitional justice, but we must also take into consideration the peculiarity of the experience of the concerned country. This is what we think we need in Syria, especially given the complexity of the political, economic, and social setting. Hence, significant efforts which must be made to reach the transitional phase and even more effort must be made to insure the peaceful coexistence of all segments of the Syrian people.