1. Beyond justice:
Reconciliation and
social reconstruction in
post-conflict societies
Elisabeth Kaneza
Module: Forced
Migration

2. Overview
O Introduction
O Terminology
O The role of trials in transitional justice
O Social breakdown and social
reconstruction
O Community responses
O Bringing justice and reconciliation
together: Gacaca in Rwanda
O Conclusion

3. Terminology
O Transitional Justice
- Processes by which states seek to redress
the violations of a prior regime (Fletcher &
Weinstein, 2002)
O Reconciliation
- an agreement or transaction renouncing,
either unilaterally or reciprocally, all claims.
- Solution to the dispute does not lie in a judicial
decision but rather in an agreement between
the parties themselves (UN Under Secretary
General, 2002)

4. The role of trials in
transitional justice
O Assumption that rule of law and
democracy is a main component for
reconciliation
O International trials seen as single
appropriate solution for communal
violence

5. Arguments for legal responses
to conflicts
O State-sponsored mechanisms to identify
and punish perpetrators
O Judicial truthmaking to manifest the „facts“
and prevent denial
O Responding to the needs of victims
O Establishing the rule of law
O Promoting reconciliation
O Individualization of guilt

6. Criticism to legal responses to
conflicts (1)
O Rationale of international criminal trials
imported uncritically to different socio-
political contexts
O Need to take into account alternative
understandings of law, and therefore
different expectations for justice
O Lack of empirical data confirming
preventative value of trials
O Focus on „masterminds“ ignores other
categories of involved groups

7. Criticism to legal responses to
conflicts (2)
O Therapeutic nature of criminal trials is too
simplistic
O Need for a better understanding of the
influence of culture in determining beliefs
about the causes of catastrophic events
O Focus on the „collective“ (power of
influence, denial as defense mechanism)
O Therefore, social repair

8. Social breakdown/construction model
Economic instability,
Organized
political instability,
resistance,
isolated resistance, Episode of violence Repression
extremism,
government
persecution
response
War or mass
violence
Social breakdown
Destruction of
War crimes
infrastructure
Intervention for International
peace (diplomatic, response (global,
military) regional)

9. Community responses
O Focus on community as a seperate unit of
analysis
O Restoration of infrastructure and economy
O Good governance (transparency, shift in
political power)
O Restoration of agency to impacted
communities
O Needs analysis

10. Bringing justice and
reconciliation together:
Gacaca in Rwanda
O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiDea-
PNoyw

11. Conclusion
O Synergy between criminal trials and
alternative interventions
O Different views, meanings of justice and
ways of coming to terms with conflict must
be taken into consideration
O Identification of the collective vs. individual
perpetrator
O Retributive justice for sustainable stability

12. THANK YOU VERY MUCH
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!

13. Q&A/ Discussion
Questions for discussion
1. Which factors would you give priority in a
post-conflict society?
2. Is reconciliation vital for social
reconstruction or development?
3. Are reconciliation and justice conflicting
concepts? What comes first?

14. References
O Fletcher, L.E. & Weinstein, H.M. (2002). Violence and
social repair: Rethinking the contribution of justice to
reconciliation. Human rights quarterly, 24 (3), p.573-
639
O Fry, D.P. (2006). The human potential for peace. An
anthropological challenge to assumptions about war
and violence. Oxford: University Press
O Lorey, D.E. & Beezley W.H. (2002). Genocide,
collective violence, and popular memory. The politics
of rembrance in the twentieth century. Washington:
Scholarly Resources
O Finlay, A. (2011). Governing ethnic conflict.
Consociation, identity and the price of peace. New
York: Routledge