Conference

As a major stepping stone to transnational networking in the area of victim participation and transitional justice, an international conference on

“The Contribution of Civil Society and Victim Participation in Transitional Justice Processes”

was held from December 2-5, 2009 in Marburg, Germany.

The conference aimed to provide a space and an opportunity for actors specifically involved in the topic of victim participation to come together for follow up discussions on the workshops that took place in Cambodia and Uganda this year.

While the workshops in Uganda (July 2009) and Cambodia (September 2009) allowed the participants to share experiences and reflect upon the countries’ individual transitional justice processes, the conference wanted to provide an opportunity to mutually share the respective outcomes of the workshops also in the light of an international perspective. Further, our goal was to identify common questions and “lessons learned” and to develop ideas for a way forward. The specific focus of our overall project lay on civil society organizations as powerful actors of peace and social change. But also other relevant stakeholders in transitional justice processes such as the International Criminal Court, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia or donor organizations were invited to participate in the conference.

The conference brought together civil society activists and experts on transitional justice from Cambodia, Uganda and Germany. Each of these three countries has a different experience with inhumane violence and (civil) war and each is or has been trying to find a good way to deal with the past.