Many Fijians born before 2006 have lived through at least one coup. And our country’s history has been muddled by these events which not only destabilised the country and displaced families, but also contributed to heightened tensions between the two biggest racial groups. Now, the Coalition Government is on a journey to help right those wrongs and start uncomfortable conversations about where we are as a country, and where we hope to go.
Though the Fiji Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) may be a foreign concept for so many Fijians – with some even questioning the need for it – convening such a group is not new. This week, consultations on the draft legal framework on the establishment of the TRC began, and among them, a seasoned expert says the Fiji TRC must be shaped to reflect the country’s surroundings and history. International Center for Transitional Justice senior expert Ruben Carranza is part of the team that is conducting public consultations nationwide on the draft legal framework to establish the Fiji Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Mr Carranza has done transitional justice work in various post-dictatorship and post-conflict countries and worked on the design and operation of truth commissions in Liberia, Kenya, Gambia, Tunisia, Nepal, Armenia, the Solomon Islands, and Indonesia. In addition to this, he also supported policymaking and implementation in South Africa, Peru, the Philippines, Morocco, and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. TRC consultations This week, Mr Carranza and the steering committee is going around the country to explain the logic behind convening a TRC and explained that the commission would not work as a court and have no prosecuting powers.
Rather, the commission would provide a safe space for people – perpetrators and victims – who wish to come forward and share their side of the story. Fiji’s TRC will focus on exploring the upheavals and subsequent consequences from 1987 onwards. Mr Carranza explained that in most countries, litigation was not the only option.
“Imagine if there are hundreds or even 1000s of cases spread over 40 years or even longer, how many of those cases do you think will ever be filed in court?” he asked. “And let’s say plenty of those cases are filed in court. How long do you think it will take to resolve those cases? In many developing countries, we don’t really have the luxury of litigating, using courts to resolve disputes, but the other problem is that some disputes cannot be resolved in court.
” Mr Carranza said his work with the NGO focussed on transitions, either away from armed conflict, wars, or from authoritarian rule. He said in some cases, it could be a transition because a leader transferred power, a leader died, or a leader resigned or was forced to resign. Personal experiences Mr Carranza recounted his experience of working in East Timor in 1999, as right after the referendum for independence, there was violence.
“People were fighting each other. Those who were for independence and those who wanted integration into Indonesia. “There were a lot of people displaced.
I flew in on a helicopter. I could see all the blue tarps all over and blue tarps are really provided by the United Nations, or International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for those who are forced to flee their homes and live under tents. “More people fled across the border to Indonesia, and the only buildings left intact, that were not burnt down, was really just the Governor’s house, which is where I stayed together with soldiers from Australia.
” At the time, he said he was working in his role as an assistant secretary of Defence in the Philippines, whereby he had to assess whether the Philippines would lead a peacekeeping force in East Timor. He said there was no government in East Timor for a while. “It was the UN that was essentially the government in East Timor.
And one of the things that the United Nations Mission in East Timor did was to establish a truth commission. “It was called the Commission on Truth, Justice and Reception. The word reception is a little.
But what is even more interesting is the Portuguese translation, because it’s precise in Portuguese, meaning to welcome back.” Mr Carranza said they were trying to welcome back the people of East Timor who still wanted to stay with Indonesia. “They wanted to be part of Indonesia, and they were afraid that if they came back across the border, they would be killed, or they would be detained, or they would be punished for their beliefs.
“So, this Truth Commission was established to try to let them know that they would be welcomed back.” Not a ‘fit-for-all’ Any truth commission should be designed to reflect the conditions and political situation of the country. But what exactly is a truth commission? Mr Carranza said a truth commission was not a court; there was no judge who decided cases.
“It is official in the sense that it is established by the state, by the government. Now there are truth commissions in the world that are not official, created by civil society, by NGOs, by ordinary people, and not necessarily created officially by the government. “Here (in Fiji), we’re talking about an official body, a truth commission, created by the state.
A truth commission to be effective, must be independent. “Its role is really to listen and acknowledge those who may have been victims of human rights violations, other types of abuses, those who have grievances related to a past period of political violence. “The difference between political violence and crime is that crime happens almost every day, and we have courts to deal with crimes.
“However, of course, if crimes rise to the level where they happen on a scale that courts and police can no longer deal with, then maybe a truth commission is necessary.” He talked about the example of Sri Lanka, which emerged after the civil war which transpired from 1983 to 2009. Mr Carranza said one of the biggest human rights violations committed was the enforced disappearances.
“So many people, not just combatants, but ordinary activists, ordinary people, were being disappeared by the opposing armed groups in Sri Lanka. And so, disappearances were one of the violations that needed to be focused on after the transition in Sri Lanka.” Purpose of the TRC While there are various ways to design a truth commission, Mr Carranza said the idea of a truth commission was to listen, to hear, to acknowledge, rather than to find those who were guilty or determine who should be punished.
Mr Carranza said this was not the role of a truth commission, but rather, that of the courts. “It doesn’t mean that truth commissions have no role in that. It just means that a truth commission’s primary role really is to listen, to hear what people went through in the past, to listen to them in an official capacity.
” He also said that the media had a pivotal role to play in sharing the functions and outcomes of truth commissions. Mr Carranza said there was one more reason why truth commissions might be more effective than courts when it came to addressing human rights violations crimes during conflicts, whether international or domestic. “In some cases, perpetrators of human rights violations may be dead if events happened a long time, so you cannot prosecute the dead or they are unknown.
“There are certain human rights violations that are committed away from the public eye, in the dark, literally in some cases, torture, for example, is committed in detention, sometimes in secret detention. “There’s no way for the victim of torture, in many cases, to know who the torturer is. Sexual violence, rape during conflict.
In some cases, it’s difficult for the victim of rape to know who the rapist is, or to identify that person. “So, there are situations when prosecution is not the appropriate remedy because it cannot be done. Courts in some countries are not independent, or they don’t function, or they don’t even exist at all.
In other situations, evidence is not sufficient. “There simply is not enough evidence to prosecute the crime and to determine the guilt of a perpetrator. And yet, we know that the crime happened, we know that there is a victim, we know that the victim is still suffering, and yet we cannot prosecute.
“We cannot establish guilt, because that’s a different level of proof required to punish, to determine the guilt.” Why your participation matters Once formed, the TRC will operate for 18 months and be required to present a report of their findings. Their everyday dealings will play a crucial role in helping the population heal from the scars of the past.
Thus, Mr Carranza said it was vital for the public to be as knowledgeable and participatory in this process. “There are never any assurances that the truth commission will turn out the way you design it, which is also why it’s important to do these consultations. “You let people know that you’re designing it, so that they’re aware.
Perhaps they can even participate in the design of it.” “Consultations need not always be physical. I understand there was a consultation virtually with the diaspora.
“Young people probably will be more encouraged through social media to say something, and sometimes, when young people say something, or when anyone says something on social media, it’s often in a form that’s important to understand. “It can be a meme, and that’s participation. It can be a Facebook like so there are different ways to participate, and I think going forward, those ways should be incorporated.
”.
