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National Reconciliation

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Elster, Jon. Retribution and Reparation in the Transition to Democracy

The contributions in this volume offer a comprehensive analysis of transitional justice from 1945 to the present. They focus on retribution against the leaders and agents of autocratic regimes preceding democratic transitions, and on reparation to victims. Part I contains general theoretical discussions of retribution and reparation. The essays in Part II survey transitional justice in the wake of World War II, covering Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Norway. In Part III, the contributors discuss more recent transitions in Argentina, Chile, Eastern Europe, the former German Democratic Republic, and South Africa, with a chapter on the reparation of injustice in some of these situations. The editor provides a general introduction, a brief introduction to each part, and a conclusion that looks beyond regime transitions to vroader issues of rectifying historical injustice. (Publisher’s description)

Handy, Jim. Reimagining Guatemala: Reconciliation and the Indigenous Accords.

In this discussion, I explore both why this alteration [in Guatemala conceptions of society] is necessary and suggest why it is so difficult. To do the former, I explore briefly the history of marginalization of the Maya in Guatemala and how the marginalization was central to the non-Maya conception of the Guatemalan nation. I will then turn to a discussion of the ways in which the marginalization was challenged in the latter half of the twentieth century and how that challenge helped precipitate the worst period of violence. This will be followed by a discussion of the ways in which Mayan revitalization after 1985 helped lead to the ending of the civil war and the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996. I will examine the conflicts that have emerged in Guatemala concerning indigenous rights. Finally, I will explore briefly the disappointing history of what has been done since the signing of the accords, focusing on the recent failed attempt to constitutional change. (excerpt)

Jantzi, Vernon and King, Tracey. Peacemaking to Peacebuilding: Restorative Justice and Local Peace Commissions in Nicaragua

During the final stages of the Contra War in Nicaragua in the mid and late 1980s, the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission promoted the formation of peace commissions in villages and towns in the most conflicted areas. CEPAD, the development agency of the Nicaraguan Protestant churches, actively worked to form Peace Commissions in the Nueva Guinea region in the southeastern part of the country. The local seven-person Peace Commissions were trained to work in conflict resolution so they could do peacemaking at the grassroots in support of efforts by the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and other groups to carry forward the national peace processes. After official peace accords were signed the Commissions continued to work on the transition to national peace by helping to facilitate the reintegration of demobilized combatants into their respective communities as part of the post war reconstruction. This rebuilding has taken many years. The Commissions' work has been increasingly valued as their numbers and scope has grown. Today some 140 local peace commissions continue to function, but now their challenge is to work with community problems, some of which might be best addressed with restorative justice informed responses. With decades of war now behind them, their work has shifted from peacemaking and the reintegration of ex-combatants to peacebuilding and the challenges posed by social disorganization and crime in their communities. As the Peace Commissions now work to strengthen civil society in an extended period of social reconstruction, how might, or do, they reframe or reconceptualize their work in peacemaking to also include restorative justice so they can build more peaceful and stronger communities? This paper will explore how this reframing is taking place and the challenges it represents. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Johnson, Elizabeth and Phillips, Ruth B. Negotiating new relationships: Canadian museums, first nations, and cultural property

According to Ruth Phillips and Elizabeth Johnson, Canadian museums are renegotiating their relationships with indigenous First Nations peoples. Issues that are being discussed include the following: shared authority over representation; culturally appropriate treatment of objects; and the return or sharing of collections. Roots of these issues are embedded in the histories of European contact with and colonization of the North American continent. Phillips and Johnson view the discussions of repatriation and other forms of new relationships between Canadian museums and First Nations peoples as different from claims for restitution arising from oppressive events enacted by specific regimes over relatively short time periods. Many of the largest claims for return are intended to redress appropriations of First Nations cultural property enacted by whole societies over decades and centuries. While not trying to address fully the complexities of these negotiations and new relationships, Phillips and Johnson aim to accomplish three things. (1) They offer a more detailed account of the historical context for the claims for renegotiation and repatriation of cultural property. (2) They delineate the post-World War II ethical and legal shifts that have shaped current repatriation issues and policies. (3) They show how these shifts have produced fundamental changes in museum practices and repatriation of cultural property, with British Columbia as a case study.

Lean, Sharon F. Is truth enough? Reparations and reconciliation in Latin America

Many Latin American countries in the last two decades have undergone transitions from military rule or dictatorship to democracy, often through violence and then negotiation. In these countries it has been very challenging to promote national reconciliation in the wake of severe human rights violations. As Sharon Lean observes, the issues of reparation and reconciliation have become very prominent because of the gravity of the harms done by authoritarian regimes and by the realities of everyday life (where, after the fact, victims and perpetrators might see each other regularly because of small populations and concentrated centers of population). While truth commissions and truth-telling have been valuable, they are not enough in themselves, claims Lean, to deal satisfactorily with past injustices. With the incidence of claims for reparations growing n Latin America, Lean surveys reparations politics in Latin America. She begins by defining key terms, then summarizing the pertinent human rights violations. This leads to comparisons of bases for claims, mechanisms for managing claims, and reparations that have been made. Next she discusses the emerging issue of transnational reparations claims, and finally she reflects on the potential of reparations to repair the injustices of Latin America's recent past.

Rojas Mendoza, Dionisio. 2006. Design of a Restorative Justice Process: Inter-Sectoral Commission for Life and Human RIghts. Barrancabermeja (Colombia). Eastern Mennonite University. Conflict Transformation Program.

