Bridging Histories: Argentina’s Transitional Justice Process and the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51442/ijags.0070Keywords:
transitional justice, right to truth, crimes against humanity, Argentina, Armenian Genocide, universal jurisdiction, genocide preventionAbstract
This article analyzes how the Argentine Transitional Justice Process (ATJP) enabled the judicial recognition of the Armenian Genocide through domestic mechanisms anchored in international human rights law. Argentina’s determination in the Armenian Genocide Truth Trial (2001–2011) constitutes the first and most rigorous judicial finding on the genocide by any national court, grounded not in memory politics or diplomatic pressures but in binding legal standards. The article examines how an Argentine federal chamber upheld the right to truth of a descendant of genocide survivors and applied the principle of inapplicability of statute of limitations to state-denied genocidal crimes, issuing an unprecedented ruling despite the absence of an accused before the court. This decision shows that when international or diplomatic routes are blocked, domestic courts can still give effect to international legal norms, especially when backed by sustained civil society engagement. The emphasis is on the transnational application of Argentine jurisprudence to historical atrocities, while selectively referencing Argentina’s broader experience in prosecuting crimes against humanity, including the 1985 Juntas Trial and the ESMA III-Death Flight Section Trial. The article asserts that Argentina’s definition of the right to truth as an independent legal obligation, conceptualized by Juan E. Méndez and implemented via truth trials, and the intertwined adoption of the five pillars of transitional justice mechanisms (truth justice reparations memory and guarantees of non-recurrence), provides a persuasive avenue for enhancing genocide recognition through legal innovation. The study posits that by positioning domestic adjudication as a venue for global norm creation, Argentina’s methodology bolsters the international human rights framework, challenges denialism, and underscores the legal importance of remembrance following mass atrocities.
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