Future policies for the past

Edited by Brandon Hamber, Dorte Kulle and Robin Wilson Democratic Dialogue Report 13 February 2001

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2 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Contents

Preface 4 Executive summary 6

Introduction BRANDON HAMBER DORTE KULLE 9

Forgiveness and reconciliation DUNCAN MORROW 15 Response BRIAN LENNON 30

Commemoration and remembering BRANDON HAMBER 34 Response AVILA KILMURRAY 41

Killings by the state BILL ROLSTON 45 Response DAVE WALL 52

‘Discovery’ and treatment of trauma MARIE SMYTH 57 Response KAROLA DILLENBURGER 65

Compensation and reparation KEN BLOOMFIELD 73 Response SANDRA PEAKE 79

Future policies for the past BRANDON HAMBER DORTE KULLE ROBIN WILSON 84 Contributors 100

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 3 Preface

his is the 13th report from the think address the concerns of those victimised tank Democratic Dialogue. DD by the ‘troubles’. Specifically, as with T gratefully acknowledges the financial most of DD’s work, it was concerned with assistance for this project from the what policies could assist Northern Belfast European Partnership Board, the Ireland come to terms with its past and Community Relations Council and the meet the needs of victims and survivors. Victims’ Liaison Unit. This report brings together papers and Comments on the publication are very responses presented at the round table welcome. Anyone wishing to be kept and accommodates a variety of opinions. informed of DD projects and events should Earlier research had indicated a need, e-mail the office at the address on the felt strongly by those directly or indirectly inside cover; mailings are sent out every victimised, for their experiences of fortnight. suffering, grief and hardship to be Further copies of this report are acknowledged. A desire to have one’s available from DD, price £7.50 (£10 needs heard both in the public domain— institutions, £4.50 unwaged) plus 10 per through political, statutory and non- cent postage and packing. Our current governmental agencies—and in the catalogue of reports and papers is private sphere was routinely expressed. available at the back of this publication. Many felt that they did not fall into the More information about DD in general is established definitions of ‘victims’ and available on our web site. that there was a lack of communication The report is based on a round-table between agencies dealing with the issue. discussion, hosted by DD in Belfast on The need was also identified for an September 26th 2000, which sought to inclusive policy to help victims and

4 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 survivors to move forward. DD had not these issues and current practice from been working with victims issues before different perspectives. Thus, the focus of the research but had established the discussion was not only on future expertise in policy-making. It is also policies, politically speaking, but also on concerned with social issues, particularly current work with people affected by social inclusion. Concerned that the Northern Ireland’s conflict. debate on victims was so polarised, DD DD invited participation from a organised the round table so that a more spectrum of community grassroots coherent policy on the issue might begin organisations, from victims and survivors to be developed. groups, paramilitary ex-prisoner The draft Programme for Government organisations, the police service, semi- (Executive Committee, 2000: 20) statutory and statutory bodies, poli- published in October 2000 promised a ticians, academics working in this field range of activities in this area—notably and other concerned individuals. The day the putting in place by April 2001 of ‘a was arranged into five sessions, as the cross-departmental strategy for ensuring following chapters indicate. Each that the needs of victims are met’. This presenter at the round table was followed report seeks, among other things, to by a discussant, whose comments are also contribute to that strategy and could be included. drawn upon by the Office of the First and DD greatly appreciates the contri- Deputy First Minister, other policy- butions of all the participants, who with makers, assembly members and vol- their personal experience and expertise untary organisations. laid the ground for a very valuable— DD is aware of the potential harm in indeed uplifting—debate on what is a unreflective policy-making, and therefore very sensitive issue. Excerpts from their sought local and external expertise to— comments are distributed through the among other things—avoid the trap of report. The views of those represented only speaking for, but not with, the people here are of course the responsibility of affected by any future policies. It hoped the authors alone. DD that the time was right for an inclusive, informal and confidential debate around Bibliography some core issues that confront those Northern Ireland Executive Committee affected by the ‘troubles’. It felt there was (2000), Draft Programme for Government, a need to address the complexities of Belfast

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 5 Executive summary

espite, though in some ways because individual with particular needs and that of, the Belfast agreement, the issue those needs should be explored with D of ‘victims’ in Northern Ireland has victims and their representatives if becoming increasingly fraught—a matter appropriate services are to be provided for distress among those suffering or in an appropriate fashion. In some cases, bereaved and for exploitation by ethno- these services will best be delivered via, nationalist protagonists in the political or in conjunction with, voluntary pro- sphere. A durable and profound peace can viders. In all cases, they should be only emerge when those who have lost evidence-based. most from the past three decades of Compensation is no substitute for a violence can feel reconciled to the future. portfolio of tailored, effective services, Paradoxically, that means the whole and it remains a matter ‘reserved’ to the society coming to terms with its past. Northern Ireland Office. Some reforms The agreement accepted the need to have been promised but they are unlikely address the concerns of victims and, to materialise until 2002; a long-run relatedly, to promote reconciliation in concern remains that under the proposed what remains a severely divided society. ‘tariff’ system, the relatively (though not The draft Programme for Government of absolutely) high levels paid in Northern the Executive Committee promises to Ireland for criminal injuries compared elaborate a cross-departmental strategy with the rest of the UK might be eroded. on victims by April this year. Compensation also does not negate other In developing its services for victims, needs of victims, such as the need for the devolved administration should start truth and justice. from the premise that every victim is an Government, at whatever level, needs

