The document discusses transitional justice in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country, highlighting international trends and the role of both state and non-state actors. It emphasizes the importance of bottom-up initiatives and the complexities of recognizing victims amid ongoing reconciliation efforts, particularly regarding the legacy of armed groups like ETA. The analysis shows evidence of norm diffusion from previous peace processes and notes the resilience of the 'pacto de olvido' despite challenges.

1. Prof. Colm Campbell
Transitional Justice Institute, School of
Law, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland

2. International Trends
 Transitional justice and the democratic
state
 Northern Ireland
 Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission
 Transnational norm-diffusion. Legal norms
and ideational norms (‘peace process’)
 Increasing focus on violations by armed
opposition groups
 Increasing role of ‘bottom up’ initiatives

3. Comparative Perspectives
 The ‘Big Four’, South
Africa, Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland
and the Basque Country. Entrenched
conflict & rechstsstaat
 Transnational frame diffusion: SA  NI
 Basque Country: meso and macro
levels
 Pacto de olvido: palimpsest of the
transition from Francoism

4. Categorizing the Basque
Transition
 Ending a crime wave?
 Political shifts
 International resonance
 An open-ended process?
 The strength of the pacto de olvido
 The Garzón episode
 CAH from the civil war
 A bounded transition?

5. A bounded transition?
 Legacies from the conflict post-Franco
 Early prisoner releases
 Reconciliation initiatives
 Political unbanning (Sortu)
 Memorialization initiatives
 Initiatives on victims and survivors
 Art 3 ECHR issues (prisoner ill-treatment)
 Space and validation for bottom-up
initiatives

6. Who is a ‘victim’?
 2007 Law of Historical Memory (Spanish)
opponents of Franco recognized
 Basque decree of 2011 implementing
above includes ETA members in Franco
period
 Victims of ETA are recognized as victims in
a Spanish law of 2011
 A Basque Law of 2008 recognizes as
victims those harmed by GAL (as well as
ETA)

7. ETA violence
 The palimpsest of the past
 ETA violence under Franco
 ETA violence in the democratic period
(7-fold increase in violence in decade
after democracy)
 % of civilians killed: 37% to 65%
 Comparisons with contemporary
terrorism
 Militants as victim-perpetrators

8. Conclusions
 Strong evidence of ‘peace process’ frame
diffusion from NI and SA to the Basque
Country
 Although frayed the pacto de olvido
remains strong
 Even with the pact in place there is a
ample space for transitional moves on
prisoners, memorialization, and
reconciliation (including apologies), with
contributions both from state and non-state
actors.