The first chapter briefly explained that ESCR have been overlooked in transitional justice literature and practice. As illuminated in the first chapter, the field has been influenced by international law and legalism. ESCR and CPR have been treated differently, and the former has often been neglected in transitional justice theory and practice.479 Szoke-Burke wrote that:
“Transitional justice mechanisms can no longer turn a blind eye to the violation of ESRs.”480 In
fact, there has been a growing demand from both scholars and practitioners for the inclusion of ESCR in transitional justice, and there is a tendency for a change.481 This chapter started
exploring ESCR and misconceptions about them. This section is going to depict how ESCR violations482 have been overlooked in transitional justice and explain the significance of including
them in the field. This will also contribute to the main argument of this research which suggests that Turkey should address violations of socioeconomic rights in a future transitional justice process to tackle the Kurdish Question.
3.1.a. Misconceptions of ESCR in transitional justice framework
The reasons for focusing on CPR violations were derived from the misconceptions about ESCR which were broken down in the previous sections. Transitional justice has mainly focused on direct, physical and serious human rights abuses which had immediate damages.483 Since ESCR
are considered as vague and aspirational rights which entail only positive obligations, they were often left un(der)addressed in transitional justice. However, it has been depicted that ESCR also entail negative obligations (to respect), and their violations can be direct, serious and physical which may produce immediate damages.484 Hecht and Michalowski state that violations of ESCR
can be as serious as CPR violations. They asserted that “unjust systems kill far more infants
479 Arbour, Economic and Social Justice, p.5.; Evans, Structural Violence, p.4.; Laplante, Transitional Justice
and Peace Building, p.333.; Roht-Arriaza, The new landscape of transitional justice, p.2.; Alexander, A Scoping Study, pp.6-8.; Sharp, Addressing Economic Violence, p.796.
480 Szoke-Burke, S. (2015) Not Only 'Context': Why Transitional Justice Programs Can No Longer Ignore
Violations of Economic and Social Rights, Texas International Law Journal, Vol.50, No.2/3, p.473.
481 Schmid and Nolan, Do No Harm, p.363.; Arbour, Economic and Social Justice, pp.1-27.; Laplante,
Transitional Justice and Peace Building, pp.331-355.; Waldorf, Anticipating the Past, pp.171-186.; Miller, Effects of Invisibility, pp.266-291.; OHCHR, Transitional Justice and ESCR, p.1.
482 It should be noted that although violations of ESCR and economic crimes are connected to each other,
they are not the same. Corruption and plunder of natural resources could be classified as economic crimes, whereas forced eviction and famines as means of war are violations of ESCR. (OHCHR, Transitional Justice and ESCR, p.22.; Sharp, Addressing Economic Violence, p.782)
483 Szoke-Burke, Not Only Context, p.469.; Roht-Arriaza, N. (2014) ‘Reparations and Economic, Social, and
Cultural Rights’ in Sharp, D. (ed) Justice and Economic Violence in Transition, New York: Springer, p.109.
through malnutrition and the unavailability of water than they kill adults with bullets and bombs.”485
There are many examples of forced evictions and famines (produced by intentional policies) which are striking examples of serious ESCR violations.486 As explained earlier, ESCR violations
can amount to international crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.487 The example of East Timor is striking as 84,200 out of 102,800 conflict-related
deaths resulted from hunger and illness.488 Skogly wrote: “If malicious state leaders know that
they may be brought to trial for massacring people, they may choose to starve them to death, or inflict illness on them instead.”489 In short, violations of ESCR fall within the scope of
transitional justice, and there is no rationale for ignoring them in transitional processes. 3.1.b. The importance of addressing root causes
Socioeconomic issues have often been regarded as “context” when they are included in transitional processes. They have been looked at to understand violence rather than an independent matter of fact.490 This should not be understood as considering them as context or
root causes of conflict is wrong. Looking at root causes of conflict and violence is vital for transitional justice processes.491 Mani remarked that there is a “responsibility to identify
underlying practices of social injustice, marginalization and exploitation that were responsible either directly or indirectly for the violent conflict or crisis” and seeking remedies for these underlying causes is critical in transitional contexts.492 Yet, it should be understood that ESCR
are not only root causes, background or context of violence.493 As stated earlier, ESCR violations
can be discrete and direct with immediate damages. It is important to clarify this as “presenting socioeconomic root causes of conflict as historical context leaves policy change to the discretion
485 Hecht, L. and Michalowski, S. (2012) The Economic and Social Dimensions of Transitional Justice, Essex
Transitional Justice Network (ETJN) Concept Paper, p.1. Available at:
https://www1.essex.ac.uk/tjn/documents/TheeconomicandsocialdimensionsofTJ.pdf (access date: 19.07.2018).
