Deusto Journal of Human Rights

The road from transitional justice to reconciliation: reflections and challenges. Introduction to the monograph

Felipe Gómez Isa — 2025-12-23

This contribution addresses the core elements when approaching post violent contexts in which societies confront the legacies of gross and systematic human rights violations. Starting from the theoretical framework of transitional justice and focusing on the relationship between the four pillars of truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition, highlights the central role that victims must play in both Transitional Justice and reconciliation initiatives, an aspiration that is often proclaimed but unevenly realized.

The right to justice in Spain —before and— after the Law of Democratic Memory

Javier Chinchón Álvarez — 2025-12-23

This article examines how the Right to Justice has been recognized and implemented in Spain for victims of serious human rights violations and/or international crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship. It takes the enactment of the Law of Democratic Memory as a key temporal reference point, examining the legal and institutional context before —and especially after— its adoption and enter into force. The Spanish case is then evaluated in light of the applicable international legal framework governing such cases.

Received: 06 June 2025; Accepted: 12 September 2025; Articles in Press: 27 October 2025

Northern Ireland and transitional justice: an incomplete peace process

Nagore Roales Ferreira — 2025-12-23

Transitional justice constitutes a fundamental normative tool in the peace processes of conflicts marked by systematic human rights violations, such as the decades-long struggle that has shaken Northern Ireland. Although, following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, measures were implemented in line with the four central pillars of this model of justice (truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition), these have not been sufficient to affirm the existence of a comprehensive system of transitional justice within the Northern Irish peace process. As a result, Northern Ireland currently finds itself at a point of political stagnation, sustaining a fragmented society built on a fragile and incomplete peace.

Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 13 October 2025; Articles in Press: 27 October 2025

Transitional justice and post-conflict in Northern Ireland: challenges of memory and reconciliation

Sandra Alonso Tomé — 2025-12-23

This article critically analyzes transitional justice in Northern Ireland after The Troubles, assessing its impact on reconciliation. Although the Good Friday Agreement (1998) was a milestone, the implementation of transitional justice measures has been fragmented and politicized. The four pillars of transitional justice —truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition— are examined, highlighting advances such as police reform and institutional acknowledgments of responsibility. However, significant challenges persist, including impunity, divided collective memories, and the 2023 Amnesty Law. The article concludes that, while transitional justice has contributed to institutional peace, it has not achieved deep social reconciliation. Measures to strengthen truth-seeking, collective memory, and intercommunal dialogue are proposed as essential steps toward genuine reconciliation.

Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 21 November 2025

Justice in transition and reconciliation in Chile (1990 – 2025)

Mireya Dávila — 2025-12-23

Since the return to democracy in Chile, transitional justice policies have addressed the consequences of human right violations that occurred during the civil-military dictatorship (1973-1990). These policies have sought, in addition to repairing the damage caused, to contribute to social peace after state violence during the dictatorship. A fundamental part of these policies has been the search for the disappeared, which the current government has addressed through the National Search Plan. This article answers the question of whether or not reconciliation has been achieved as a result of these policies. We argue that it has only been partially achieved; while progress has been made (reparation policies), the demands of family members remain pending (justice), and there is still no cross-cutting political condemnation of human rights violations, nor a social agreement on unrestricted support for them in a democracy.

Received: 13 May 2025; Accepted: 21 November 2025

The forgotten of the alternation: the entities to investigate the events of the recent past in Mexico, justice or simulation?

Sergio A. Vargas Matías — 2025-12-23

This article analyzes the political use that successive governments in Mexico have made of the agencies dedicated to investigating crimes committed by the state and other agents during the dirty war and the war on drugs. It argues that, rather than elucidating the facts, seeking justice, or repairing the damage inflicted on the population, the creation of these entities responded to the interest of the new elites in currying favor with their voters. Therefore, rather than focusing on their functioning, this paper seeks to explain how and why the work of these bodies was hampered by the very authorities that established them.

