Peacemaking

Restorative and traditional practices are being proposed for use in national reconciliation and peacemaking processes.

. A case study of the role of apology in the Cambodian post-genocide reconciliation process.

This study converged historical and empirical evidence to focus upon two questions: how does apology play a role in Cambodian post-conflict reconciliation process, and what do Cambodians believe should be the terms and contents of an apology for it to be meaningful and effective? A questionnaire, adapted from an Australian study, obtains views from 14 key informants about the role of apology in reconciliation. Reports of public apologies delivered by Khmer Rouge leaders were compared to interview responses. A majority of the participants reported that apology increases in relevance as reconciliation efforts move to address specific communities and consider a meaningful and effective apology as part of a negotiated process. If applied nationally, apologies delivered in a negotiated reconciliation process may help Cambodians to achieve their own reconciliation and healing.(author's abstract)

. Notes from the field: Reconciliation, justice and mobilization of war victims in Afghanistan.

This article traces the early stages of civil society mobilization for transitional justice and recent efforts to establish a network of war victims in Afghanistan. Specifically, it focuses on the development of the Transitional Justice Coordination Group and its victim-centered activities, such as organizing a Victims’ Jirga for Justice in 2010 and a National Victims’ Conference in 2011. It also situates these developments in the context of the broader transitional justice and reconciliation processes occurring in Afghanistan. (author's abstract)

. Towards victim-centred transitional justice: Understanding the needs of families of the disappeared in postconflict Nepal.

Despite many transitional justice processes claiming to be ‘victim-centred,’ in practice they are rarely driven by the needs of those most affected by conflict. Indeed, in many contexts the views of victims are not sought by those driving the transition. In this article, the needs of a representative sample of 160 families of people disappeared during Nepal’s decade-long Maoist insurgency are studied in an effort to understand what such families seek from the transitional justice process. The study shows that victims emphasize the need for the truth about the disappeared and for economic support to help meet basic needs. Whilst families of the disappeared would welcome justice, this is not their priority. Nepal’s transitional justice process remains still-born and discussions are polarized between a human rights community that prioritizes prosecutions and a political class that seeks to avoid them. An understanding of victims’ expectations of the process can potentially break this deadlock and allow policies to be driven by the needs of those most affected. (author's abstract)

A new commission for restorative justice to deal with difficult past practices of abuse and violence in Sri Lanka

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission The communiqué from the Presidential Media Unit announcing a probe into the violations of internationally accepted norms of conduct has incorporated several new words and phrases which are not yet familiar terms in the political discourse in Sri Lanka. A few such words and phrases are: the need for restorative justice; a probe of violations of internationally accepted norms of conduct; no recurrence of such tragic conflict in the future; institutional, administrative and welfare measures already taken in the post conflict phase and which should be further taken in order to effect reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation; legislative and administrative measures that may be necessary to prevent such situations in the future; assessing the lessons learned from the recent conflict phase; identification of any persons or groups responsible for such acts, (and) payment of compensation for victims. For a long period the government took up the position of burying the past as the best policy to be used in order to avoid the surfacing of the unhealed wounds. However, such a view, which has been taken in other places after the country has faced mass atrocities has not been an enduring policy. It simply becomes necessary to deal with the past. The only issue is how daringly such a task will be faced. This of course depends on the political will of the country's leaders and the civil society leaders of the time. If the country is blest with an enlightened leadership politically as well as other areas of intellectual life it becomes possible to take far reaching actions in dealing with past atrocities and violence and violations of human rights.

Abu-Nimer, Mohammed. Reconciliation, Justice, and Coexistence: Theory & Practice

While researchers and practitioners in general have focused more on the prenegotiation and negotiation phases of response to conflict, less focus has been placed on the postsettlement reconstruction phase. In recent years however, the focus of research and practice has begun to expand to include postconflict conditions and processes. An essential element in this postsettlement phase concerns the parties’ ability to reconcile and reconstruct a new relationship. Much has been written on justice and forgiveness, particularly from theological and philosophical perspectives, yet comparatively little research has been done on ideas and processes of justice, reconciliation, and coexistence. This book, therefore, consists of a number of essays intended to advance the state of knowledge on concepts and practices related to reconciliation, justice, and coexistence. The book is organized into two main parts. The essays in Part I focus on the theoretical framework for reconciliation in peacebuilding. The essays in Part II focus on practices related to reconciliation, justice, and coexistence in areas of conflict; these essays highlight case studies from around the world (e.g., South Africa, Ghana, Northern Ireland, and Cambodia). Contributors represent much of the pioneering work being done by scholars and practitioners in the field of peacebuilding.

