The Right to the Truth in Atrocity Trials before Municipal Courts

This book explores the place and the role of the right to the truth in municipal trials for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Using a definition of the right to the truth derived from international human rights jurisprudence, it analyses judgments, trial records and contemporaneous reports about municipal trials for crimes related to the Second World War, the Latin American human rights crisis in the late 20^th century, and the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.

The book argues that recognition of the right to the truth has helped courts unveil previously unknown facts about mass atrocities. Procedural mechanisms protecting the right to the truth have made it possible for some trials to take place and have made available to the courts significant amounts of evidence. The volume further contends that recognition of the right to the truth has furthered the trials’ ability to reaffirm the values ruptured by the crimes and to strengthen social solidarity.

This monograph offers a novel perspective on some well-studied and lesser-known trials and will be a valuable resource for judges, prosecutors and lawyers involved in atrocity trials as well as academics interested in accountability for international crimes and transitional justice. The detailed analysis of trials for mass atrocities could also be of interest to historians, social scientists and anyone wanting to know more about the history of war crimes trials and post-conflict justice. 

Vessela I. Terzieva is a researcher and lawyer, active in the field of international law and transitional justice. This book is inspired by her more than a decade long involvement in atrocity trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Terzieva holds a graduate law degree from Sofia University, an LL.M from Columbia Law School, and a PhD from the University of Amsterdam.