Received: 30 May 2025; Accepted: 26 November 2025

Transitional justice ‘from below’ as new approach to reconciliation in Colombia

Jair Galindo Velandia — 2025-12-23

Transitional Justice “from below” is a new approach recommended by a significant group of experts as a mechanism for overcoming armed conflicts, as it facilitates reconciliation between victims and perpetrators and aims to address the structural causes of conflict, associated with second- and third-generation rights. On the one hand, this article aims to explore, through documentary methods, to what extent Transitional Justice “from below” responds to the gaps left by Transitional Justice “from above” given its retributive approach, and at the same time has the potential to satisfy the right to truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition, giving victims the centrality they deserve within the processes of transition towards peace. On the other hand, it seeks to highlight some grassroots initiatives that facilitate reconciliation through the implementation of this approach.

Received: 10 May 2025; Accepted: 30 September 2025; Articles in Press: 27 October 2025

Transitional justice doused in restorative promises: new horizons or old quicksand? A critique of the restorative justice hype promoted by Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace

Michael Reed Hurtado — 2025-12-23

The promise of restorative justice (RJ) in Colombia’s transitional justice (TJ) mechanisms is often framed as a novel paradigm producing remarkable results. Yet, a significant gap exists between rhetoric and practice. Persons seeking justice for gross violations express concern that RJ primarily benefits perpetrators rather than victims. This paper contrasts the promises promoted by Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) with scholarly RJ literature and the experiences of victims’ families. It critiques the JEP’s use of RJ, emphasizing that restorative approaches are neither new to TJ nor intended to be celebrated uncritically. Experts stress humility and restraint in RJ practice, while the JEP actively promotes its model as a global legacy. Drawing on the voices of Colombians whose relatives were executed by the Colombian Army, this paper highlights how RJ practices shape the experiences of those persons seeking justice and underscores the risks of misusing restorative paradigms in pursuing TJ.

Received: 10 March 2025; Accepted: 30 September 2025; Articles in Press: 11 November 2025

Can memory heal the wounds? How dealing with the past in Colombia contributes to reconciliation in transitional contexts

Carlos Gutiérrez-Rodríguez — 2025-12-23

This article examines whether memory, in the Colombian context, is strengthening transitional justice in its contribution to reconciliation. We took Colombia as a case study because the Final Peace Agreement signed in 2016 has become a global benchmark for the negotiated resolution of armed conflicts and a source of lessons learned. While in other transitional processes, memory has been a step, a complement, or a replacement for justice, in Colombia, memory is playing a fundamental role in the judicial sanction of the perpetrators. Consequently, an analysis of the Colombian case explores the potential and limits of memorial initiatives in peacebuilding, considering both the advances and obstacles present in the post-agreement scenario. Based on a set of interviews with experts and victims of the Colombian conflict, the article claims that memory can benefit peacebuilding and reconciliation if it is exemplary, polyphonic, and participative. Otherwise, it can reinforce social divisions and political contestation.

Received: 10 March 2025; Accepted: 30 September 2025; Articles in Press: 11 November 2025

Grounds for reconciliation: participation and reparations at the Inter-American Human Rights System

Mayra Nuñez Pastor — 2025-12-23

Reconciliation in a transition requires interconnected events and processes to enable peaceful coexistence and restore trust in State institutions after a period of systematic violations to human rights. It involves articulating different transitional justice mechanisms. Prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence must be implemented comprehensively, ensuring victims’ families feel repaired. The absence of this balance hinders reconciliation. This research explores the participation of victims and their relatives in proceedings before the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) and the implementation of reparations as mechanisms for reconciliation. The study argues that victims’ relatives and survivors’ input in legal proceedings and horizontal relationships with legal representation foster agency and dignity, enabling reconciliation. Whereas full engagement in the IAHRS process promotes an inclusive legal environment, failure to implement Court-mandated reparations obstructs reconciliation with State institutions and the idea of justice itself, causing disillusionment.

Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 19 November 2025

Taking colonialism seriously. A decolonial approach to international law, transitional justice and the restitution of cultural heritage

Pietro Sullo — 2025-12-23

Transitional justice processes have paid scant attention to colonial injustices. Among the latter, crimes against the cultural heritage of colonized nations have gone particularly overlooked. The argument of former colonial powers is that although morally appalling, colonialism was not illegal according to the standards of the time. By challenging this argument, this article critically investigates the relation between international law and colonial injustices to suggest ways to address the crimes of the past and provide legal guidance during transitional justice processes. It argues that to engage with colonial injustices, transitional justice should embrace a decolonized approach to Eurocentric international law and take into consideration alternative legal frameworks including both interpolity law and the legal resistance of the colonized nations.

