JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION IN POST-CONFLICT SOCIETIES

(the course was developed as a part of the History, Film and Human Rights Project supported by the People in Need Foundation and funded by EVZ Stiftung. Funding for the educational licenses to the films was provided by Vzdělávací nadace Jana Husa.)

Teaching Arrangements: 0/2 - seminar.

The course consists of 6 sessions.

The course is suitable for students in MA degree programmes.

The course looks at some of the approaches to justice and reconciliation in societies that are emerging from a violent conflict or other forms of mass violations of human rights. It will examine criminal trials, truth commissions, restorative justice and tradition-based approaches to justice and reconciliation. The seminar discussions will be based on assigned readings and documentary films.

Credit Requirements:
Active Participation: 30%
Regular Diary Entries: 25%
Term Paper: 45%

Course Structure and Dates:

Class 1 (6.10.): Sierra Leone - Whose Justice?

Film: War Don Don, dir. Rebecca Richman Cohen, USA, 2010

Required readings:

Shaw, R. The Production of “Forgiveness”. God, Justice, and State Failure in Post-War Sierra Leone

Crane, D.: White Man's Justice: Applying Internation Justice after Regional Third World Conflicts

Class 2 (20.10.): South Africa - Forgive and Forget?

Film: Long Night´s Journey into Day, dir. Day Frances Reid a Deborah Hoffmann, USA, 2000

Required readings:

Minow, M. (1998): Truth Commissions. In: Between Vengeance and Forgiveness.

Verwoerd, W. (2003): Toward a Response to Criticisms of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In: Prager, T. and T. Govier (eds.): Dilemmas of Reconciliation: Cases and Concepts. (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press), pp.245-278.

Mamdani, M. : A Diminished Truth

Class 3 (3.11.):Cambodia - Historical Memory and Reconciliation

Film: Enemies of the People, dir. Rob Lemkin a Thet Sambath, UK, 2009

Required readings:

Chandler, D. (2003): Coming to Terms with the Terror and History of Pol Pot´s Cambodia (1975-79). In: Prager, T. and T. Govier (eds.): Dilemmas of Reconciliation: Cases and Concepts. (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press), pp. 307-326.

Münyas, Burcu (2008): Genocide in the minds of Cambodian youth: transmitting (hi)stories of genocide to second and third generations in Cambodia. In: Journal of Genocide Research, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 413-439.

Class 4 (1.12.): Rwanda

Film: My Neighbor, My Killer, r. Anne Aghion, USA/UK (2009)

Required readings:

LONGMAN, T. - T. RUTAGENGWA (2004): Memory, Identity, and Community in Rwanda. In: STOVER, E. - H. WEINSTEIN (eds.): My Neighbor, My Enemy: Justice and Community in the Aftermath of Mass Atrocity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, s.162-182.

WALDORF, L. "Like Jews Waiting for Jesus". Posthumous Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda. In: SHAW, R. - L. WALDORF (eds.): Localizing Transnational Justice. Interventions and Priorities after Mass Violence. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2010, s. 183-202.

Class 5 (15.12.): TBA

Additional Readings:

Aukerman, M.J. (2002): Extraordinary Evil, Ordinary Crime: A Framework for Understanding Transitional Justice. Harvard Human Rights Journal, Vol. 15, pp. 39-97. http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss15/aukerman.shtml

Bloomfield, D.; Barnes, T. and L. Huyse (2003): Reconciliation After Violent Conflict. A Handbook. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. http://www.idea.int/publications/reconciliation/upload/reconciliation_full.pdf

Bosire, L. (2006): Overpromised, Underdelivered: Transitional Justice in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Center for Transitional Justice. http://www.ictj.org/static/Africa/Subsahara/AfricaTJ3.pdf

Brounéus, K. (2007): Reconciliation and Development. Occasional Paper, No. 36, Dialogue on Globalization, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung: Berlin. http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/04999.pdf

Call, Ch. (2004): Is Transitional Justice Really Just? Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol.11, No.1, pp.101-113.

Daly, K. (2002): Restorative justice: The real story. Punishment and Society, Vol.4, No.1, pp.55-79.

Fletcher, L. and H. Weinstein (2002): Violence and Social Repair: Rethinking the Contribution of Justice to Reconciliation. Human Rights Quarterly, Vol.24, No.3, pp.573-639.

Govier, T. and W. Verwoerd (2002): Trust and the Problem of National Reconciliation. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol.32, No.2, pp.178-205.

Graybill, L. and K. Lanegran (2004): Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation in Africa: Issues and Cases. African Studies Quarterly, Vol.8, No.1, pp.1-18

Kelsall, T. (2008): An Introduction to Some Issues in Transitional Justice. Lecture Series on African Security. Nordic Africa Institute. http://www.nai.uu.se/research/nai-foi%20lectures/calendar2009/kelsall.pdf

Kriesberg, L. (2007): Reconciliation: Aspects, Growth, and Sequences. International Journal of Peace Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 1-21.

Mani, R. (2005): Rebuilding an Inclusive Political Community After War. Security Dialogue, Vol.36, No.4, pp.511-526.

Orentlicher, D.F. (1991): Settling Accounts: The Duty to Prosecute Human Rights Violations of a Prior Regime. The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 100, No. 8, Symposium: International Law, pp. 2537-2615.

Philpott, D. (2007): Religion, Reconciliation, and Transitional Justice: The State of the Field. Working Paper, Social Science Research Council.
http://www.global.ucsb.edu/orfaleacenter/luce/luce08/documents/Philpott_SSRC-working-paper.pdf

Sarkin, J. and E. Daly (2004): Too Many Questions, Too Few Answers: Reconciliation in Transitional Societies. Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Vol.35, No.3, pp.101-168.

Stovel, L. (2003): When the enemy comes home: Restoring justice after mass atrocity. Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Restorative Justice, June 2003. http://www.sfu.ca/cfrj/fulltext/stovel.pdf

(more country-specific readings upon request)