Justice for Atrocities: Dialogues and Encounters between Latin America and Europe 

Call for papers 

On 6th and 7th December 2022, the conference ‘Justice for Atrocities: Dialogues and  Encounters between Latin-America and Europe’ will be hosted at Westminster Law School  (United Kingdom) and the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). The organizing committee invites  paper abstracts. The conference will be either online or in a hybrid form (part online, part in  London), depending on the availability of funds and the epidemiological situation. 

The organisers, Dr. Marco Longobardo (Westminster) and Dr. Juan-Pablo Pérez-León Acevedo (Jyväskylä), welcome proposal submissions from academics and other professionals. Junior faculty members are particularly welcome. Submissions from scholars based in the  Global South and outside Europe are encouraged.  

The Theme of the Conference 

For over five centuries, Latin America and Europe have had a strong and intense relationship  throughout different historical stages: from the conquest/colonial times, to the decolonization process, to connections as sovereign states and, more recently, increasing integration within  the globalisation process, the two continents have developed an intense exchange in many  areas. Unfortunately, the commission of atrocities consisting of serious violations of human  rights and humanitarian law (which may constitute international crimes) have tragically been present on a large scale in both regions during the XX century and their consequences are still  on-going today. While Europe suffered mass atrocities during the two World Wars and in the  Balkan wars during the 90s, as well as, more recently, serious violations of human  rights/humanitarian law in the Caucasus and Ukraine, Latin-American countries such as Chile,  Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and Guatemala endured widespread and systematic abuses  committed by dictatorial regimes and/or during internal armed conflicts, particularly over the  last decades of the XX century. 

In order to protect the fundamental rights of persons under the jurisdiction of Latin-American  and European states from similar atrocities, strong supranational human rights systems, namely, the Inter-American and the European human rights systems, were established and have  developed robust practice. In turn, national judicial authorities in both sides of the Atlantic  have been active in investigating and prosecuting individuals who committed atrocities and  sought impunity as powerfully illustrated in the Military Junta trial in Argentina, the Pinochet case before British courts during the late 90s, the trial of the former President Fujimori in Peru,  and recent cases related to the so-called Operation Condor (Plan Cóndor) before Italian courts.  Although international law scholars have extensively examined justice for atrocities in either Latin America or Europe, there have been very few attempts to do so in a more integrated  manner. 

Against this background, this conference aims to fill important gaps in the existent academic  literature by conducting a comprehensive, integrated, and comparative collective study in  matters related to justice for atrocities that involve both Latin America and Europe at a multi layered level: national, transnational, and international.  

The Scope of the Call for Papers 

The organisers welcome original and unpublished proposals that, from legal and  interdisciplinary perspectives, examine one of the below themes and/or other themes closely  related to the present call: 

• The normative, critical legal and historical foundations of the need for intercontinental justice dialogues and encounters. 

• Potential judicial dialogues and encounters concerning historical cases of atrocities in  Latin America committed during the European conquest and colonial times.  

• Convergences and/or divergences, mutual influence, and similarities and/or differences  between the law and practice within the Inter-American human rights system and the European human rights system(s) in atrocity cases and related justice matters. 

• Impact of the practice of the Inter-American human rights system on the practice of  European national courts and authorities and/or impact of the practice of the European  human rights system on the practice of Latin-American domestic courts and authorities, concerning in both scenarios justice for atrocities. 

• Mutual influence, convergences, or divergences between the Latin-American national judicial and legislative practices and the European national judicial and legislative  practices in relation to atrocity cases and related justice matters.  

• Comparative analyses of the law and practice of extended jurisdiction and universal  jurisdiction in atrocity cases in Latin America and Europe. 

• Legitimacy, effectiveness, and legacy assessments of justice initiatives concerning  atrocities that involve both Latin America and Europe. 

• Advantages/disadvantages, convergences/divergences, or synergies/diversions of  strengthening justice encounters and dialogues between Latin America and Europe vis à-vis the International Criminal Court.  

• Critical analysis of specific instances of encounters and/or dialogues between Latin America and Europe in relation to atrocity cases, including but not limited to, for  example: the (in)action of Latin-American national authorities as for Nazi fugitives in 

the region, the legacy of the Pinochet case, and encounters between Italian courts and  South American national jurisdictions concerning the Operation Condor crimes  committed in South America against European nationals.  

Instructions for Submission 

To participate in this call for papers, please send the following documents in English: an  abstract (between 400 and 700 words) to both m.longobardo1@westminster.ac.uk and perezlev@jyu.fi, along with a short CV (maximum two pages), and a list of recent publications. Please state in the application if you need travel support should the conference be entirely or  partially in person in light of the available funding and the epidemiological situation. Please  use the headline ‘Justice for Atrocities 2022’. Only one abstract per author will be considered.  Joint submissions are possible. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 17th January  2022. 

The abstracts will be assessed on the basis of the originality and innovative nature of the work, academic quality, the relevance to the theme of the conference, and diversity criteria. The  organisers will contact the authors of the accepted abstracts by 7th February 2022.  

The speakers are expected to send their draft papers (approximately between 7000 and 10000  words) by 1st October 2022. 

On 6th and 7th December 2022, a conference (either online or in hybrid form) will be held to  discuss the draft papers. Selected papers will be published in an international peer-reviewed journal and/or will be included in a collective volume with an international publisher. Further  information on publication plans will be provided at the end of the conference. 

Contacts 

For further information, please Dr. Marco Longobardo (m.longobardo1@westminster.ac.uk) or Dr. Juan-Pablo Pérez-León-Acevedo (perezlev@jyu.fi).