This Live Web Seminar on "Seeking Justice in the Wake of War" took place on Thursday, February 18, 2010. A recording is available here.

This live seminar examined legal and policy issues arising in societies transitioning out of war.  The seminar addressed the following questions:

• What mechanisms and strategies might contribute to ending impunity for wartime violations and promoting reconciliation in fragile societies?
• How do traditional justice mechanisms and international criminal law approach accountability, and what are the benefits as well as the challenges of each framework?
• Who should decide what course of action might be most suitable for a country transitioning out of war?
• What role might humanitarian professionals play regarding attempts to balance values such as truth, justice, and reconciliation?

These questions were examined by looking to societies that have recently transitioned – or that are currently transitioning – out of war.

Naz Modirzadeh (Senior Associate at the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research) and Claude Bruderlein (Director of the Program) hosted the discussion.

Panelists

Dr. Phil Clark, Oxford University

Laura Davis

Jasteena Dhillon, Harvard University

Hugo van der Merwe, The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation

Background materials

Books and articles

Nigel Bigger (ed.), Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict, Georgetown University Press, 2003.

Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, Reparations for violations of International Humanitarian Law, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 85, No. 851, pp. 529-554, September 2003.

Brandon Hammer and Richard Wilson, Symbolic Closure through Memory, Reparation and Revenge in Post-Conflict Societies, Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 1, No. 1, March 2002.

Marion Haroff-Tavel, Do wars ever end? The work of the International Committee of the Red Cross when the guns fall silent, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 85, No. 851, pp. 465-496, September 2003.

Linda M. Keller, Achieving Peace with Justice: The International Criminal Court and Ugandan Alternative Justice Mechanisms, Connecticut Journal of International Law, Vol. 23, No. 2, p. 209, 2008.

Susie Linfield, Trading Truth for Justice? Reflections on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Boston Review, Summer 2000.

Martha Minow, Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide and Mass Violence, Beacon Press, 1998.

Yasmin Naqvi, Amnesty for war crimes: Defining the limits of international recognition, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 85, No. 851, pp. 583-625, September 2003.

Diane F. Orentlicher, Shrinking the Space for Denial: The Impact of The ICTY in Serbia, Open Society Justice Initiative, May 2008.

Carsten Stahn and Jann Kleffner (eds.), Jus Post Bellum: Towards a Law of Transition from Conflict to Peace, T.M.C. Asser Press, 2008.

Resource banks

The International Center for Transitional Justice provides extensive resources on the topic. A bibliography of materials on reconciliation and transitional justice is available from Peacemakers Trust.