Human Rights and Transitional Justice

A/HRC/RES/51/23View 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 2022.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2008–2022

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).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 topics

Administration of Justice Human Rights Human Rights Violations Peacebuilding Sustainable Development Transitional Justice

What does this mandate say?

28 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;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its resolution 42/17, in which the Office of the High Commissioner examined 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;

Calls upon States, United Nations bodies and entities, and all other relevant stakeholders to consider the recommendations made in the aforementioned report and to consider using transitional justice processes as a strategic tool to sustain peace and pursue sustainable development, in addition to providing redress for past gross violations and abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law;

Underlines that, in order to maximize the positive impact of transitional justice on sustaining peace and on sustainable development, there is the need:

To consistently adopt a “past-sensitive lens” in peace and development work;

To undertake joint, inclusive and integrated analyses, including regarding preconditions for a conducive environment for transitional justice;

To enhance data collection to measure impact and progress, including by using the Sustainable Development Goals framework;

To adopt measures focused on making a tangible difference in the lives of victims and of the broader population; and

To ensure that participatory approaches and public consultations are construed as inclusive, meaningful and ongoing processes;

Calls upon States, where relevant:

To develop and implement comprehensive transitional justice strategies and policies 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 the recurrence of such atrocities;

When designing transitional justice processes, to focus on the ability of the proposed measures to foster trust, empower individuals, enhance inclusion, achieve gender equality, and identify and address root causes of conflict, atrocities and human rights violations and abuses;

To ensure that transitional justice initiatives promote transformative processes and outcomes and, in particular, address sexual and gender-based violence, and other gender-based human rights violations and their root causes, such as gender inequality, including by ensuring that their design and implementation benefit from the full, equal and meaningful participation of women, including as agents of change and leaders;

To ensure that their transitional justice process addresses past gross violations and abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law as a matter of redress to victims, and as a policy that strives for societal cohesion, healing and trust-building and for the transformation of conditions that have led to atrocities and gross human rights violations and abuses;

To promote approaches to transitional justice that address all human rights violations and abuses, including those relating to economic, social and cultural rights;

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

To further use the Sustainable Development Goals framework to accelerate the design, funding and implementation of transitional justice initiatives and to enhance data collection and reporting on progress and impact;

To recognize the long-term nature of transitional justice processes, to support the plight of victims for truth, justice and reparation, and to establish links to permanent structures, such as national justice systems and national institutions or networks for atrocity prevention;

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;

Encourages States and regional and international organizations to acknowledge and support the important role of civil society, including justice advocates, grass-roots groups, victims’ associations, and of the media, 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;

Underlines in this regard the importance of taking into account the analysis and perspectives of civil society, such as victims’ and grass-roots organizations, pertaining to matters of transitional justice by all relevant United Nations bodies and entities;

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

Recognizes that young people are critical stakeholders and have an invaluable role to play in the design and implementation of transitional justice mechanisms with a view to the non-recurrence of violations and conflict;

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 and abuses, 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 prepare a report on lessons learned and good practices of transitional justice in the context of sustaining peace and of sustainable development, notably Sustainable Development Goal 16, informed by prior regional meetings, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-eighth session during an enhanced interactive dialogue;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner, in preparing the above-mentioned regional meetings and report, to consult with States, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, 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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