ICA/SAHR has as its main objective to encourage the preservation of and access to archives that document human rights violations. These include both public archives, such as records produced by police and intelligence services, truth commissions or international tribunals, and private archives, such as those of civil society, in particular NGOs and businesses.
In your call for input one of the questions raised is “how can documentation be better integrated in transitional justice from the outset?” The guidelines, tools and principles developed by ICA/SAHR during its more than 20 years of existence address that exact question. In the following we present some reference tools that can be particularly helpful to ensure documentation in the context of transitional justice processes. Before that we will make a few general observations.
General observations
Many countries have created new bodies to manage and make accessible the archives of public bodies involved in human rights violations during repressive regimes. Since the creation of the Federal Commissioner for the Management of Stasi Archives in Germany in 1991, other countries in Central and Eastern Europe have taken similar measures. In Latin America, memory centers and museums have sought to collect information on such crimes in, for example, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Colombia. In Cambodia, S-21, a former detention and interrogation center of the Khmer Rouge regime, has become a memorial site, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. In other countries, the archives produced by repressive bodies have been integrated into the National Archives and made available to victims and the public (in Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Guatemala, among others) or have been placed under the responsibility of the courts, as in Paraguay.
The situation of archives of truth commissions and international tribunals is a matter of particular concern. In many cases, archives are not accessible or their whereabouts are unknown. ICA/SAHR is developing a mapping of truth commissions and other mechanisms documenting and investigating violations of human rights. We also attempt, in cooperation with swisspeace, to raise awareness within the UN on the importance, for victims and societies, of preserving and making accessible the records of the six temporary international criminal tribunals established during the past 30 years: the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.
We call attention to the documentation (records) relating to violations of human rights created and/or kept by private business companies and enterprises. Such records can be of vital importance in the fight against impunity and should be included, whenever relevant, in transitional justice processes. ICA/SAHR has raised this point at the XIII UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, which took place in Geneva 25-27 November 2024.
Thousands of NGOs worldwide create and/or keep records that can document human rights violations. However, most NGOs, with the exception of the largest ones, have not put in place policies, procedures and processes that ensure safe long-term preservation of and access to their records. The main reason is lack of adequate resources – human, logistic and financial. This is why the Working Group that preceded ICA/SAHR in 2004 created a practical guide to enable NGOs to manage their records easily and at low cost. This handbook was published by UNESCO and the ICA, and OCHCR referred to it in its 2006 Study on the right to the truth (E/CN.4/2006/91, paragraph 52). In view of technological and societal developments an updated, new version of the handbook is necessary and badly needed.
Among other civil society associations, the Catholic Church has, in some countries in Latin America, been very active. Most remarkable are the initiatives of the Vicariate of Solidarity (under the Archdiocese of Santiago) in Chile, and the Recovery of Historical Memory (REMHI) Project of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. Documents from these institutions have played a vital role in trials and the search for truth.
Memorialization processes is one of the pillars of transitional justice. ICA/SAHR is deeply concerned by the fact that in some countries human rights and memory organizations are victims of repression. This is, for example, the case in Russia, where Memorial International was shut down by the authorities in December 2021. ICA has also issued notes of concern with regard to steps taken by the current government of Argentina preventing access to records that could provide information about the fate of missing persons during the dictatorship from 1976-83. Such repressive steps, as well as legislation imposing amnesia on massive human rights violations, create major obstacles for future transitional justice processes. No healing of societies or individuals is possible without access to truth and a possibility for justice.
ICA/SAHR has a wide international, professional network of approximately 300 members and has worked on issues relating to the documentation of human rights violations since its creation in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2003. ICA/SAHR has an accumulated knowledge in this field, which we will be happy to put at the disposal of States and other actors in transitional justice processes.
Publications and initiatives of the Section that may contribute to the Special Rapporteur’s thematic report
- The Section developed Basic Principles on the Role of Archivists and Records Managers in Support of Human Rights, which were published by the International Council on Archives in 2016 as an official working document. The first objective of these Principles is to assist and provide guidance to archivists and records managers in addressing the complex ethical, legal and practical issues they face when dealing with archives with human rights implications. They are often isolated and may be under pressure to eliminate compromising records or not to report them in their finding aids. The second objective is to help international officials dealing with human rights issues understand the essential contribution that archivists and records managers can make to the protection of human rights. This document is available in nine languages.
- Three members of the Section published in 2021 the book Archives and Human Rights which includes 17 case studies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. These cases, presented by experts with various backgrounds, illustrate the different uses of archives in countries in democratic transition or in post-conflict situations: legal, reparatory, memorial, historical, educational, and preventive uses. The book discusses questions concerning the standards, initiatives, and good practices of States in terms of collection, preservation, and access to relevant documents, as well as major obstacles and challenges encountered in the selected cases. The question of civil society initiatives is also addressed, and a typology of documents held by NGOs is presented. In conclusion, the editors emphasize the need for interdisciplinary cooperation, the essential role of education when it comes to using archives, and the huge variety of sources that can support claims for compensation and reparations. Dedicated to the memory of Louis Joinet, the book was published in 2023 in Spanish by Trea Editions, and in French by the IFDJ Institut Louis Joinet. The English version is freely available on the publisher Routledge’s website.
- Antonio González Quintana’s book, Archival Policies in the Protection of Human Rights. ICA 2009 is an updated version of a 1995-report for UNESCO and the ICA on the archives of the state security services of former repressive regimes. It includes 13 still pertinent recommendations to public authorities on the preservation of and access to archives to guarantee the individual and collective rights of citizens and societies. It also emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the archives of Truth Commissions and temporary tribunals. A selection of relevant legislative texts from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland are included. Available in Spanish, French and English.
- The joint initiative of the ICA and swisspeace: Safe Havens for Archives at Risk, aims at promoting safe haven arrangements that meet the standards of good practice set out in the Guiding Principles for Safe Havens for Archives at Risk (ICA 2018). The aim is to find a safe place to house archives that institutions consider to be at risk of destruction in the event of war, civil conflict, or extreme climate change. More information at https://www.safehavensforarchives.org/.
- The ICA/SAHR Rights and Records Knowledge Base includes more than 3,000 annotated resources on archives and human rights. It is highly relevant for any individual or institution dealing with transitional justice topics: https://rightsandrecords.ica.org/
