ASIL Programs > Career Development > Arthur C. Helton Fellowship > Helton Fellowship Profiles and Reflections > 2009 ASIL Helton Fellows > ASIL Helton Fellowship Reflections
International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
(Middle-East and North Africa Unit) (MENA)
The Middle East
By Jeremie Bracka, 2009 Arthur C. Helton Fellow
Project
As a full-time fellow in the MENA Unit of the ICTJ (August-September 2009), I was given the opportunity to work on a number of transitional justice initiatives across the Middle East from Israel/Palestine to Lebanon. In particular, my major research project focused on regional transitional justice education by developing an overview of the legal issue of enforced disappearances. As a political tool of repression, the systematic practice of disappearances has been adopted by numerous regimes, yet has a particular resonance in the Middle-Eastern context.
The right to know the fate of a relative is a fundamental concern of transitional justice practitioners in the region given the thousands of missing persons (particularly in Lebanon) who remain unaccounted for. Symbolically, this issue is also central to the project of confronting autocratic regimes and the legacy of massive human rights violations in the Middle East. Accordingly, my ICTJ project developed a comprehensive overview of the relationship between the missing, the disappeared, the right to truth and transitional justice in international law. As a fellow, I examined the various mechanisms (judicial, legislative and non-judicial) implemented by various states and regional bodies to address the missing, with a view to its applicability in the Middle East. I also closely followed developments on this issue in international human rights case law and national jurisprudence.
Alongside this project, I worked closely with the Israel/Palestine consultant on translating significant recent Court decisions, Israeli Commissions as well as the ‘Breaking the Silence’ Report with the goal of facilitating discussions around transitional justice mechanisms with civil society, academic institutions, research institutes, and intergovernmental organizations. In short, as a speaker of Hebrew and Arabic, this work was about deepening the ICTJ’s relationship with policy-makers and civil society activists through meaningful educational collaboration in Israel/Palestine. It culminated in an ICTJ briefing session with an Israeli/Palestinian delegation at the New York office.
Aims and Challenges
As a Helton Fellow, my project goals were axiomatic to the reconciliation, capacity building and peace development of vulnerable societies and refugees in the Middle-East. Due to time constraints, I was unable to work as intimately on Morocco as was originally anticipated. Nevertheless, given the resonance of enforced disappearances and the ongoing developments in Israel/Palestine, I believe my time at the ICTJ made a contribution to the specialized area of transitional justice education.
Project and Long-term Goals
“Even if I find a skeleton, I don’t care. I just want my son back. “
This quote encapsulates the human dimension of my project on disappearances. My passion for transitional justice issues in the Middle East has been profoundly shaped by my time at the ICTJ. I remain professionally driven and committed to exploring alternative paradigms that improve the human rights infrastructure of disadvantaged groups, and to short-circuiting the ‘dialogue of the deaf’ created by ethno-national conflict in this region. Through transitional justice and international human rights law, my transitional education project enabled me to refine my legal expertise in this field by engaging in research, advocacy and educational initiatives in the Middle East.
Locally, my long-term goals are to focus on the advancement of Arab-Israeli participation in the conflict resolution process, and the protection of the rights of both Israelis and Palestinian refugees through legal and political reform. I am committed to continuing to develop joint projects between Israeli and Palestinian communities that transcend political divides, and which share common agendas, resources and infrastructure. I am presently working with the ICTJ to develop a publishable paper on the conception of an Israel/Palestine Truth Commission. As a human rights advocate, I believe that meaningful dialogue is the lynchpin of international human rights law.