Androff, David. Working in the Mud: Community Reconciliation and Restorative Justice in Timor Leste

"This chapter examines the Timor Leste Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the context of restorative justice. Following a brief discussion of social work and restorative justice in relation to violence, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) will be introduced as an intervention for social welfare. The historical background of Timore Leste will be presented, with an overview of the Timor Leste Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR). Special emphasis is placed upon the Community Reconciliation Process (CRP) as the key restorative justice feature of the Timore Leste Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Critiques of the CAVR and the CRP will be presented with a discussion on evaluating the restorative justice and reconciliation efforts in Timor Leste in light of recent developments." (Abstract)

Borer, Tristan Anne. Telling the Truths: Truth Telling and Peace Building in Post-Conflict Societies

Confronting the past has become an established norm for countries undergoing transitions from violence to peace, from authoritarianism to democracy, or both. This book draws from two bodies of literature – peacebuilding and transitional justice – to examine whether truth-telling mechanisms can contribute to sustainable peace and, if so, how and under what conditions. The authors approach these questions by examining whether truth telling contributes to the following elements, all of which are deemed to be constitutive of sustainable peace: reconciliation, human rights, gender equity, restorative justice, the rule of law, the mitigation of violence, and the healing of trauma. (publisher’s description).

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.

Bowen, John. The Search for New Sources of Legitimacy in Indonesia after Suharto

After an aborted communist coup in 1965 in Indonesia, General Suharto came to power in 1966-1967. This led to a period of violence and mass human rights violations in Indonesia. Over the decades a certain stability and growth also occurred, but accompanying them were political oppression and corruption. Suharto's rule ended in 1998 after protests and violence against his regime. This has led to more unrest, violence, and human rights violations in Indonesia. As John Bowen comments, Indonesia after Suharto seems plagued by both a massive failure of social order and a severe crisis of political legitimacy. The two are linked for, despite Suharto's slogan of a "New Order," he failed, among other things, to create a legitimate and effective legal system. Against this background, Bowen explores current debates within Indonesia about the legitimacy of various legal and political responses to the crisis. Proposed responses include tribunals to deal with crimes under Suharto, reforms in the justice system, and a devolution of power to local authorities. Bowen pays particular attention to potential tensions between two types of demands: one for a more effective and impartial nation-wide legal system; and the other for greater regional autonomy and recognition of ethnic and religious communities' rights.

Chandler, David. Coming to Terms with the Terror and History of Pol Pot's Cambodia (1975-79).

In this essay I will be dealing with a key institution of Democratic Kampuchea (DK) which encapsulated the terror that suffused the regime and was intimately connected with DK’s triumphalist notions of history. I’’ also discuss the ways in which recent Cambodian history has been imagined and altered by successive regimes. I’ll examine how induced memories, followed by induced amnesia, can play havoc with attempts to assemble and interpret historic data, to say nothing of efforts to achieve reconciliation or closure. These manipulations of history, which form a part of Cambodian political culture, impede the search for justice that continues to elude millions of survivors of the Pol Pot era. (excerpt)

Chen, Eirene and Jalalzada, Mariam. Gender and Community Peacebuilding in Rural Afghanistan.

This paper examines prevailing cultural attitudes towards Afghan women as peacebuilders and explores the impact that an innovative UNHCR-sponsored refugee reintegration program has had on gender dynamics in several rural Afghan communities divided by a history of violent conflict. The program integrates intercommunal reconciliation activities with joint income-generation projects, in an effort to restore trust and strengthen economic capacity. The authors discuss how implementation methodologies have affected the lives of the women who participated in the program as community peace mobilizers. They also propose culturally sustainable strategies to facilitate gender equality in rural communities. (Author's abstract)

Dunn, Leah and Cookson, Michael and Braithwaite, Valerie and Braithwaite, John. Anomie and violence:Non-truth and reconciliation in Indonesian peacebuilding.

