拉丁美洲在轉型正義上的困境與出路：以美洲人權法院的回應為中心

Dilemmas and Lessons of Transitional Justice in Latin America: Judicial Response of Inter-American Court of Human Rights

在1980年第三波民主化浪潮的影響下，拉丁美洲各國陸續從威權政體轉型成民主政體。在民主化的過程中，各國選擇不同轉型正義的制度，以回應過去軍事政府所涉及的人權侵害爭議。然而，部分轉型正義制度，如免除前威權/軍事政權人員刑事責任的特赦法，侵害了人權侵害案件中受害者的權利。在內國求助無門的情況下，透過人權團體的協助，各國受害者將其案件送交至美洲人權委員會和美洲人權法院。在此背景下，本文所要探討的是，美洲人權法院如何處理來自各締約國有關轉型正義的案件？美洲人權法院處理案件後，對內國帶來何種影響？促使美洲人權法院得以積極處理轉型正義案件的因素是什麼？本文認為美洲人權法院在處理有關轉型正義的案件上有三項特點：一是強調與擴張國家責任的範圍，二是明白宣示特赦法違反《美洲人權公約》，三是肯認受害者不僅享有司法救濟權，更有真相權的保障。在美洲人權法院作出相關判決後，不僅對拉丁美洲國家的法律與法院帶來正面的影響，也同時影響了其他國家及區域人權法院的判決。本文認為，促使美洲人權法院積極回應轉型正義的因素包括：美洲人權法院的獨立性與解釋權限的擴張、國際人權規範與機制的影響，以及內國與國際人權組織的動員。

Most new democratic governments in the Latin American region were required to deal with the human rights violations committed by past authoritarian/military regimes after shifts from war to peace or from an authoritarian regime to democracy. Numerous transitional justice mechanisms were adopted by these governments within the context of these transitions and post-conflict settings. The prevalence of impunity and the incapacity of judicial institutions, however, often impede the new administrations’ capacity to tackle grave human rights violations such as torture, forced disappearance, extra-legal executions or murders. Hence, the victims and their families eventually bring their cases to the Inter-American Human Rights System to seek judicial resolutions. Against this background, this paper addresses the following three issues: (1) the ways in which the Inter-American Court of Human Rights deals with cases of genocide, forced disappearances, extra-judicial executions, and torture, (2) the impacts of these court decisions on the domestic government in Latin America and the countries in other regions, and (3) the factors that trigger the court to preside over such cases. This paper argues that there are three primary features produced by the court’s decisions. The first feature is recognition and expansion of state responsibility. The second feature is domestic amnesty laws in violation of the American Convention on Human Rights. The third feature is guarantee of the right to remedy and right to truth for the victims. The decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have a huge impact on Latin American countries. Particularly, these decisions have triggered several domestic constitutional courts to invalidate existing amnesty laws. This paper argues that the independence and fairness of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the influence of international human rights norms and the rise and mobilization of international human rights advocacy are the main factors that facilitate an active response by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding cases of transitional justice.