ABSTRACT
Latin America presents a unique opportunity to draw important lessons regarding implementation and effectiveness of transitional justice. Much like the Arab Spring, Latin America also experienced a rapid wave of transitions away from authoritarian rule, in midst of a larger global wave of democratization coinciding with the end of the Cold War. Transitional justice in Latin America is impressive for its breadth and depth. Every country with an authoritarian regime or civil war in its past has actively pursued a transitional justice agenda, and most have taken a comprehensive approach and enacted a wide range of mechanisms. In Latin America, international courts served to override domestic amnesties, hold trials where domestic states were unwilling to do so and spur domestic action. In sum, the Latin American experience indicates that long journey of transitional justice, on which Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are just beginning to embark in the wake of the Arab Spring, appears to be worth it.
