"Like Judge Cortes, Major Orozco was not part of the conspiracy. He was unaware that he was to be the fall guy who would take the blame when the news of the massacre broke. Unwittingly, Major Orozco played his role perfectly. He promised Judge Cortes that he would inform the general in charge of the region and request reinforcements. Immediately, he sent a report to General Jaime Uscátegui...He recommended sending three battalions in three helicopters... Nothing was done." "Orozco's crime was clear: He told the truth. "In a system like the one that exists in Colombia, the truth ruins everyone's prospects and accounts for the high level of indifference and silence, since no one will risk saying anything for fear of losing what they have." Robin Kirk. More Terrible than Death. New York, 2003. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "En todo esto se deduce claramente que el coronel (r) Hernán Orozco pretendió en todo momento evitar la masacre y otras posibles, pero que No contaba con el poder necesario para evitarla. Sin embargo lo condenan como ya dije, como "chivo expiatorio" por haber sido el oficial del Ejército Colombiano con menor rango y poder militar, y a partir de ahí tratar de lograr que exoneren al General Uscátegui que es el extremo opuesto de Orozco, es decir con ostensible mayor peso social, financiero y sobre todo político." Apreciado Hernan Orozco Castro: "Mi opinión personal es que usted no es un asesino, ya que obligados a aterrizar en San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia, luego de la primera masacre de Mapiripan en una avioneta piloteada por Sonia Pérez; se nos respetó a mi familia y a mi (Esposa e hijos) el derecho a la vida, en la conversación personal que sostuvimos en algún Restaurante de esa ciudad, tanto usted, su esposa, su amigo el médico y esposa, me parecieron gente decente. Sigo pensando que a usted lo utilizaron como chivo expiatorio. Fuerza y entereza, usted es honesto y también tuvo el valor de decir la verdad. No creo que usted sea cómplice de los narco paramilitares..." Leonardo Ivan Cortes Novoa. Ex juez de Mapiripán en el exilio forzoso. Sábado, Diciembre 26, 2009 12:51 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "La ley que rige en la guerra y en los conflictos internos en Colombia, de obligado conocimiento para un general de la república dada su formación, rango, especialidad y entrega a la vida militar y dentro del contexto de la actual realidad nacional, el General Uscátegui tenía la obligación a partir de la más simple sensatez, saber que si no actuaba ante la información recibida el mismísimo día 15 de julio... contribuía por omisión crasa... a la masacre de Mapiripan." Magistrada Amelia Mantilla Villegas. Agosto 18 de 1999. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Repárese que la sola existencia del oficio cuyo contenido hace referencia a esa especial situación de Mapiripan, con ocasión del arribo del grupo de justicia privada, es una clara muestra del sentido de humanidad inherente al oficial Orozco Castro. Conclusión de todo lo anterior es que el Mayor Orozco, no incumplió con sus deberes y obligaciones como comandante del batallón París, pues de inmediato elaboro y envió comunicación a la séptima brigada, dando cuenta de lo que acontecía en Mapiripan. Fiscal Regional de Derechos Humanos. Bogotá, 30 de marzo de 1999. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "NEMO PUNITUR PRO ALIENO DELICTO" "Nadie debe ser castigado por el delito de otro"

Results of the 2007 Nuremberg Conference on Peace and Justice: Tensions between peace and justice have long been debated by scholars, practitioners and agencies including the United Nations, and both theory and policy must be refined for very practical application in situations emerging from violent conflict or political repression. Specific contexts demand concrete decisions and approaches aimed at redress of grievance and creation of conditions of social justice for a non-violent future. There has been definitive progress in a world in which blanket amnesties were granted at times with little hesitation. There is a growing understanding that accountability has pragmatic as well as principled arguments in its favour. Practical arguments as much as shifts in the norms have created a situation in which the choice is increasingly seen as "which forms of accountability" rather than a stark choice between peace and justice. It is socio-political transformation, not just an end to violence, that is needed to build sustainable peace. This book addresses these dilemmas through a thorough overview of the current state of legal obligations; discussion of the need for a holistic approach including development; analysis of the implications of the coming into force of the ICC; and a series of "hard" case studies on internationalized and local approaches devised to navigate the tensions between peace and justice.

This book is an unprecedented attempt to analyze the role of the law in the global movement for social justice. Case studies in the book are written by leading scholars from both the global South and the global North, and combine empirical research on the ground with innovative sociolegal theory to shed new light on a wide array of topics. Among the issues examined are the role of law and politics in the World Social Forum; the struggle of the anti-sweatshop movement for the protection of international labour rights; and the challenge to neoliberal globalization and liberal human rights raised by grassroots movements in India and indigenous peoples around the world. These and other cases, the editors argue, signal the emergence of a subaltern cosmopolitan law and politics that calls for new social and legal theories capable of capturing the potential and tensions of counter-hegemonic globalization.

An analysis of transitional justice - retribution and reparation after a change of political regime - from Athens in the fifth century BC to the present. Part I, 'The Universe of Transitional Justice', describes more than thirty transitions, some of them in considerable detail, others more succinctly. Part II, 'The Analytics of Transitional Justice', proposes a framework for explaining the variations among the cases - why after some transitions wrongdoers from the previous regime are punished severely and in other cases mildly or not at all, and victims sometimes compensated generously and sometimes poorly or not at all. After surveying a broad range of justifications and excuses for wrongdoings and criteria for selecting and indemnifying victims, the 2004 book concludes with a discussion of three general explanatory factors: economic and political constraints, the retributive emotions, and the play of party politics.

"The project on 'Criminal Justice and the East German Past' held an international symposium ... from 6 to 9 April 2005 at the Humboldt University in Berlin"--Page v.

The expression “transitional justice” emerged at the end of the Cold War, during the transition from dictatorships to democracies, and serves as a central concept in dealing with systemic injustice. This textbook examines the basic principles of transitional justice and explores its core mechanisms, including prosecutions, amnesties, truth commissions, reparations, and vetting the public service. It elaborates the substance and legal framework of these mechanisms and discusses current challenges. The book provides extensive material illustrating a wide variety of transitional justice situations. “This book summarizes the subjects of transitional justice and Vergangenheitsbewältigung systematically and clearly” (Joachim Gauck, German Federal President, 2012-2017).