The Orentlicher Principles on the Preservation and Access to Archives Bearing Witness to Human Rights Violations

Abstract

This article examines Diane Orentlicher's 'Updated Set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through Action to Combat Impunity' and their implications for African countries. The article argues that these principles provide avenues through which records relating to human rights violations, abuses and those arising out of truth and reconciliation commissions may be preserved and made accessible as part of a nation's collective memory. The article further examines how these principles are currently applied to the management of South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission archives, though the principles themselves were formulated after the Commission had finalized its work. The article concludes by examining the possibility of adopting these principles by African governments.

Keywords

human rights violations records and archives Orentlicher Principles impunity truth and reconciliation commissions Africa.

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