RT Article
T1 Human rights and transitional justice in the Maldives: closing the door, once and for all?
JF Human rights review
VO 25
IS 2
SP 233
OP 256
A1 Jeffery, Renée 1976-
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1896398340
AB In 2020, the Maldives instituted a transitional justice process to address decades of systematic human rights abuses including the widespread use of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and the forced depopulation of entire island communities. While the country’s decision to confront its violent past is not unusual, the institution it has established to undertake that task is. Rather than institute a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC), refer cases to its Human Rights Commission, or undertake criminal trials in its domestic judicial system, the Maldives has taken the unprecedented step of establishing a temporary Ombudsperson’s Office for Transitional Justice (OTJ). Comparing the OTJ to national human rights institutions and TRCs, this article examines how and why the Maldives’ transitional justice process has taken this unusual form. It suggests that the OTJ represents a new attempt to address the full range of human rights abuses, including violations of social and economic rights, perpetrated by repressive regimes.
K1 Democratisation
K1 Human Rights
K1 National human rights institutions
K1 Ombudsman
K1 Maldives
K1 Transitional Justice
DO 10.1007/s12142-024-00716-9