Amid the ongoing conflict and its catastrophic repercussions for Yemenis, transitional justice has emerged as one of the most critical pathways to peace in Yemen. It is the only road to a genuine and comprehensive peace that places victims at the heart of the justice process by acknowledging the violations they have endured, providing them with reparations, and working to ensure that such violations are never repeated.
From our perspective, as Yemeni youth who have lived through the conflict since its beginning and witnessed violations and victims at the hands of various parties, the issue of transitional justice has been mostly absent from public discourse, policy, and even in peace consultations.
Believing in our responsibility as young people to shape the future of our country, the idea for the Transitional Justice Campaign was conceived within the Yemen Peace Forum, in partnership with the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies.
Through this week-long campaign, we seek to bring the issue of transitional justice to the national stage, broaden the discussion around it, and push for it to become a priority in all peace processes.
We, as Yemeni youth, have chosen to focus on transitional justice for several key reasons:
- First: We represent one of the groups hardest hit by war. At the same time, we, as youth, are the ones most capable and eager to shape a different future for Yemen.
- Second: Transitional justice provides us with the ability to dismantle the root causes of the conflict and create a collective memory based on the acknowledgement of others, which enhances opportunities for reconciliation and reduces the divisions that threaten any future political agreement.
- Third: The experiences of other countries have proven that adopting transitional justice mechanisms is the best gateway to genuine reconciliation.
The Transitional Justice Campaign includes a package of activities that aim to achieve multiple objectives, including:
- Enhancing young people’s knowledge of transitional justice concepts and equipping them with the necessary skills and abilities to advocate for it, and building a broad network and database of actors active in the field of transitional justice.
- Producing media content that reflects the importance of transitional justice and expresses victims’ demands.
Today, as youth and civil society organizations, we call for the commemoration of Transitional Justice Day in Yemen on September 1st of each year. We affirm that this day should become an annual opportunity for societal mobilization to entrench a reconciliation based on justice and equity, truth-seeking, accountability, and reparations, and to raise the voices of victims and their families.
The importance of establishing this annual day of reflection and action lies in enshrining recognition for the victims and the violations they have suffered, commemorating their memory, and unifying civil society efforts around transitional justice efforts. It also creates a regular space for dialogue on reconciliation and peacebuilding, reminding future generations that justice is an indispensable condition for achieving sustainable peace and that the memory of the victims is a fundamental part of Yemen’s future identity.
The choice of this date was not arbitrary. It is linked to the global momentum on August 30th that recognizes the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, one of the most heinous crimes against humanity.
On behalf of the Yemen Peace Forum, its organizations, and youth, we call on all parties involved in the peace process to:
- Adopt Transitional Justice Day in Yemen in the official calendar to serve as an annual milestone for recognizing victims and unifying efforts toward comprehensive transitional justice.
- Integrate transitional justice into every peace negotiation track and any future political agreement, as it is a fundamental pillar for achieving sustainable peace.
- Acknowledge violations and adopt clear mechanisms for providing redress and compensation to victims and their families.
- Ensure meaningful participation by victims in future peace processes, removing all barriers to the participation of women, youth, and marginalized groups.
- Develop legislative and institutional frameworks that enable the practical implementation of transitional justice.
- Enable civil society organizations and youth initiatives to enhance their leading role in advocating for transitional justice and sustainable peace in Yemen through funding and capacity building.
- Place the interests and dignity of victims at the core of all efforts and policies related to transitional justice.
- Support a professional and responsible media that is conflict-sensitive and contributes to spreading a culture of justice and peacebuilding.
Today, we invite everyone to become partners in these demands, and for each of us to carry the voices of the victims into every public, social, and political space.