This book argues that between 1997 and 2004, theoretically, Indonesia experienced a period of anomie (Durkheim 1897): a breakdown of the regulatory order that secured the institutional order (the rules of the game). A security sector that pursued its own interests by taking sides instead of preventing violence from all sides was one important part of that wider problem of anomie. This will recur as a problem in the next three volumes of Peacebuilding Compared—on Bougainville, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. Abuses by the security forces escalated communal defiance before finally helping to bring violence under control. A Mertonian reading of anomie theory that dissects legitimate and illegitimate opportunity structures in a micro–macro way is found to be fertile for understanding the onset of these conflicts. Emulation (modelling) of strategies for seizing illegitimate opportunities contributed to the diffusion of violence. Remarkable accomplishments of the reintegration of combatants from organisations such as Laskar Jihad, in which religious leaders showed great leadership for peace, was a feature of Indonesian peacebuilding. So was reconciliation through sharing power combined with the sharing of work (gotong royong) for reconstruction. The chapter then moves on to consider the complex multidimensionality of the factors that make for both war and peace. This evidence is used to argue for locally attuned multidimensionality and redundancy in peacebuilding strategy. This is the key to managing the inherent risks of violence in the gaming of transitions to democracy. (excerpt)

Hasegawa, Sukehiro. Justice and/or Reconciliation: the key to successful transition from post-conflict peacekeeping to peace and nation-building

In this paper, Sukehiro Hasegawa examines the subject of transition from post-conflict peacekeeping to peace and nation-building in relation to issues of justice and reconciliation. His basic point is the need for a duality of justice and reconciliation in post-conflict peacekeeping. That is, in post-conflict situations the international community must not limit its response to the establishment of traditional justice mechanisms of courts focused on punishment and retribution. There must be attention to and mechanisms for reparation, for a full accounting of what happened in the period of conflict, and for national reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict. To explore these matters, Hasegawa discusses justice, reconciliation, and truth. He locates all of this in the specific context of post-conflict peacekeeping and nation-building in Timor-Leste.

Hooper, Stephen. Should East Timor establish a truth and reconciliation commission?

In 1999, through a United Nations sponsored referendum, the people of East Timor voted on whether to pursue greater autonomy under Indonesian rule or independence itself from Indonesia. The proponents of independence won the vote, but then a devastating period of violence by pro-autonomy militia followed. Now independent East Timor must rebuild both materially and socially. In this context, Stephen Hooper writes that East Timor must rebuild in such a way that justice is done and reconciliation occurs.

Krishnan, Loganathan. Is Restorative Justice Able To Deal With Land Grievances Of Indigenous Peoples? A Case Of Malaysia

The World Wide Fund for Nature described indigenous people as the earth's most focal stewards. There are 300 million indigenous people in the world and approximately 100,000 in Malaysia. The term 'Indigenous people' is contentious and guaranteeing their rights is a thorny issue. They live a distinctive lifestyle, a tradition, which involves a vivid history. In today's epoch, they live with a certain amount of expectation from the government of the day. Expectation is deeply embedded in their blood in relation to their rights to land matters. They have a special relationship with their land, imbued with spirituality and sacredness. It forms a footing for social, economic, cultural structure and system. They often perceive it as something irretrievably transmitted to them through birthright. But, the ultra modern humanity has been a major threat to their rights. When land is appropriated it affects their traditional subsistence, land management and medicinal practices. In some instances they were encouraged to dump their nomadic life and progress to modern life. In Malaysia, the governing legislation is the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954. Its provisions, applicability, effect and operation would be analysed together with the current restorative justice measures as to whether the existing framework are a panacea for land grievances of the indigenous people. An analysis would be made as to type of restorative justice models that may be adopted to deal with their grievances. A study is also carried out as to the viability of international restorative justice measures or system to deal with their grievances. Nevertheless, the perplexing issue is, should restorative justice measures be looked from the eye of the indigenous people or the spectacle of the government. There must be a plea for radical changes in laws and policies protecting aboriginal people. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Lambourne, Wendy. "The pursuit of justice and reconciliation: Responding to genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda."

