Panel Discussions - Monday, May 16, 2011
Tunisia Envoy Jomaa: "Transitional Justice is Needed Now"
"There is a strong belief that transitional justice is needed now, both to demonstrate a real break with the past, but also to make sure that a new Tunisia is built on a solid foundation of respect for the rule of the law that includes accountability of its leaders, current and former," said Ambassador Ghazi Jomaa of Tunisia at a May 16th panel discussion at IPI.
Ambassador Jomaa was joined on the panel by Mokhtar Trifi, President of the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LTDH); Habib Nassar, Acting Director, Middle East and North Africa, The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ); and Marcie Mersky, Senior Advisor, Program Office, ICTJ.
The discussion focused on how Tunisia's interim government should hold former leaders accountable for past actions, and how best to address the needs and experiences of victims.
"Justice must be comprehensive and should include reparations for the victims and communities who were particularly oppressed," Ambassador Jomaa said. "The interim government in Tunisia has already offered reparation to the victims of the recent uprising and their families. But, in many cases, material reparation proved irrelevant as long as perpetrators were not indicted. As a matter of fact, some families refused to receive any reparations, insisting instead that perpetrators should be brought to justice first."
The event's moderator was Warren Hoge, IPI Vice President for External Relations.
The event was co-hosted by IPI and The International Center for Transitional Justice.
Read transcript
The Global Observatory
Interview with John Prendergast, Co-Founder, Enough Project
Mr. Prendergast discusses the international justice system and the new ground forged by Invisible Children's Kony2012 campaign.
Key Global Events to Watch in May
A list of key upcoming meetings and events with implications for global affairs.
The Global Observatory is a new website by IPI, providing timely analysis on peace and security issues, interviews with leading policymakers, interactive maps, and more.
Recent Events
May 10, 2012
Arbour: What the Rule of Law Means
“In my understanding of the rule of law, fundamentally, what the rule of law means is that it embraces the principle of equality before the law,” Louise Arbour, president of the International Crisis Group (ICG), told an IPI audience on May 10, 2012. Ms. Arbour outlined that this means that no one is above the law and everyone has both equal protection and equal benefit of the law. 
May 03, 2012
Shachtman: Cyber Threats Akin to South Bronx, Not Pearl Harbor
“There’s not a danger of a cyber Pearl Harbor… it’s more like the South Bronx circa 1999, where there’s a danger that it becomes such a tough neighborhood that no one wants to set up shop there and people move out,” Noah Shachtman, editor of the Danger Room blog at Wired magazine and non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, told an IPI audience at a panel on cyber security on May 3, 2011.
April 27, 2012
Preventing Conflicts in Africa: The Role of Early Warning and Response Systems
An April 27th roundtable discussion at IPI titled “Preventing Conflicts in Africa: The Role of Early Warning and Response Systems” examined the progress, prospects and challenges of regional and international early warning and response mechanisms to monitor, anticipate, and mitigate potential conflict situations in Africa.