486 Mourey, Famine and War, p.551.; Leckie, Another Step towards Indivisibility, p.102.; Marcus, Famine
crimes in international law, pp.245-281.; Skogly, Crimes Against Humanity – Revisited, pp.58-80.; van den Herik, Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, pp.343-366.
487 Marcus, the normative development of socioeconomic rights, pp.53-102.; Drumbl, Accountability for
Property Crimes, pp.58-80.; OHCHR, Transitional Justice and ESCR, p.24.; OHCHR Fact Sheet No.33, p.26.
488 The CAVR, Chega, p.44.
489 Skogly, Crimes Against Humanity – Revisited, p.74. 490 Sharp, Addressing Economic Violence, p.782.
491 Roht-Arriaza, Reparations and ESCR, p.110.; Arbour, Economic and Social Justice, p.3.
492 Mani, R. (2008) Editorial Dilemmas of Expanding Transitional Justice, or Forging the Nexus between
Transitional Justice and Development, International Journal of Transitional Justice, Vol. 2, No.3, p.256.
493 Schmid and Nolan, Do No Harm, pp.373-376.; Szoke-Burke, Not Only Context, p.473.; Sharp, Addressing
of political leaders, while presenting them as rights violations makes redress and reform a political imperative.”494 Sharp explains two ways of addressing the violations of ESCR in the
context of transitional justice: a thin approach which suggests that only ESCR violations which were committed during the conflict should be addressed, and a thick approach suggests that not only the ones which took place during the conflict, but also a wider range of structural injustices that existed before the conflict should be addressed in transitional contexts.495 For instance,
victims of forced evictions may demand compensation as a remedy (a thin approach), while an ethnic or religious group which was marginalised and excluded systematically may ask for the elimination of discrimination as a remedy (a thick approach). So, both discrete ESCR violations and structural violence must be addressed as they are both important for transitional countries. Furthermore, it is noted that conflicts often take place in poor countries, and they lead to destruction in these societies in terms of human capital, infrastructure and institutions.496
Likewise, socioeconomic problems and ESCR violations are common under authoritarian regimes.497 Considering that legacies of violence would exacerbate the pre-existing
socioeconomic injustices, the vital importance of social justice in transitional contexts could be understood. Victims and survivors expect to feel justice and see improvements in their daily lives after transitions. It is often remarked that without some sort of social justice, transitional justice efforts would be incomplete and futile for people.498 In addition, addressing ESCR abuses and
eliminating root causes of violence is important to achieve a sustainable peace.499
The connection between poverty and conflict has been contentious in academia. Some scholars assert that poverty, exclusion and inequality trigger conflicts; others say there is no relationship between them.500 Furthermore, some scholars assert that even if poverty, exclusion and
494 Laplante, Transitional Justice and Peace Building, p.341. 495 Sharp, Addressing Economic Violence, p.802.
496 Sharp, Addressing Economic Violence, p.791; De Greiff, P. (2009) ‘Articulating the Links Between
Transitional Justice and Development: Justice and Social Integration’ in De Greiff, P. and Duthie, R. (eds) Transitional Justice and Development: Making Connections, New York: Social Science Research Council, pp.29-30.; Szoke-Burke, Not Only Context, pp.474-475; Mani, Editorial Dilemmas of Expanding Transitional Justice, pp.259-260.; Muvingi, Donor-Driven Transitional Justice, p.20.; Laplante, Transitional Justice and Peace Building, pp.336-337.
497 Szoke-Burke, Not Only Context, p.470.; Roht-Arriaza, Reparations and ESCR, p.113.; Evans, Structural
Violence, p.9.
498 Mani, Editorial Dilemmas of Expanding Transitional Justice, pp.255-265.; Arbour, Economic and Social
Justice, p.5.; De Greiff, Articulating the Links, p.30.; Sharp, Addressing Economic Violence, p.808.; OHCHR Fact Sheet No.33, p.27.; Evans, Structural Violence, p.2.
499 Roht-Arriaza, Reparations and ESCR, pp.109-110.; Arbour, Economic and Social Justice, p.8.; Szoke-
Burke, Not Only Context, p.467.; OHCHR Fact Sheet No.33, p.27.
