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Importance of government intervention
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Truth commissions are political instruments; they can never hope to satisfy victims’ demands for justice and restitution. An analysis on the function of Truth Commissions. By Sam Kingston Student No: 110340967 INTRODUCTION The concept of a truth commission was to provide a form and forum for those wronged in civil wars and dirty wars, to reveal the truth of what happened during them. Truth commissions’ function extremely well as political tools for transitional governments, it in basic has a dual purpose. To provide a form of catharsis for victim- survivors , and to give transitional governments a tool with which to draw a line in the sand; to create a clear distinction between the past and the present. The form of a truth commission and its capacity to fulfil its objectives, is dictated by the government requesting the report. This essay will focus on the truth commissions of Peru and Guatemala. As they provide a sample of the two different types of governments that order truth commission investigations. Governments that act as almost an obstacle to truth and those who aid it. This essay will assess whether or not truth commissions actually provide the appropriate closure, reconciliation and reparation for those who were most affected by the violations, and are not just political instruments used by the government. Truth Commissions and the role of government in implementing Transitional justice Before getting into the details of the two truth commissions; this essay will first discuss the idea behind a truth commission and the role of the government in implementing the changes advised by the comission. The idea of a truth commission is to provide truth, but... ... middle of paper ... ... and its citizens, or a clear example of how a government can show the public how it has changed. While the Guatemalan government hindered and in many ways damaged the legitimacy of its report, despite the mixture of internal and external workers. On the other hand the Peru Truth commission provided an objective balanced view of the conflict, which in many ways gave the interim government of the time a legitimacy and honesty prior governments lacked. While the process of reconciliation in both countries is slow, the fact that the Peruvian government is not against the process is a huge boon, unlike Guatemala. It is clear from this essay, that while TRCs are very good at discovering the truth; it takes a transparent and benevolent government to make use of it. It is that difference that shows whether a TRC has real meaning or is merely an instrument of politics.
Justice can be achieved through various processes and principles if applied correctly, similarly justice can also be denied through these same processes and principles. This is exemplified through the Andrew Mallard case (M v The Queen 2005 HCA 68), and the missing persons case of Kieffen Raggett (2007) which shows how the incorrect application of processes like police investigations and coronial inquests can lead to justice being denied. Furthermore, legal principles such as; the rights of the accused and victims, are instrumental in achieving justice as shown through the application of these principles within these cases. These processes and principles can fail due to prejudged conclusions, police corruption, human error and cultural barriers
Maidment, M. (2009). When justice is a game: Unravelling wrongful convictions in Canada. Canada: Fernwood Publishing.
Politically, creation of lies to cover up a harmful truth has been inevitable. The Gowrie conspiracy is merely one of many that brought forth the questions regarding the legitimacy of the government. The king’s unquestionable absolute power may have destroyed an innocent family. In order to keep a just government whose power that is derived from the people is legitimate, it is imperative to be transparent. Weak lies can never conceal the strong truth; it only brings chaos, confusion, and distrust. To take one more step closer to reach an ideal society, transparent democratic government is crucial.
The 1954 coup that deposed the democratically elected government of Guatemala has long been acknowledged to have been the result of CIA covert action. Recently declassified documents have shown a new, and more sinister light, on the CIA's involvement in an action that gave birth to some of the most brutally dictatorial regimes in modern history. No one at this point will dispute the original involvement, but there are still those who maintain that this is all water over the dam of history and that the US has not had direct responsibility for the actions of a Guatemalan government since the 1954 coup. (Evans-Pritchard)
Wrongful conviction is an issue that has plagued the Canadian Justice System since it came to be. It is an issue that is hard to sort out between horrific crimes and society’s desire to find truth and justice. Incidences of wrongful conviction hit close to home right here in Saskatchewan as well as across the entire nation. Experts claim “each miscarriage of justice, however, deals a blow to society’s confidence in the legal justice system” (Schmalleger, Volk, 2014, 131). Professionals in the criminal justice field such as police, forensic analyst, and prosecutors must all be held accountable for their implications in wrongful convictions. There are several reasons for wrongful convictions such as racial bias, false confessions, jailhouse informants, eyewitness error, erroneous forensic science, inappropriate, professional and institutional misconduct and scientific limitations that society possessed prior to the technological revolution (Roberts, Grossman, 2012, 253 – 259). The introduction of more advanced DNA analysis has been able to clear names and prevent these incidences from occurring as often. As well as the formation of foundations such as The Association of Defense for the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC). Unfortunately, mistakes made in the Canadian Justice System have serious life altering repercussions for everyone that is involved. Both systematic and personal issues arise that require deeper and more intense analysis.
