Military courts and transitional justice

Ofelia Riquezes and Frank O. Mora of Florida International University have penned this column on "Transitional justice and the Democratic Transition Framework for Venezuela." Commenting on the State Department's March 31, 2020 fact sheet, they write:

To start working toward the goal of judicial independence—an essential component of the rule of law and therefore, of democracy itself—the following basic measures must be undertaken: 

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• Military jurisdiction must be restricted to matters related to the armed forces. Civilians must not be tried for military crimes such as treason or rebellion. According to the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights, 757 civilians were tried by military courts between April and October of 2017 in the context of nationwide protests, in clear violation of their constitutional rights and international human rights standards.

If transitional justice mechanisms like those suggested by the U.S. State Department’s Framework are put in place before these conditions are met, it will not only prove ineffective but, more importantly, it will erode people’s confidence in the possibilities of justice and reconciliation and thereby threaten the stability of the nascent democracy.