Assessing a Transitional Justice Approach for Kyrgyzstan
Location: | OSI-New York |
Event Date: | November 5, 2010 |
Event Time: | 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. |
Speakers: | Eugene Huskey, Hanny Megally, Marcie Mersky, Rachel Denber |
In the face of an increasingly corrupt, repressive and authoritarian government, Kyrgyzstan experienced a popular uprising in April 2010 that led to the overthrow of the government and the deepening of political and social divisions in the country. In June 2010, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) conducted an expert mission to Kyrgyzstan to assess whether a transitional justice approach might assist the country in addressing the human rights abuses that occurred over the 15 years leading up to the April events. The mission explored how transitional justice methods could help achieve accountability for past crimes, move towards national reconciliation, and build an accountable system of democratic governance.
Following the mission, ICTJ published the assessment findings in the report, Assessing a Transitional Justice Approach for Kyrgyzstan. In this Open Society forum, two of the mission experts—Marcie Mersky and Eugene Huskey—will present these findings and their recommendations. Huskey will also discuss the impact of the ethnic violence that erupted in southern Kyrgyzstan in June and the political developments in the country since. Hanny Megally, vice president for programs at ICTJ, will join the panel to present an overview of the transitional justice approach. Rachel Denber of Human Rights Watch will moderate the event.