Received: 22 May 2025; Accepted: 05 December 2025

The role of the ICC in transitional justice and its contribution to reconciliation in Africa

Ingrid Roestenburg-Morgan — 2025-12-23

This article explores the role of the International Criminal Court within transitional justice and its potential to contribute to reconciliation in Africa. While the ICC is often perceived as a purely prosecutorial body, this analysis argues for a broader interpretation of its mandate, aligning it with the core pillars of TJ: prosecutions, truth-telling, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence. Drawing on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a benchmark, the article proposes that the ICC, though lacking an amnesty mechanism, can fulfill similar reconciliatory functions through plea bargaining. The analysis further identifies legitimacy deficits undermining reconciliation efforts in the African context, stemming from issues such as cultural disconnect, selective prosecutions, and a rigid understanding of complementarity. The article concludes that reconciliation is attainable if the ICC embraces a holistic, culturally sensitive approach and forges stronger cooperation with domestic and regional actors like the African Union.

Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 26 November 2025

A critical reflection on the preventive approach to transitional justice in the face of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Carmen Montero Ferrer — 2025-12-23

This paper makes a critical reflection on the transitional justice strategies implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the so-called First Congo War to the present. Specifically, this work calls into question the preventive approach that is predicted to establish transitional justice mechanisms in the country. Thus, it identifies successes and errors in the functioning of the so-called transitional justice mechanisms to put an end to sexual violence, considered endemic in the country and which has intensified in the current armed conflict that is being waged in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between the M23 armed group - with the support of the Rwandan armed forces - and the Congolese army.

Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 01 December 2025

An exploration of feminist issues and strategies in the field of transitional justice

Irantzu Mendia Azkue — 2025-12-23

Feminism has confronted impunity for human rights violations in conflict situations by developing different legal, political and social strategies that have successfully enriched the debates and practice of transitional justice. At the same time, significant criticism has arisen within feminism regarding the ability of these strategies to transform structural gender inequalities. This paper focuses on the main issues and strategies feminism has proposed in the field of transitional justice and explore considerations about their transformative capacity.

Received: 07 June 2025; Accepted: 02 December 2025

Ingrid Roestenburg-Morgan. 2022. The road to reconciliation? Optimizing the legitimacy and efficacy of the International Criminal Court within the African Union and Africa. Louvain-la-Neuve: Larcier Intersentia, Human Rights Research Series 102. 411 p.

Davinia Gómez Sánchez — 2025-12-23

The book provides a rigorous multi-disciplinary analysis of the ingrained tensions between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the African Union (AU) related to a crisis of legitimacy of the ICC in the continent. According to the author, these tensions threaten the foundational principles of an international criminal justice system and have the potential of undermining impunity at a global level. Roestenburg-Morgan aims at identifying the factors that contribute to the erosion of legitimacy and explores three critical legitimacy deficits: institutional legitimacy, jurisdictional legitimacy and cultural legitimacy. To do so, this comprehensive work combines a mix of insights from political sciences, research methods from the legal domain as well as social sciences techniques (such as grounded theory guided by participant observation and unstructured interviews). The ample data collected on core categories and from diverse angles related to legitimacy for both the ICC and the AU, allows the author to advance solid solutions on how this legitimacy crisis could be redressed in order to reconcile the two institutions.

Rafael Escudero Alday. 2025. Cuando Antígona encontró a Benjamin. Víctimas del franquismo y derecho a la memoria. Madrid: Trotta. 165 p.

Felipe Gómez Isa — 2025-12-23

Based on Sophocles' Antigone and within the framework of Walter Benjamin's reflections on the collateral damage of the myth of progress, Rafael Escudero Alday establishes a solid and coherent foundation for the right to memory as a human right. His reflections serve to critically approach the movement for the recovery of historical memory in Spain that emerged in the 2000s in the wake of the first exhumations of mass graves of victims of the Civil War and the Franco regime. In this context, the path taken has had its ups and downs, as demonstrated by the approval of two laws to guarantee the rights to truth, justice and reparation for victims. Memory and justice for victims may be the best ally in the process of consolidating Spain's (imperfect) democracy.