President Sirleaf not bound by timeline on TRC Report, says Minister

from James Butty's article on VOANews.com:

Tuesday this week marked 90 days since Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) submitted its final edited reported to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Under Article 10, Section 48 of the TRC act, the president is to report to the national legislature within three months after receiving the TRC report and on a quarterly basis after the implementation of the commission’s recommendations.
Information minister Cletus Sieh said while President Sirleaf is concerned about the report being implemented, she is not bound by some timeline.

Mar 18, 2010 Country:Liberia, National Reconciliation

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Africville apology is a start, not an end

from Mike Barber's entry on Internet Health Info:

This week's apology by city of Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly, for the evictions and razing of the African-Canadian community of Africville in Nova Scotia during the 1960s, marks a small but significant moment in the history of slavery and racism in Canada. The official apology issued February 24, 2010, made on behalf of Halifax Regional Council and Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), was accompanied by terms of the 2005 agreement reached between the municipality and the Africville Genealogy Society, which, along with a formal acknowledgment of loss, included:

• $3 million (CAN) contributed towards the reconstruction of the Seaview United Baptist Church which will serve as a memorial to Africville;
• 2.5 acres of land at Seaview Park to be provided to the Africville Heritage Trust Board;
• a park maintenance agreement to be established between Africville Heritage Trust and HRM for the lands known as Seaview Park;
• and, the establishment of an African-Nova Scotian Affairs function within HRM.

Mar 03, 2010 Country:Canada, National Reconciliation, Apology, Offender

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Amnesty and justice in Afghanistan: "a nose made of dough"

from Aziz Hakimi's article on opendemocracy.net:

British newspapers including The Guardian recently reported that a controversial amnesty law, approved by Afghanistan parliament, is being brought into force without having been announced in the weeks leading up to the London Conference on Afghanistan. The amnesty precludes prosecution for war crimes committed in conflicts during previous decades.

The amnesty law, under the title of the “national peace and reconciliation charter”, was shelved for almost two years after being passed by a small majority in January 2007 by both the Afghan house of representatives and the senate. Although Afghan President Hamid Karzai was reported to have approved the law in March 2007, hailing it as “Parliament’s initiative for strengthening peace in Afghanistan”, the fate of the law remained unclear until recently, with no reference to it in the Afghan Law Gazette.

Mar 02, 2010 Country:Afghanistan, National Reconciliation, Restitution

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