The Centre has engaged in research in several important areas at the intersection of human rights and contemporary conflict. The research projects undertaken by the CHRC include work on:
The CHRC is currently working on two projects that consider the role of hybrid tribunals in post-conflict situations and their contribution to peace and justice. These projects are the following:
Dr. Olga Martin-Ortega leads this research project funded by the British Academy (SG100735). The project aims to analyse the recent institutional development of hybrid courts and the role they play in the development of international criminal law. It does so by focusing on the practice of the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This analysis is undertaken from a national, regional and international perspective. The project will run from September 2010 to March 2012.
The development of the research has included fieldwork in Bosnia and Herzegovina and The Hague.
The outputs of the project include the following publications:
During the research period the results of the research have been discussed in several academic fora. Dr. Olga Martin-Ortega has presented the following papers on the matter:
Dr. Martin-Ortega also published a short blog contribution during her field stay in The Hague about the ICTY Legacy Conference with Iva Vukusic: “Lack of critical voices as the ICTY examines its globallegacy”, December 2011, available here.
The British Academy Small Grant also supported the research assistance work of Jeannette Symphoa-Nylin and Iva Vukusic as part of the project.
Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, this project is led by Johanna Herman, who is a Research Fellow at the Centre on Human Rights in Conflict, School of Law and Social Sciences, University of East London. For the first time at an internationalised tribunal, victims of mass atrocity crimes can act as civil parties. The participation of victims at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, known formally as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), is part of a growing recognition of the importance of victims’ rights and involvement in international criminal justice. This project engages directly with the rise of victim participation by examining the specific experiences, expectations and understanding of civil parties in the ECCC. In doing so, it also engages with the circumstances and exigencies that the ECCC has faced in its unprecedented treatment of victims.
Although there have been a number of large-scale quantitative surveys undertaken amongst civil parties, this research focuses on a smaller number of participants and employs a qualitative methodology. This is in order to consider more closely the motivations and concerns of civil parties themselves. Ms. Herman visited Cambodia in October and December 2011 and carried out interviews with representatives of the ECCC, lawyers and NGO staff. The main focus of the research was on 24 interviews with civil parties and complainants from 5 different provinces: Battambang, Kampong Chnnang, Kampong Speu, Kampot and Pursat.
Together with the project's research assistant, Ian Patel, Ms. Herman carried out thematic analysis of this data. The data was coded before being arranged into specific themes and sub-themes relating variously to civil parties' reactive attitudes to participation, their opinions about the court's work, and technical understanding of its proceedings. This data analysis was conducted non-prescriptively - that is to say, no pre-defined set of constructs was imposed on the data. Rather, the narratives of civil parties themselves were interpreted at their word. The emphases that civil parties themselves gave to certain experiences and expectations regarding the ECCC were actively reproduced by this project's research. In this way, the research remains faithful to the aim of providing insight into the personal experiences of civil parties.
The overarching themes are: Meaningful Justice; Collective vs Individual Reparations; Values of being a Civil Party; Emotional consequences of application and participation; Challenges from limited time and resources; and Understanding and perception of civil parties regarding the trial and participation.Ms. Herman presented the initial findings of the project at the 14th International Symposium World Society of Victimology in The Hague on Monday 21st May. A policy paper with recommendations from the project will be published later this year and Ms. Herman will give a seminar as part of the Centre's seminar series in December 2012.
For further information or to be kept updated on the project outputs please email Johanna Herman.
The CHRC has developed several projects over the years which have explored the relationship between peacebuilding and transitional justice on the ground. These projects include:
From 2010 to 2012 the members of the CHRC worked in the project “Transitional justice as peacebuilding", funded by the US Institute for Peace Annual Grant. The project examined the potential role and limitations of transitional justice as an element of peacebuilding. If properly designed and implemented the inclusion of transitional justice elements in peacebuilding process may help ensure attention both to victims' rights and the reintegration of ex-combatants and victimizers while promoting reconciliation and stability. The collaboration examined several current processes including the ones in Cambodia, developed by Johanna Herman and the one in Bosnia, by Olga Martin-Ortega. The project produced the co-edited volume:
Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding on the Ground. Victims and ex-combatants, Edited by Chandra Sriram, Jemima García-Godos, Johanna Herman, Olga Martin-Ortega (Routledge, 2012).
This project funded by the British Academy has resulted in the edited volume Peacebuilding and rule of law in Africa:Just Peace? (Routledge, July 2010). This book is edited by Professor Chandra Lekha Sriram, Dr. Olga Martin-Ortega and Johanna Herman. Authors include scholars and NGO experts from the UK, US, Canada, and Africa, and practitioners engaged in the field. A policy paper has been published under this project, "Just peace? Peacebuilding and rule of law in Africa: Lessons for policymakers". The launch was held in March 2009. An order form for the book is available here.
The CHRC recently concluded a European Commission Framework Programme VII Collaborative Research Project, which was coordinated by the University of Lund. As part of the project the members of the Centre have researched the role of justice in achieving and consolidating peace. They have produced several working papers and policy briefs which are availabe in our publications page. More information is available from the project website.
The CHRC has been developing research on Business and Human Rights since it started its work. Dr. Olga Martin-Ortega is involved in several projects and working groups which explore the impact of business activities and working methods on human rights and the options of international legal regulation. Several exciting initiatives are currently underway:
The CHRC has held several seminars on the topic, including a research workshop on Business and Human Rights in Conflict (2007), which sought to explore the role of private sector in situations of armed conflict, with focus on specific case studies, legal responses and policy, advocacy and business responses. Seminar information and materials can be found here.
Dr. Olga Martin-Ortega teaches at the LLM Programme at the University of East London on Business and Human Rights, and had lead several courses in the Open University of Catalunya and the Universidad Pontificia Catolica de Peru, on the subject. She is the author several publications on the topic (see publications).
© 2012
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