National Reconciliation

South Africa’s transition from apartheid government, Rwanda’s response to genocide, and other counties’ efforts to build peace after civil war have featured restorative thinking and programmes

We must protect victims, Ocampo's witnesses too

from Muthoni Wanyeki's commentary in The East African: Louis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, has come and gone. His visit did not, however, clarify what Kenyans are impatient to know. We know he is pursuing cases involving politicians from both sides of the Grand Coalition, in which businesspeople, civil servants and state security agents may also be involved. But which cases specifically remain unclear.

Trauma care in April

from the Prison Fellowship Rwanda blog: The month of April is a very difficult time for most Rwandans. April 7, 2010 marks the sixteenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, where over one million Rwandans were killed in just under 100 days. Sixteen years after the genocide is not a long time, and memories of the pain and loss are still raw and fresh in the minds of thousands of Rwandans. Many Rwandan survivors suffer from trauma and traumatic episodes during the period of April as they remember the horrific crimes experienced against them.

Justice, reconciliation and peacebuilding: Seen through African eyes

from Rev. Clement Apengnuo's First Annual Fr. Bill Dyer Lecture: In 2000 the Catholic Diocese of Damongo in collaboration with the Catholic Relief Services started a peace project to build local capacity for justice-building, reconciliation and peace-building. In the course of my work I had to deal with the issue of the relevance of a Western style peace-building in African conflicts. Why not use the African traditional systems of conflict resolution? Implicit in these statements is the assumption that the Western style is foreign and in effective. African traditional systems work better in an African setting. African conflicts, African solutions. At the international level, indigenous and traditional practices of peace-building are regarded as unaccountable, opague and contradictory to the “enlightened” intentions of Western form of peacebuilding (liberal Peace) and internationally sponsored post war reconstruction efforts.

A safe place to call home: Securing the right of Rwandan genocide survivors to resettlement outside Rwanda

from Noam Schimmel's article in The Journal Of Humanitarian Assistance: Genocide survivors in Rwanda have great difficulty receiving refugee status and right of asylum to allow them to settle outside of the country. The standard reply that they receive when making queries about the possibility of immigrating to Europe, Canada, or the United States is that there is no longer persecution on the basis of ethnicity in Rwanda, and thus there is no legal merit to their request. It is true that there is no government sanctioned persecution on the basis of ethnicity in Rwanda today. However, social persecution, discrimination, marginalization, threats, and intimidation towards survivors of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi prevail on a popular level amongst many Rwandans. Genocide survivors are targeted for physical and psychological torture and have been attacked and killed in various parts of the country. Fifteen years after the genocide many lack physical and psychological security.

Restorative justice and the Rwandan genocide

from Lisa Rea's interview with Dan Van Ness in UNICRI's Freedom from Fear magazine: Do you see healing occurring in the victims? And in the offenders as well? How does the community respond? The healing process is a long and involved one. I think that Umuvumu Tree Project has helped in that process in several ways.

bathmateus

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Better not bitter says activist Mukoko

By Taurainashe Manonge in The Zimbabwe Telegraph: Abducted and tortured activist Jestina Mukoko, has said that the pain and trauma she experienced in the hands of state officials last year, has left her Better and not bitter. Speaking on December 17, 2009 at a meeting organised by the Zimbabwe Human rights forum to celebrate her City of Weimar Human Rights Award, Mukoko also director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, said it was inner strength and the knowledge that people all over the world were rallying alongside with her that kept her going. “I believe there was a purpose in all this. It might have been a nasty experience but looking at how I now deal with people who have been tortured I have a different perspective to it.”

Promoting international support for community-based justice mechanisms in post-conflict Burundi and Uganda

from the Introduction to a Report by Bahati Ntama Jacques and Beth Tuckey: Those who committed crimes in the long wars in Burundi and Uganda are wanted by both the national and international criminal court system, but very little attention is given to peacebuilding, reconciliation, or restoration of the communities destroyed by violence. For example, the reconciliation process of mato oput, an Acholi tradition in northern Uganda, and the Ubushingantahe in Burundi, uniquely achieve justice and healing of the concerned parties in a way that a formal justice system cannot. These methods of restorative justice emphasize community-building and the need to reconcile an entire society after conflict. To complete this project, interviews with both victims and perpetrators of crime, as well as implementers of restorative justice programs were conducted in Burundi and Uganda. Using this local perspective, the paper elevates the need for international recognition and support for restorative justice mechanisms in post-conflict communities in Africa. Civil society has an important role to play in elevating awareness of these traditions and practices, and the U.S. government can enhance restorative justice through both leverage and funding. Ultimately, it is imperative that Western governments and citizens around the world perceive restorative justice as a legitimate and much-needed form of justice.

