Conference Agenda

Successive governments appointed numerous commissions of inquiry (CoIs) to investigate alleged violations of human rights across multiple conflicts in Sri Lanka. The archives of these CoIs constitute a massive body of evidence and information related to violence and violations since the 1970s. In this presentation, I explore the issues of custody, preservation, description, accessibility, and the work of centering these archives within futures of accountability.

Successive governments have appointed numerous commissions of inquiry (CoIs) to investigate alleged violations of human rights across multiple conflicts in Sri Lanka. Tens of thousands of affected persons submitted evidence to these CoIs. In addition to the collection of evidence, CoIs created and received other records, such as investigation files, summonses, detenus registers, reports, lists of victims, and correspondence with public authorities, amongst others. The archives of these CoIs, deposited by law at the Sri Lanka National Archives, constitute a massive body of evidence and information related to violence and violations since the 1970s.

Whilst the instrumentalisation of CoIs has received considerable attention from the country's human rights activists, scholars and lawyers, far less attention, however, has been paid to the archival legacy of these CoIs and the issues of custody, description, preservation, accessibility, and use. Against the backdrop of a faltered transitional justice process, continued struggles for truth and justice by affected persons, and the discovery of mass graves, the archives of Sri Lanka’s CoIs are potential ‘arsenals of accountability’ (Iacovino 2010; Eastwood 1989) in current and future processes to deal with a troubled past and a painful present. But the accessibility, use and reuse of these archives must be seriously considered and provided for in these processes.

Numerous interventions by scholars have brought the archival legacies of truth-seeking and accountability mechanisms in other contexts into sharp focus. Blanco-Rivera (2009, 2020), Harris (2007), Caswell and Punzalan (2016), Jones and Oliveira (2016), Kenosi (2008), Ghaddar (2016), Horsman (2021), Dominy (2021), McKemmish and Gilliland (2014) and many others have contributed to a growing literature on human rights archives, truth commissions, reconciliation, justice, and memory. I aim to add to this body of work by examining the archives of CoIs in the context of continued struggles for truth and justice in Sri Lanka. In the first part of this article, I examine the laws and regulations, both past and present, that enable(d) the control of the archives of CoIs. In the second part, I draw on the archives of two CoIs to demonstrate the messiness of arrangement and descriptive practices, which in turn bring about significant challenges for access and use. In the final part, I look at the practical steps required—in terms of policy-making and capacity-building—to ensure these archives are effectively mobilised in the futures of accountability.

This study focuses on child records related to social care, including adoption, in Japan, and reports on record management and the challenges involved in facilitating access to these records by the children involved. Currently, approximately 42,000 Japanese children require social care. Following World War II, numerous children’s homes were established in Japan, primarily to care for war orphans. Approximately 80% of children in need of social upbringing are cared for by such institutions.

This study focuses on the records of children in the context of social foster care, including adoption, in Japan. It reports on the state of record management and the challenges faced by the concerned children in accessing these records. Currently, there are nearly 42,000 children in Japan who require social care.Social care encompasses the social upbringing and protection of children who lack a guardian, or for whom having a guardian is not deemed suitable, as well as providing support to families encountering significant challenges in raising them.With a child's right to information becoming an increasing aspect of social care in Japan, it is important to note that, despite realizing the significance of maintaining records to guarantee this right and to manage records, in practice, implementation is sadly lacking on this aspect. Institutional record keeping has been hindered by a paucity of effective methods and human resources to manage records for use. This study aims to address this gap by developing and implementing a record management system that is designed to serve the best interests of the child. The proposed system involves the creation of records within social care institutions and their subsequent utilization.

The aim is to (a) focus on the records of children who were fostered in social care institutions and left as adopted children, (b) investigate the actual status of record management, (c) demonstrate how the records are used and how the parties involved are supported in accessing them, and (d) propose ways to use these records. For care leavers who have been separated from their families and fostered in institutions, foster carers, and adoptive parents, records on social care are vital for establishing identity, as they can find information about their upbringing history and family, as well as answers to the question of why they were placed in institutions. Record keeping also helps in obtaining information on birth parents and relatives, as well as any life-threatening medical history and genetic medical information. The New Vision for Social Foster Care, issued by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2017, also indicates the importance of “guaranteeing the child's right to know and records.” It states that on attaining a certain age, children in alternative care have the right to request for access to their records and information about themselves.

The extensive Mary Robinson archive consists of material relating to her six-decade long career including her time as a barrister, President of Ireland, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, UN Special Envoy, Chair of the Elders, and founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice. 

She has made real change through legal work, policy and advocacy nationally and internationally for decades and her archive has the potential to inform and inspire impactful activism at multiple levels.

At almost 700 archive boxes, the extensive Mary Robinson archive consists of material relating to her six-decade long career including her time as a barrister, President of Ireland, United Nations (UN) High Commissioner of Human Rights, UN Special Envoy for Climate Change and for El Niño, Chair of the Elders, and founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice. 

She has made real change through legal work, policy and advocacy nationally and internationally for decades. Her archive, therefore, has the potential to inform and inspire impactful activism at multiple levels, including through highlighting her previous campaigns and tactics.

In addition to providing industry-standard access to this archive, the University of Galway, recently designated a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) champion, is also home to the Irish Centre for Human Rights (ICHR). One of the world's premier academic human rights institutions, dedicated to the study of human rights, peace and conflict, international criminal law and humanitarian law, international refugee and migration law, gender and human rights, and climate justice, its specialised LLM programmes provide students with the conceptual and practical skills necessary to pursue a range of careers in human rights, public policy, or practice. Through liaising with the ICHR and the School of Law, the archivist will ensure the Mary Robinson archive is not only accessible to researchers but forms a valuable teaching aid, showing theory put into practice, in real world examples.

Mary Robinson celebrated her 80th year on this fragile planet last year and remains a prominent voice speaking truth to power. Human Rights has been a consistent theme of her work throughout her career, from her time as a law student to the present day, providing the archivist with a unique opportunity and challenge to inspire new audiences, through her archive, to advocate for Human Rights policies and tackle abuses head on.