Both the European Union and the African Union have expressed a strong commitment to the promotion of transitional justice and the mechanisms associated with it. On 16 November 2015, the Council of the European Union adopted its Policy Framework on Support to Transitional Justice, whilethe African Union has declared 2016 the year of Human Rights and is in the process of finalizing the AU Policy Framework on Transitional Justice. The EU and AU can play an important role in supporting the development of transitional justice practices and much can be learned from exchanges of experiences with transitional justice on both continents.

In response to the commitment in action 22 (b) of the EU’s Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015-2019 to promote interregional dialogue to improve cooperation between regional organizations, the aim of the expert workshop is to bring together policy-makers and academic experts in order to explore opportunities for enhanced cooperation between the EU and the AU on transitional justice and consider how both regional organizations can best support transitional justice processes. The search for synergies will encompass the four essential elements of transitional justice: truth-telling, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence/institutional reform.

Event on invitation only.

(Photo credit: Erin Baines/Justice and Reconciliation Project.)