This article discusses the possible design of a restorative response to mass violence in Colombia.

Sarkin, Jeremy and Daly, Erin. Too Many Questions, Too Few Answers: Reconciliation in Transitional Societies

With a large number of countries in recent years seeking to make the transition from a period of violence and human rights violations to a more democratic and stable society, the language of reconciliation has become prominent; the pursuit of reconciliation has been touted as the cure for the ills and divisiveness in each country. Jeremy Sarkin and Erin Daly acknowledge both the prevalence and the appeal of the idea of reconciliation. At the same time, they believe that there are serious questions and issues connected with the notion and pursuit of reconciliation, and that these questions and issues are not being adequately considered and addressed by policy makers. Hence, Sarkin and Daly explore certain questions that confront an incipient government in promoting reconciliation as the cure for ills in a transitional society. They first raise broad conceptual questions about reconciliation. This leads to discussion of historical factors fostering reconciliation initiatives, the effectiveness of the pursuit of reconciliation, and mechanisms by which nations pursue reconciliation.

Torpey, John. Politics and the past: on repairing historical injustices

This book, edited and introduced by John Torpey, consists of a collection of essays exploring the challenges of addressing and repairing past injustices. In this regard it contributes to the increased attention in recent years to discussions of reparations and other means of coming to terms with past instances of injustice and violence. Some of the essays stem from a symposium of the same name as the book "Politics and the Past: On Repairing Historical Injustices." Held in late February 2000, the symposium was organized by Torpey under the auspices of the Institute for European Studies and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The book itself is structured into three sections. The essays in Part I deal with historical and theoretical considerations on the spread of reparations politics. Those in Part II involve cases studies in reparations, compensation, new relationships, and reconciliation. The two essays in Part III offer reflections on judging the past. The authors consist of academicians from North America and Europe in such fields as sociology, law, history, cultural studies, political science, and anthropology. Many are leading commentators on reparations and the politics of reparations. Through the various essays, the book explores perspectives on the contemporary trend toward dealing with past wrongs, the dynamics of reparations politics, and the struggle for reparations in a variety of contexts around the world.

Valji, Nahla. Race, Citizenship and Violence in Transitioning Societies: A Guatemalan case study

The CSVR Race and Citizenship in Transition Series has set out to examine the ways in which ordinary citizens engage with issues of race and citizenship in a post-transitional society, ten years into the country's democracy. The goal of the project is to understand the long-term impact of structures, in particular truth commissions, as well as the model or type of transition and democracy, in order to examine the impact these elements have on violence and racial identity during times of transition. In addition to looking at South Africa's own experience (cf. reports in the Race and Citizenship in Transition Series), the series incorporates an in-depth examination of these same elements during the course of Guatemala's transition to democracy. The following paper focuses on race, and the nature of negotiated transitions, as well as the thin line between political and social conflict; a line which is often blurred during democratic transitions. In many ways, Guatemala reflects important similarities with South Africa. (excerpt)

Waging Peace in Nicaragua.

In the 1980s, a small group of pastors decided to work toward ending the civil war engulfing their country. Since that time, the work of these peace commissions has adapted as the needs of their local communities changes. This includes providing reintegration services for ex-combatants in the post-war period and their current work of resolving conflicts and responding to crime. The remaining peace commissioners are now looking to restorative justice theory to inform their work. Tracey King, a student in the Conflict Transformation Programme at Eastern Mennonite University, provides an overview of the work undertaken by the peace commissions since their inception.

Woolford, Andrew and Carroll, William K and Ratner, R. S and Woolford, Andrew. Wealth of nations: aboriginal treaty-making in the era of globalization

In British Columbia as elsewhere, note Ratner, Carroll, and Woolford, the political, economic, and social conditions in which most aboriginal peoples live are depressing and dehumanizing. The situation facing First Nations peoples is the culmination of political-economic processes reaching back to the nineteenth century. Specifically, it is the result of a lengthy process of colonization by Europeans in Canada. In response, a federal government White Paper in 1969 recommended full-scale integration of aboriginal people into mainstream Canadian society. According to some perspectives, this led eventually to a new paradigm for an ethical relationship between the Canadian state and its aboriginal subjects. In this view, the paradigm consists of the state and First Nations being engaged in a process of mutual adaptation with each party respecting the otherxe2x80x99s autonomy. The flaw in this view, claim the authors, is an ignoring of capitalist economic practices, sanctioned by the state, that run counter to democratic communicative action. In short, believe Ratner, Carroll, and Woolford, the new relationship is basically a new form of neo-liberal colonization that subordinates aboriginality through the functioning of the capitalist economic market. The authors examine all of this through discussion of the British Columbia treaty process in the 1990s, obstacles to negotiations between First Nations peoples and the British Columbia and Canadian governments, strategies on the part of each party to adapt to the negotiation process, and issues of truth, understandability, and comprehensibility in the negotiations.

Young, Paula. The Promise of Restorative Justice: Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission Issues its Final Report

In the aftermath of a long war between the government and insurgent groups in the 1980s and into the 1990s, Peru established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to investigate the circumstances and effects of this brutal conflict. In this article, Paula Young outlines the findings of the Peruvian TRC’s final report, issued at the end of August 2003. She provides background to the Peruvian TRC’s approach and recommendations by discussing restorative justice principles and practices at the individual level and at the national level. Furthermore, Young compares the Peruvian TRC with the efforts of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.