Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center (KADEM) in partnership with No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) held the first Training of Trainers under the Transitional Justice Academy (the Academy) in Tunis (Tunisia) on 31 January ‑ 4 February 2012. In December last year, KADEM and the Arab Democracy Foundation (ADF), in partnership with NPWJ and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), launched the Academy to strengthen capacity of Tunisian main actors and stakeholders on transitional justice.
Statement by Alison Smith, Legal Counsel of NPWJ:
“The first training organised under the Academy concluded today with 19 new Tunisian Trainers with expertise in transitional justice related areas to lead future training sessions on these issues in the country. The group has been prepared on the objectives and approaches of transitional justice as well as training techniques and methodologies and it is now ready to provide training to others, disseminating their knowledge on transitional justice and adapting it to the specific Tunisian reality. New Trainers include judges and members of the National Fact-Finding Commissions to Investigate Abuses and on Embezzlement and Corruption, members of the Ministry of Human Rights and Transitional Justice, legal professionals and academicians, representatives of the media and civil society.
Since the revolution that ousted former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the elections for the Constituent Assembly held in October 2011, Tunisians have started clamouring for justice and redress for past human rights violations. Through the capacity building activities carried out under the Academy, we aim to enhance the knowledge of main Tunisian stakeholders and actors on transitional justice, by raising awareness about this topic, reinforcing key actors and civil society to advocate effectively at the political level and to play a dynamic role in supporting transitional justice processes.
We also hope that this joint initiative will contribute to foster broad engagement of policy- and decision-makers and help create momentum for the establishment of a National Commission on transitional justice to address violations under the former authoritarian regime”.
For further information, please contact Alison Smith on asmith@npwj.org or +32-(0)2-548-3912 or Greta Barbone on gbarbone@npwj.org or +216 28385079.
