The Ambassadors of Justice Forum—a joint initiative of the SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties and the Abductees’ Mothers Association—held its first webinar on transitional justice under the SPARK Project supported by the DT Institute.
The session aimed to explore pathways for establishing a fair justice process in Yemen and to highlight Chile’s experience as a model offering lessons for building a shared national memory and achieving just reconciliation.
Held as part of the Ambassadors of Transitional Justice Forum activities, the event featured an in-depth discussion titled “From Yemen to Chile: A Study of the Chilean Experience in Transitional Justice and Its Potential Application in Yemen.” Organizers described the webinar as a “pivotal moment,” coinciding with renewed debates about reconciliation and accountability in the country.
The session opened with remarks from Amat al-Salam al-Haj, Chairperson of the Abductees’ Mothers Association, who emphasized that the forum serves as an independent national platform bringing together victims, activists, experts, and policymakers “to pave the way for sustainable peace based on justice, fairness, and reconciliation.” She noted that the forum’s membership has expanded to more than 240 participants, emphasizing the importance of learning from global experiences while tailoring them to Yemen’s unique context.
In the first segment, Yemeni researcher and lecturer Dr. Adel Dashela—who holds a PhD in English Literature specializing in prison writings and is a visiting scholar at the University of Turku in Finland—presented his study developed within the SPARK Project. He emphasized that transitional justice is “the genuine entry point to building a just peace in Yemen,” pointing out that years of war have left victims without redress and society weighed down by violations committed “without accountability or reparations.” Dashela linked Chile’s success to systematic civil documentation efforts that preceded state institutions and later provided credible material for truth commissions. He called for a unified national documentation system, a comprehensive reparations program, and a national memory initiative to transform sites of violations into spaces for remembrance and education. He also warned against the politicization of civil society organizations and urged partnerships with community, religious, and tribal institutions to keep the focus on victims “regardless of affiliation.”
In the second segment, Luciano Garcesachiguin, Chair of the José Domingo Cañas House of Memory in Chile and an expert in memory and human rights policy, offered an analytical overview of the pillars of transitional justice as defined by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: truth, justice, reparations, guarantees of non-recurrence, and memory. He traced the evolution of Chile’s truth commissions, addressing challenges such as the confidentiality of some archives, and outlined the transition from military court dominance and the 1978 Amnesty Law to subsequent rulings against perpetrators. He noted that many “memory sites” in Chile originated through civil society efforts before being formally recognized by the state, adding that sustainable funding remains a challenge and that institutional reform and a culture of human rights are essential for ensuring non-repetition.
The third segment was led by Ruben Carnazza, Senior Expert and Director of the Reparative Justice Program at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in New York. He examined the complex relationship between stability and transitional justice, noting that while the latter does not “automatically produce stability,” it creates opportunities for accountability, truth-seeking, and reparations when carefully timed and sequenced. Responding to a question about the “gold standard” for reparations in Yemen given limited resources, he emphasized that compensation requires funding, which could be secured through the recovery of assets from individuals and entities who benefited from the conflict, both within and outside Yemen. He also highlighted the value of symbolic and community-based approaches that gradually build trust and expand over time, stressing that reparations should not be confined to financial payments.
A lively discussion followed, addressing concerns about the politicization of civil society organizations, the establishment of participation standards in justice processes, and the protection of collective memory from one-sided narratives. Participants also raised questions about documenting cross-border violations and aligning international dimensions with national reconciliation. Dr. Dashela reiterated that “transitional justice is a relative and gradual process,” suggesting that reparations can serve as a practical entry point for bridging divides by drawing on customary and cultural traditions alongside modern legal tools.
In closing, participants proposed several key recommendations: establishing a digital national archive for memory and testimonies under an independent, neutral body; documenting individual stories rather than mere statistics; transforming sites of violations into spaces of public memory; building a civic, community, and religious coalition to protect victims’ rights; reclaiming assets to fund reparations programs; and instituting structural and cultural reforms to ensure non-repetition.
The session concluded with the affirmation that “a just peace begins with truth and fairness,” and that translating Chile’s lessons into a uniquely Yemeni experience depends on recognizing victims, preserving collective memory, and launching an inclusive, gradual process of justice.