Human Rights and Transitional Justice

A/HRC/RES/42/17View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2019.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2008–2022

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/51/23

2022A/HRC/RES/51/23Human rights and transitional justiceLatestCompare with previous version
2019A/HRC/RES/42/17Human rights and transitional justiceCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/33/19Human rights and transitional justiceCompare with previous version
2012A/HRC/RES/21/15Human rights and transitional justiceCompare with previous version
2009A/HRC/RES/12/11Human rights and transitional justiceCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 topics

Administration of Justice Crime Prevention Human Rights Human Rights Violations International Obligations Peacebuilding Report Preparation Sustainable Development Transitional Justice Women's Rights

What does this mandate say?

11 operative paragraphs

Recognizes that States have the primary responsibility for the promotion and protection of all human rights, including the responsibility to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity;

Also recognizes that national efforts to sustain peace, with the support of the international community as applicable, are necessary not only during conflict and in post-conflict situations but also long before conflict breaks out, through the prevention of conflict and addressing its root causes and by ensuring that the respect of human rights and efforts for sustainable development can contribute to lasting peace;

Encourages States to include best practices and lessons learned from transitional justice processes in their efforts to realize Sustainable Development Goal 16 and, where appropriate, to fund transitional justice measures as part of their development efforts;

Condemns impunity for gross violations and abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, emphasizes the responsibility of States to comply with their obligations under international law to end impunity, and urges States to seek sustainable peace, justice, truth and reconciliation through comprehensive transitional justice strategies, in particular to thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible for such violations and crimes, in order to avoid their recurrence, and to promote reconciliation at the national level;

Calls upon States, where relevant, to develop and implement comprehensive transitional justice strategies and to establish judicial and non-judicial mechanisms in order to address past atrocities, the needs of victims and their right to an effective remedy, and to prevent their recurrence;

Encourages States and regional and international organizations to acknowledge and support the important role of civil society in addressing gross violations and abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and, where relevant, in the promotion, implementation and monitoring of comprehensive transitional justice approaches and efforts;

Reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention, in mediation and the resolution of conflicts, in peacebuilding and in development efforts, and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in the design, establishment and implementation of comprehensive transitional justice strategies;

Emphasizes the need to provide gender-sensitive human rights training in the context of transitional justice to all relevant national actors, including police, military, intelligence and security services, prosecution staff and members of the judiciary, in dealing with victims of human rights violations, particularly women and girls, in order to ensure gender sensitivity in the restoration of the rule of law and transitional justice processes;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to examine in a report how addressing a legacy of gross violations and abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law through transitional justice measures can contribute to sustaining peace and the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 16, and to present the report to the Human Rights Council at its forty-sixth session;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner, in preparing the above-mentioned report, to consult with States, relevant United Nations mandate holders, other relevant entities of the United Nations Secretariat, relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, intergovernmental organizations, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders, including practitioners;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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