In this paper Lambourne explores the pursuit of justice and reconciliation in response to situations involving genocide, with particular emphasis on Cambodia and Rwanda. She begins by detailing the development of an international human rights regime following World War II. This regime consists, for example, of declarations and treaties through the United Nations and through regional agreements. Nevertheless, millions have been killed or traumatized by genocide and crimes against humanity. In this context, Lambourne contends that justice and reconciliation are critical in post-conflict peacebuildng. To advance her argument, she discusses the meanings of justice and reconciliation, as well as accountability mechanisms (e.g., international tribunals and truth commissions). She then examines the conflict and post-conflict periods in Cambodia and Rwanda in light of these issues.

Looking to the future: Justice and reconciliation in Cambodia

 

McGonigle, Brianne N.. Two for the Price of One: Attempts by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia to Combine Retributive and Restorative Justice Principles.

This article illustrates howthe ECCCis struggling to combine successfully two distinct institutional responses to crimes, by being both a criminal tribunal, with its formal rules of procedure and focus on retributive justice, and a quasi-truth and reconciliation commission,with its more flexible approach to participatory rights for victims and focus on reconciliation. The article highlights the advantages and challenges of adopting a ‘two for the price of one’ model within the Cambodian context and uses the experiences of the ECCC to underscore important lessons for future ad hoc and hybrid courts. (author's abstract)

Neto, Félix and Mullet, Etienne and Da Conceiçao Pinto, Maria and Neto, Félix. "Intergroup Forgiveness: East Timorese and Angolan Perspectives"

The present study is a survey on intergroup forgiveness conducted among people from East Timor and Angola, most of whom have been personally touched by the various conflicts affecting their countries. Only one of the two aspects of intergroup forgiveness was assessed: granting forgiveness. A sample of 354 East Timorese adults was presented with a questionnaire addressing the meaningfulness of intergroup forgiveness and possible conceptions about granting intergroup forgiveness. Using exploratory factor analysis, an eight-factor model was derived from the participants’ responses. Using confirmatory factor analysis, this model was subsequently tested on a sample of 250 Angolan adults. In both samples, a large majority of participants agreed with the idea that a group of people can forgive another group of people. Furthermore, the model derived from the East Timorese data also fitted the data from the Angolan sample: in both samples, the participants appeared to have articulated conceptions on what could define an intergroup granting of forgiveness. Specifically, a majority of participants agreed with the idea that (a) the aim of this process is reconciliation and that intergroup forgiveness is not strictly conditional on adequate reparation or compensation, and (b) this process must be democratic; in other words, granting forgiveness should be decided by a majority, and only then could forgiveness be granted on behalf of the whole community.

Neto, Félix and Mullet, Etienne and Pinto, Concienção and Mullet, Etienne. Seeking forgiveness in an intergroup context: Angolan, Guinean, Mozambican, and East Timorese perspectives.

Forgiveness is a key concept in many governance and responsive regulation issues. The notion of intergroup forgiveness was examined among people from four countries: Angola, Guinea- Bissau, Mozambique, and East Timor. Nine hundred and eighty-five adults who had suffered from the many conflicts in their areas, either personally or through injuries inflicted on members of their family, agreed to participate in a study that was specifically about seeking intergroup forgiveness. In all four countries, most participants of the study agreed with the ideas that (i) seeking intergroup forgiveness makes sense; (ii) the seeking process must be a popular, democratic, and public process, not a secret elite negotiation; (iii) the process must be initiated and conducted by people in charge politically, not by dissident factions; and (iv) the process is aimed at reconciliation, not at humiliating the group requesting forgiveness. Differences between the four countries were found regarding the extent to which (i) international organizations may be involved in the process; (ii) the demand must include the former perpetrators; and (iii) emotions and material compensation are ingredients in the process.(authors' abstract)