Guarantees of non-recurrence

In the aftermath of conflict or repression, guarantees of non-recurrence have a crucial role in preventing future violations of human rights and reinforcing the rule of law, respect for human rights, and contributing to sustaining peace and development.

Guarantees of non-recurrence include initiatives at different levels: State institutions, society, and the individual sphere.

Institutional reforms comprise a vast array of legal and constitutional reform, justice and security sector reform, including vetting or lustration policies.

Guarantees of non-recurrence notably also include societal interventions aiming at strengthening the role of civil society, ceasing attacks and harassments against the civil society actors, empowering women, girls, and those groups and minorities that have been traditionally excluded from the protection of the law.

And in the individual sphere, crucial initiatives consist of reforms of history education, trauma counselling, cultural and artistic initiatives, memorialization and archiving.

All of these measures have the potential to act as a powerful preventive tool that crucially contributes to creating a safe space for the victims to be more visible, and to the deep change of attitude that sustainable transformations demand.

Further information

• Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence on “guarantees of non-recurrence” (with Annex: Set of general recommendations for truth commissions and archives) (A/HRC/30/42)
• Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence on “security sector reform, including vetting of security institutions” (A/70/438)
• HR/PUB/06/5, Vetting: an operational framework
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