Transitional justice and economic, social and cultural rights

The failure to fulfil economic, social and cultural rights and the outright violation of these rights are often at the root of conflict. Furthermore, the actions and omissions by States and non-State actors during conflict can also amount to violations of economic, social and cultural rights, and particularly affect the most vulnerable. Yet, there has been no widespread move in transitional justice processes to examine the root causes of the conflict or to look into violations of economic, social and cultural rights. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has explored in greater depth the ways in which transitional justice processes have addressed or could address violations of economic, social and cultural rights. This publication presents the outcome of that work.