Bougainville wants restorative justice approach to settling violence in south

from the report on Radio New Zealand International:

The autonomous Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville hopes to resolve a long standing impasse in the south of the main island by taking the traditional Melanesian approach of reconciliation.

Despite six years of autonomy, few government services are available around the district of Konnou because the security of workers can’t be guaranteed.

Aug 26, 2011 Region: Asia, Case:Violence, National Reconciliation, Country:Papua New Guinea

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Stefaans Coetzee is the face of restorative justice

from the article by Bobby Jordan in The Sunday Times:

....Today is no ordinary day for the 33-year-old who grew up in an orphanage in Winburg in the Free State. Head slightly bowed, he looks up at two imams who have finally been allowed to visit him at Pretoria Central Prison. Their two previous attempts failed. The imams are from Rustenburg, where some of their congregation were nearly blown up by two Wit Wolwe bombs outside their mosque.

Now they want to ask Coetzee what it was all about.

Aug 15, 2011 National Reconciliation, Country:South Africa, Case:Violence, Region: Africa, Case:Terrorism

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Mississippi officials agree to settlement in '64 slayings

from Michele Norris' interview on NPR.org:

On May 2nd, 1964 in the tiny town of Meadville, Mississippi, two 19-year-old black men disappeared while walking along a highway on the edge of town. Two months later, the partial remains of a black man washed ashore in a remote stretch of the Mississippi River. Police identified the victim as Charles Moore, based on a college I.D. in a pants pocket.

Another two months passed before FBI investigators got an anonymous tip about the disappearance of Moore and his friend, Henry Dee. That informant described how Dee and Moore were kidnapped by the Ku Klux Klan and driven to a wooded area where they were beaten and then tied to an old engine block before being dumped into the river while they were still alive.

The families of the two young men filed a civil lawsuit against Franklin County, Mississippi, claiming that local law enforcement officials aided and abetted the Klan. And today they reached a settlement.

Margaret Burnham is one of their attorneys. She's the director of the Civil Rights Restorative Justice program at Northeastern University, and she joins us now. Welcome to the program, Professor Burnham.

Jul 02, 2010 Region: North America and Caribbean, Case:Violence, National Reconciliation, Country:USA

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