500 Derin-Gure, P. (2011) Separatist Terrorism and the Economic Conditions in South-Eastern Turkey,
Defence and Peace Economics, Vol.22, No.4, p.394.; Braithwaite, A., Dasandi, N. and Hudson, D. (2016) Does poverty cause conflict? Isolating the causal origins of the conflict trap, Conflict Management and
inequality do not directly cause, they contribute to the emergence of conflicts501 (they may raise
the likelihood of conflict).502 For example, El Salvador, Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt have witnessed
wide-spread violence which was rooted in socioeconomic problems such as unemployment and poverty.503 Likewise, violent revolts have occurred in various transitional countries (Peru, Chile,
South Africa and Guatemala) due to socioeconomic injustices. So, if root causes of conflicts are not eliminated and socioeconomic grievances are not tackled in transitional societies, it is difficult to assume that the peace will be sustainable. These problems may lead to another conflict in the future. Yet, it is not always simple to prove causes of a conflict as there are numerous causes of conflicts. Therefore, analysing the context may be helpful for the argument. Rather than seeking to reach universal conclusions, analysing contexts and drawing specific conclusions for those cases could be more sensible.
Excluding socioeconomic dimensions of violence leads to an incomplete account of history. Various scholars agree that addressing CPR violations exclusively prevents understanding the nature of past conflicts and violence properly.504 Conflicts have multiple interrelated dimensions
(political, economic, social, cultural etc.) and addressing only CPR violations reduces them into one dimension. These dimensions need to be analysed and addressed holistically.505 Incomplete
Peace Science, Vol.33, No.1, pp.45-66.; Darrow, M. and Tomas, A. (2005) Power, Capture, and Conflict: A Call for Human Rights Accountability in Development Cooperation, Human Rights Quarterly, Vol.27, No.2, pp.471-538.; Collier, P. and Hoeffler, A. (2004) Greed and grievance in civil war, Oxford Economic Papers, Vol.56, No.4, pp.563-595.; Szoke-Burke, Not Only Context, pp.469-470.; Roht-Arriaza, Reparations and ESCR, pp.109-110.; Thoms, O. and Ron, J. (2007) Do Human Rights Violations Cause Internal Conflict?, Human Rights Quarterly, Vol.29, No.3, pp.674-705.; Stewart, F. (2007) Horizontal inequalities & conflict: Understanding group violence in multiethnic societies, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.; Malone, D., Berdal, M., and International Peace Academy (2000) Greed & grievance: Economic agendas in civil wars, Boulder, Colo.; London: Lynne Rienner.; Waldorf, Anticipating the Past, p.175.; Arnson, C. and Zartman, I. (2005) Rethinking the economics of war: The intersection of need, creed, and greed, Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.; Sambanis, N. (2004) Poverty and the Organization of Political Violence, Brookings Trade Forum, Globalization, Poverty, and Inequality (2004), pp.165-211.; Arbour, Economic and Social Justice, pp.8-9.; Murshed, S. M. and Gates, S. (2005) Spatial-horizontal Inequality and the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal, Review of Development Economics, Vol.9, No.1, pp.121-134.
501 Laplante, Transitional Justice and Peace Building, pp.336-337; Forman, J. (2002) Achieving
Socioeconomic Well-Being in Postconflict Settings, The Washington Quarterly, Vol.25, No.4, pp.125-138.; Duthie, R. (2009) ‘Introduction’ in De Greiff, P. and Duthie, R. (eds) Transitional Justice and Development: Making Connections, New York: Social Science Research Council, p.19.
502 The World Bank (2003) World Development Report 2003: Sustainable Development in a Dynamic World
Transforming Institutions, Growth, and Quality of Life, New York: World Bank and Oxford University Press, p.xx.
503 Szoke-Burke, Not Only Context, p.470.; Schmid and Nolan, Do No Harm, p.363.
504 Szoke-Burke, Not Only Context, p.469.; Miller, Effects of Invisibility, p.266.; Sharp, Addressing Economic
Violence, pp.782-783.; Sriram, C. L. (2014) ‘Liberal Peacebuilding and Transitional Justice: What Place for Socioeconomic Concerns?’ in Sharp, D. (ed) Justice and Economic Violence in Transition, New York: Springer, pp.27-49.; Carranza, Plunder and Pain, pp.310-330.
505 Sharp, Addressing Economic Violence, p.783.; Miller, Effects of Invisibility, p.268.; Boraine, Transitional
Justice: A Holistic Interpretation, pp.17-28.; Carranza, Plunder and Pain, pp.310-330.; Szoke-Burke, Not Only Context, p.466.
narratives may prevent a full-fledged redress for past human rights violations and non-repetition of these crimes. To redress past violations comprehensively ESCR violations and root causes of violence need to be included in transitional processes. Lastly, being realistic about addressing ESCR in transitional societies is important as it should not be seen as a panacea which can solve all socioeconomic problems. Inclusion of ESCR in transitional justice mechanisms can only
contribute to the elimination of socioeconomic problems.506 States must tackle socioeconomic
problems through long-term policies and development programs. Yet, transitional justice can contribute to these efforts by diagnosing these problems and their reasons. In addition, transitional justice mechanisms can play an important role to buttress these efforts which will be explored in the following sections.