Engaging diasporas in truth commissions: Lessons from the Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission (LTRC) Diaspora Project

from the article by Laura A. Young and Rosalyn Park: The LTRC recognized that several aspects of the Liberian context made involvement of the diaspora a critical component of the truth and reconciliation process in Liberia. Liberia's long-standing relationship with the US and the role played by the US during the conflict – both actions and omissions – provided a framework for examining the conflict. Also, key witnesses, alleged perpetrators, and other conflict actors were known to be residing in the diaspora, primarily in the US, but also in Europe and West Africa, and there was a widespread belief that the diaspora had played a critical role in fomenting and funding the conflict. Finally, the potential for harnessing diaspora resources was a further motivating factor for the LTRC. Commissioners expressed the hope that diaspora engagement could rally additional resources for reparations and development. Indeed, in its final report, the LTRC recommended that Liberians in the diaspora each contribute at least US$1.00 monthly to the Reparations Trust Fund ‘as the beginning of its contribution as citizens of Liberia to the economic and social development of their motherland.’

Forgiveness: Human or Divine?

from Josh Ruxin's entry on Huffington Post: Earlier this month the film As We Forgive, a documentary about Rwanda, was released on DVD (check out the trailer here). It does not chronicle the 1994 genocide, but what has come after: Rwanda's struggle to rebuild itself.

Why restorative justice?

from Africa Faith and Justice Network: In our Western culture, there is a tendency to automatically equate justice to punishment, but is it accurate to consider this notion universal? An even bigger question is, is this kind of definition for justice ultimately beneficial to communities affected by conflict? AFJN believes that although people who use violence and warfare should be held accountable for their actions in order for justice to be achieved, justice is also locally defined and locally driven. Justice in the court does not result in justice in the community. How can we help bring about justice between individuals and groups once perceived as enemies? How do we help rebuild trust and relationships after pain and trauma? AFJN believes that restorative justice is an essential component to building peace, and this is why restorative justice is one of our focus campaigns.

Book Review: As We Forgive

Gacaca's end and its legacy

Justice in Rwanda

This is a very interesting piece. First, I was very glad to see the subject of Rwanda's genocide and restorative justice processes being covered in [...]

How restorative is Rwanda's justice?

From Ben Buchwalter's entry on Mother Jones: With the help of $44 million from the US government, Rwanda decided last week to extend its multi-layered judicial system for another year. The system is comprised of an international criminal tribunal for the most heinous criminals associated with the 1994 genocide, and the semi-traditional gacaca courts, which practice restorative justice on the community level. The extension has been praised because it gives the government a chance to determine the innocence or guilt of many of the alleged criminals that remain untried. But Hutus claim that the Rwandan government is partial to the country's Tutsi minority—largely the victims of the 1994 genocide—and that the process is fueled by revenge, not justice. Is the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) government manipulating the courts for its own political and ethnic gain with US dollars?

PF Rwanda's Reconciliation Work

This 2003 video explores the reconciliation work of Prison Fellowship Rwanda.

Forgiveness and the state

Liberia TRC -- Giving a Statement

Information about the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation and its statement giving process.

Grassroots Reconciliation in Sierra Leone

Since the end of its civil war, Sierra Leone has faced many challenges as ex-combatants and their victims return to their communities, often living side-by-side. Official mechanisms such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the U.N. backed tribunals have had limited impact for those living in rural communities who suffered the most from the war. In response, the non-governmental, human rights organization Forum of Conscience has begun to revive traditional conflict resolution measures to bring victims and ex-combatants together in reconciliation ceremonies.

Grassroots Reconciliation in Sierra Leone

Since the end of its civil war, Sierra Leone has faced many challenges as ex-combatants and their victims return to their communities, often living side-by-side. Official mechanisms such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the U.N. backed tribunals have had limited impact for those living in rural communities who suffered the most from the war. In response, the non-governmental, human rights organization Forum of Conscience has begun to revive traditional conflict resolution measures to bring victims and ex-combatants together in reconciliation ceremonies.