Impunity and the NI legacy bill – 50 years on from the Pinochet coup
REGISTER: www.bit.ly/ImpunitySeminar
A hybrid seminar exploring combatting impunity, both internationally and locally, on the fiftieth anniversary of the 1973 coup in Chile, which installed the dictatorship of General Pinochet. Pinochet’s brutal regime strove to provide impunity for human rights violations – most notably bringing in the 1978 Amnesty Act that is generally regarded as one of the most egregious examples of amnesties for the purpose of impunity.
This seminar will look at impunity both in the international context and specifically in relation to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill. Hosted at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), the event is organised with the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), Pat Finucane Centre (PFC), and International Expert Panel on Impunity and the Northern Ireland Conflict. This Panel was convened by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, at the request of CAJ and PFC. Several members of the expert panel will present during the seminar.
AGENDA:
Introduction and welcome – Professor Joan Loughrey, Head of School, School of Law, QUB
Background and context of event – Professor Kieran McEvoy, School of Law, QUB
Panel 1: Combatting impunity – The international context (featuring members of the ‘Expert Panel on Impunity and the Northern Ireland Conflict’)
Chair: Dr Ron Dudai, Ben Gurion University, Israel
Panellists:
- Maria José Guembe, Argentinian human rights lawyer – ‘Combatting impunity in Argentine context and the impact of the UK Pinochet case’
- Gisle Kvanvig, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo – ‘The 9/11 wars; impunity and the current legitimacy deficit’
- Dr Aoife Duffy, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex – ‘The Legacy of Impunity for State Torture’
Panel 2: Impunity and the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill
Chair: Professor Anna Bryson, School of Law, QUB
Panellists:
- Daniel Holder, Director, CAJ – ‘Overview of the final legacy bill, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), and the closure of existing mechanisms’
- Professor Louise Mallinder, School of Law, QUB – ‘The conditional immunity scheme under the bill’
- Alan Brecknell, Case Worker, PFC – ‘Examples of the impact of the bill on individual families’, with input from Emmett McConomy
Panels to be followed by a discussion.
This seminar has been supported by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland (CFNI) through the Social Justice Small Grants Programme. If you have any questions about the event, please email events@caj.org.uk.