Guatemala held democratic elections in 1944 and 1951, they resulted in leftist government groups holding power and rule of the country. Intervention from the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed a more conservative military minded regime. A military coup took place in 1954 to over throw the elected government and install the rule of Carlos Castillo Armas. Carlos Armas was a military general before the coup and with the CIA orchestrated operation he was made President from July 8th 1954 until his assassination in 1957. Upon his assassination, similar militant minded presidents rose to power and continued to run the country. Due to the nature of military dictatorship, in 1960, social discontent began to give way to left wing militants made up of the Mayan indigenous people and rural peasantry. This is the match that lit Guatemala’s Civil War, street battles between the two groups tore the country and pressured the autocratic ruler General Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes to fight harder against the civilian insurrection. Similar to the government Abductions th...
... stand. You give a sideways glance to the balding man in front of you. Jose Efrain Rios Montt. Oh, how you hate that man! After all, the things he has done to you, your brothers, and your sisters are unspeakable! You take a deep breath and begin to speak. You answer all the questions with a complete feeling of appreciation. Appreciation fueled by the fact that people want to hear your story. You tell them about the day the soldiers marched in to your village, murdered your people, and walked away as if nothing had happened. You tell them about the days of fear. People stare at you in amazement. You see their eyes gleaming with tears and—suddenly—you break down too. It’s all too much. The man that caused you pain is going to get punished! In the back of your mind, you are thinking that the Guatemalan genocide was a terrible tragedy that cost many people their lives.
For our government to function it must be able to resolve the conflicts that arise as a result of this ‘struggle’. The rule of law is the principle that enables reconciliation and its primacy to the successful implementation of our government cannot be understated. Simply stated t...
I take into consideration that instead of authorizing the state or professional to ratify and speak their mind, the most relevance to a case the court should take into consideration of what the victim seems fit as a fair punishment or payment in forms of restitution, whether it is labor or monetary to then go along with the judge 's sentence. “The Charter, apart from other things, sets forth that the victim should enjoy the same rights as the culprit. But it is not enough to put this in writing, the law has to be changed in such a way that the victim is not only not deprived of his say, but has rights at least equal to those enjoyed by the accused”. I agree with the previous quote due to the fact that victims should not be deprived from speech and equality. I believe that by having the original parties engaged rather than being driven to the side, society will be more concerned to make sure that everyone is given fair, equal and consistent resolution to a conflict. This would establish that the neighbourhood and state have a set of shared values and goals that they are working towards to support social order. “At present, the role of a victim of a crime is only at the periphery of the criminal justice delivery system. Once the first information is furnished, the only stage at which the victim comes into the picture is when she is called upon to give evidence in court by the prosecution. The victim virtually
The public interest defence was created by the deformation act 2013, to protect defamatory material. The concept of public interest can be a vague term. What one might consider public interest someone else may not? For example, some people believe celebrity gossip is the public interest. The public recognises the term public interest and it is used as a defence for media intrusions of privacy. Everyone has the right to privacy, but sometimes this is not the case. Depending on the person or the organisation this can be invaded depending on the degree of the public interest. In order for something to be in the public interest, the subject has to be of interest for a collective amount of people not just for an individual. The breaches of exposing privacy would be exempt if it was to be to expose crime if an investigator was to breach someone’s privacy but they were exposing crime, which would be of public interest, and then this would be acceptable. Protecting the public health or safety of the public is also an exception, protecting the public from being misled. Also disclosing someone’s failure or likely failure by any obligation they have. In order for these reasons to become except the publication will need to justify why this would
Ensalaco, Mark. Chile under Pinochet: Recovering the Truth. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvannia Press, 2000.
Wrongful convictions are a growing trend amongst the Criminal Justice system. Justice can never be served completely to the extent of the victim but starting off with a proper conviction is a start. Eyewitness misidentification is one of the main causes for wrongful convictions. We should focus more on identifying victims through reforms and procedures that could help narrow down the perpetrator. Without these solutions there are bound to be consequences. These consequences are posttraumatic stress and the inability to cope to normal society. We need to follow these steps in order to lower the rate of wrongful conviction. I truly believe wrongful conviction can be prevented.
In the article, “The Truth about Lies and the First Amendment,” the author Ken Paulson writes to illustrate an important point regarding Xavier Alvarez, who was arrested and charged with a criminal offense for lying about being a recipient of the prestigious medal of honor award, and free speech: that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with its findings that the first amendment also protects Xavier Alvarez’s lies from legal, governmental prosecution.
...argues here that through critique one can find cracks in the power-knowledge relationship. At this point the public will be able to ask the question “how not to be governed like that”?
The consideration of victims by policy makers has taken a much larger role in influencing legislative change in the prevention of crime and the assistance of crime victims, however reforms based on victims remain largely localised to popularised cases and often fail to enter the trial side of the criminal justice system. Victims have the capacity to act as catalysts for reform, but their treatment and consideration in the criminal justice system continues to act more as an indicator of success by the system.