Montenegro

Transitional Justice – Mechanisms For Long-Term Regional Development

Parliamentarians and Representatives of Judiciaries from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo participating in Regional Transitional Justice Programme Learning Workshops

Igalo, August 14th 2006. – For the first time after the Balkan conflicts of the nineties, the representatives of parliamentary parties from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo gathered at regional level to discuss transitional justice issues, during the two weeks of the Learning Workshops on Transitional Justice which also include the representatives of judiciaries from the region.

As part of regional „Transitional Justice Programme“, the Learning Workshops are organized by UNDP Serbia’s Judicial Reform/Rule of Law Cluster, in cooperation with UNDP Offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

The programme of the workshops entails specialized lectures, workshops and panel discussions on war crime prosecutions, reparations, institutional reform and truth seeking.  Also, a more detailed analysis will be made of the role of parliament and judiciary in transitional justice processes, including comparative review of existing practices in the region and in the world. Special attention will be given to vetting and lustration, truth commissions, fate of missing persons, material and symbolical reparations, prevention of violations of international humanitarian law, as well as the media in relation to the transitional justice process.
 
In his introductory speech Mr. Garret Tankosić Kelly, Resident Representative a. i., UNDP Montenegro recalled the 29-year conflict in Northern Ireland which claimed the lives of more than 3,500 people and created a completely divided society. He mentioned the Belfast Agreement which finally ended the violent conflict and also represented a significant attempt to deal with issues that affect all situations of inter-group conflict.

“Transitional justice and real solutions to the issues are primarily the responsibility and prerogative of those who have lived through them” said Mr. Tankosić Kelly, “and the parliamentarians in the region should not think that only specialized truth commissions and international criminal tribunals have the power to (re)establish a sense of respect for human rights and the rule of law.”

-As a prerequisite for regional reconciliation, you in this audience can provide pressure and moral leadership in building stronger regional partnerships to combat impunity, provide reparations for victims, create lasting guarantees to ensure that these events will not occur again, concluded Mr. Tankosić Kelly.

Lecturers and moderators are eminent experts in the field of transitional justice from the countries in the region and abroad.