Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal: An Experiment in Populist Justice


            Imagine, for a moment, that the State has polluted your water with toxic levels of arsenic, or robbed you of your family land, or disappeared your brother, or assassinated the members of your community. Where would you seek redress?  To what forum would you take a case of that nature?
                                 
            If a society’s legal system still functions properly to some extent, you might find “relief” in that society’s courts.  But, in a society where the legal system no longer functions - where the legal system has broken down completely - one cannot hope for justice in that society’s courts.  Instead, new spaces for such cases are needed - like the proceedings held by international courts.

            International courts generally come in two different kinds.  First, there are the courts whose jurisdiction States have recognized by treaty or statute.  Then, there are “opinion tribunals,” whose jurisdiction States have not recognized.  Currently, two opinion tribunals of substantial weight are being conducted in the world today: (i) the Russell Tribunal, which just completed its final session investigating allegations of human rights abuses in Palestine; and (ii) the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, which is currently holding hearings on allegations of human rights abuses throughout Mexico.

            This article is the first in a series of articles that will discuss the work of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico - its history, structure, goals, role as a community-organizing tool, and legal findings.  This Tribunal provides the opportunity to fuse legal advocacy with grassroots movements, meaning it is a legal experiment with great potential both for organizing communities and justice advocates alike.
             
“Public Opinion” Courts

The Russell Tribunal and the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal are “public opinion courts,” convened by citizens who seek a forum in which to present legal complaints, usually against a government or State-supported actors.  Because they are “public opinion” courts, they do not have legal status or the power to enforce their judgments.  Nevertheless, due to the prominence and respect accorded to members of these Tribunals, their pronouncements (decided based on evidence presented in court) exert social pressure on the State to take action against those found guilty in Tribunal proceedings   

For communities charging the State with human rights violations, these Tribunals serve as an alternative to the State courts.  Presenting a case against the State in a domestic court may prove impossible, dangerous, or pointless.  These opinion tribunals are a grassroots solution to counteract the impediments faced when bringing a case against the State in its own court.

History of the Russell Tribunal and the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal

After the Vietnam War, British philosopher Bertrand Russell and French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre joined other notable public figures to form the Russell Tribunal.  The original purpose of the Russell Tribunal was to provide a forum in which witnesses could testify about war crimes committed during the Vietnam War, particularly war crimes committed by United States’ military forces.

The Russell Tribunal began its work in 1966 and 1967 by holding hearings on the Vietnam War in various cities in Europe.  After the hearings on the Vietnam War, the Russell Tribunal held hearings from 1973 through 1976 on human rights violations in Latin America.  After the Latin American hearings, the Russell Tribunal did not convene for twenty-five years.  Thereafter, the Russell Tribunal held a series of hearings on various subjects: a hearing in 2001 on Human Rights in Psychiatry; a hearing in 2004 on war crimes in Iraq; and, beginning in 2009, hearings on Palestine, lasting from 2009-2013.[1]

During the quarter century that the Russell Tribunal was inactive, Italian Senator Lelio Basso sought to continue the work of opinion tribunals on a permanent basis.[2]  He sought to identify and to publicize cases of systematic violations of fundamental human rights, particularly those in which legislation failed to protect the people facing oppression.[3]  Concerning the legitimacy of public opinion courts, Basso stated: 

“The needs of public conscience can become a recognized source of law [...] and a tribunal that emanates directly from the popular consciousness reflects an idea that will make headway: institutionalized powers and the people, from whom the former claim legitimacy in actual fact tend to diverge and only a truly popular initiative can try to bridge the gap between people and power.”[4]

            In 1979, Basso founded the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) in Italy on the basis of principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples.  The Tribunal headquarters remain in Italy.  Currently, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal comprises more than 130 members of high moral reputation.  Its President is Salvatore Senese, and its Secretary General is Gianni Tognoni.

            To date, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has held thirty-six sessions all over the world, including recent sessions in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Colombia.[5]  The Tribunal is currently holding “audiences” (its term for its sessions or hearings) in Mexico, which began in 2011 and will end in 2014.[6]

Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico

            The current hearings of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal are taking place throughout communities in Mexico.  Although the international press has given attention to the drug war in Mexico, the scope of human rights violations in Mexico goes far beyond drugs and cartels.  The international press has allowed this larger scope of human rights violations in Mexico to pass largely unnoticed.  The hearings of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico allow communities suffering injustices to bring the facts about the injustices and the intensity of their suffering to the world’s attention.

            The next article in this series will examine the structure and the work of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico.



[1] Russell Tribunal on Palestine, available at http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/ (last visited on March 8, 2013).
[2] Janine Odink, The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, 11 Neth. Q. Hum. Rts. 229-232 (1993).
[3] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).
[4] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).
[5] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).
[6] Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos México, available at http://www.tppmexico.org/ (last visited on March 8, 2013).

Sunday, March 17, 2013

1st Cultural Festival of Water and the Environment - Guanajuato, Mexico

If you're in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico this coming Saturday, March 23rd, I have plans for you.

Starting at 10:00am, the Coalition in Defense of the Independence Basin (CODECIN) will be hosting its First Cultural Festival of Water and the Environment in the city of Dolores Hidalgo, in Parque Alvaro Obregon.  

If you're in the area, you have no excuse not to attend.  Folks will be presenting about different themes including the water crisis in Guanajuato, food sovereignty, native seeds, and other topics that are in urgent need of discussion in rural Mexico.  Come get educated.