Transitional justice is the sole guarantor for Palestinian reconciliation
Introduction:
The Palestinian society has been eagerly following the meetings held
between the two parts of the division Fateh and Hamas and the statements
coming out from both sides about the possibilities of reaching the long –
awaited agreement to put an end to the current split and accomplish
reconciliation. This eagerness stems from the reality that this split composed
a fertile soil for committing grave breaches and carried negative impact on
the whole Palestinian situation.
The Palestinian Center for Transitional Justice PCTJ, strongly believes that
achieving genuine reconciliation must be based on principles and
requirements of transitional justice, guaranteing redress for victims of gross
violations committed during this internal bloody conflict and disseminating
the values of tolerance and national reconciliation.
Nowadays, transitional justice forms the main mechanism pursued towards
achieving justice and the rule of law in post- conflict communities or those
under occupation, or internal strife and dictatorship regimes. It also
embodies a wide range of elements and mechanisms on the judicial and
extra judicial level that the state should uphold, in order to redress grave
breaches to human rights.
Such measures include conducting investigations, judicial prosecutions,
reparations, institutional reform of state apparatus on the basis of principles
of good governance. Only through these measures that we guarantee a better
environment for achieving peace, democracy and prosperity to communities
that has suffered from the atrocities of war, oppression and discrimination.
Accordingly, the issue of transitional justice in Palestine has a prominent
importance, in light of the complexities of the Palestinian situation and the
multiplicity of responsibilities with its different levels according to the
diversity of authorities. Since Israel is considered the occupying power and
the main perpetrator of violations against Palestinian human rights,
including committing gross violations that amount to war crimes,
necessitating a regular follow up on several levels using a variety of
measures and mechanisms, among which and mainly addressing the
International Criminal Justice. But here, we are highlighting the prospects
and requirements for ending this internal division in accordance with
transitional justice mechanisms.
Background
As well known, the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority PNA
in 1994 according to Oslo peace accords between Israel, as an occupying
power and the Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO, allowed the
Palestinians to be in charge of administration of civil and security aspects of
daily life in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (the West Bank, including
East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip) under the conditions set on the signed
agreement.
In the course of carrying out its responsibilities, the Palestinian security
apparatus and the police committed human rights violations, which ranged
from arbitrary arrest to torture and killing in some cases.
Following the democratic step which the PNA embarked on by holding free
and direct presidential and legislative elections like the last 2006 elections,
which resulted in the winning of Hamas for the majority of seats in the
legislative council, giving it the right to form the government and appoint its
chairman. That was the first time that Hamas has exercised political activity
and competing with the main faction of PLO which is Fateh.
Such a new reality was confronted with rejection from the international
community which considers Hamas as a terrorist organization, leading the
donors to cut off financial aid from the PNA which left it on the verge of
collapse in light of its inability to manage the daily life of its citizens and
ensure salaries for tens of thousands of civil and military personnel.
This situation led to a state of aggravation between Fateh and Hamas as each
side put the blame on the other, culminating in the escalation of hostilities
between both sides towards armed confrontation in the Gaza Strip which led
Hamas to take over the rule in the Gaza Strip.
In the context of this struggle, both sides committed gross violations of
human rights that left thousands of victims and human suffering which
necessitated redress through achieving justice.
The late meetings and negotiations among the political leaders of both
factions concentrated on the issue of putting an end to the division between
the two parts at the elite level without taking into consideration the actual
suffering of victims and their families.
Accordingly, no serious initiative was taken to bring justice to the victims of
the division in order to pave the way for reaching a genuine Palestinian
reconciliation to put an end to this seven year division.
This is the basic context that led to the initiative towards the establishment
of the Palestinian Centre for Transitional Justice, aiming to adopt the
international standards of transitional justice in Palestine and bringing
redress and fairness to victims.
Requirements of transitional justice in the Palestinian context
In order to address the consequences of the division and reach a genuine
reconciliation, PCTJ calls on the Palestinians at the top of the political level
and decision makers to ensure the following requirements for transitional
justice:
First:
Appoint an independent, non judicial committee to achieve fairness and
reconciliation based on the following tasks:
1- Reveal the truth about the gross violations that were committed since
June 2007, and thoroughly investigate all allegations in this regard
Organize public-hearing sessions for the victims of violations
2- Ensure reparations and compensations for victims of gross human
rights violations carried out during the internal conflict and division
3- Provide health care and rehabilitation for the victims
Second
Acknowledge the suffering of the victims and ensure public apology for
them and for the society in general for all the grave and illegal practices.
Third
Establish a compensation fund for victims of gross violations
Fourth
Guarantee accountability of perpetrators of gross violations through
prosecution and elimination from public service
Fifth
Enacting Palestinian laws for transitional justice, which will include the
jurisdiction of the reconciliation commission and the compensation fund
Finally, PCTJ would like to point to the fact that those countries that abided
by transitional justice mechanisms, have witnessed smooth transition
towards democracy and civil stability, while other countries who did not
incorporate principles of transitional justice are still suffering from internal
disturbances and irregularities. Therefore, it is vital for the Palestinian
society to adopt and put in practice transitional justice mechanisms to
achieve stability, and unify efforts to accomplish redress against Israeli
occupation war crimes, in order to build a Palestinian society based on
safeguard for human rights, rule of law and democracy.
PCTJ would like to iterate its readiness to fully cooperate and coordinate
efforts with all official and civil counterparts in the issue of establishing
transitional justice and its requirements in Palestine.