6 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 to be guided not only by the inherent Repentance, reparation and recon- individuality of all victims but also by ciliation are the ‘3Rs’ on which to base this their inherent equality. Invidious approach. Underlying them all is the distinctions defining ‘real’ or ‘innocent’ theme of responsibility. victims should be avoided, and the By setting out no clear vision of the minority who have been victimised by the future and no agreed account of the state should not be subject to neglect past—for fear of upsetting political or through official embarrassment. paramilitary élites—the Belfast agree- To ensure victims’ needs are ment has created a situation of moral addressed in a ‘joined-up’ way, there hazard characterised by a blame-game should be a ‘victims minister’ within the and displacement of responsibility. devolved administration with a public Responsibility for past acts needs to be profile and responsibility for victims accepted by the individual perpetrators: issues, currently one of 26 functions in violence was not just a reflex response to the Office of the First and Deputy First circumstance. But it also needs to be Minister. The current doubling-up of an accepted by society, including by the NIO ‘security’ minister in that role is many who feel no implication in the highly undesirable. violence yet by their ‘sins of omission’ But given the wider challenges and allowed it to continue. the fragmentation and mistrust among With responsibility comes repentance victims’ organisations, an independent and a willingness to make reparation. victims’ ombudsperson or commissioner But it also requires a willingness on the should be appointed. He or she would part of others to offer forgiveness and to champion, equally, the interests of all be reconciled. Paradoxically, individual victims and broker better relationships victims of violence—on whom forgiveness among them. should not be forced—have often been The 3,500 or so who have died as a more forthcoming in this regard than result of the ‘troubles’ are but the umbra political entrepreneurs. of a much wider penumbra of relatives Reconciliation is, however, impossible and friends that have left few in the for many victims unless the truth of how society untouched and its social fabric they or a loved one was victimised can badly torn. Larger questions therefore be told—to them or by them. ‘Story- arise about how this individual and telling’ has played an important role social damage can begin to be mended. in the support of victims, though care

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 7 is needed to ensure victims do not Belfast agreement has specifically sought perversely become trapped in that not to make such leaders amenable for identity. A far more controversial issue past acts. In any event, the political is how victims might secure the truth consensus required to establish a truth themselves. commission is lacking and likely to One suggestion is a truth and remain so for the foreseeable future. reconciliation commission, such as was Thus no one such mechanism can turn employed in South Africa in the the trick. What is required is an equally aftermath of apartheid and in several horizontal process of dialogue, which Latin American countries emerging from explores past hurts and seeks, painfully dictatorship. There are aspects of and piecemeal, to develop the potential violence in Northern Ireland that have for repentance, reparation and recon- had a similar, ‘vertical’—state versus ciliation. It is a dialogue in which the people—character as in these anti- whole society needs to engage, in a range democratic régimes. But, however im- of safe and secure environments, if perfect, Northern Ireland has been part Northern Ireland is to realise a peace that of a western parliamentary democracy is secure and a solidarity that goes and its violence has been primarily of a beyond roots. ‘horizontal’, intercommunal character, Civic and political leaders have a even when the state has been a proxy. particular responsibility in this regard. Yet the role of the state has led to They can lead by example through rituals oppressive violence, and the Bloody which explore repentance, reparation Sunday Tribunal is a commission of and reconciliation. An annual day of inquiry which may reveal some of what reconciliation would give focus to this happened that day. Other inquiries might endeavour. But all the citizens of reasonably follow, so that victims of this Northern Ireland have the capacity, in a ‘state violence’ can secure the truth to myriad of small ways, to ensure that sins which they are entitled. of commission or omission are addressed This is, however, of little relevance to and fresh stitches applied to the social the great bulk of victims of paramilitary fabric, so that we can all become violence. No truth commission can ‘members one of another’. DD compel a paramilitary leader to attend or subpoena documentary evidence of how killings were directed; indeed, the

8 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Introduction

DorteKulle construct a continuum of suffering, this BrandonHamber might be helpful (though see below). Albeit artificial, and contentious, such a ith the beginning of the new construct would place towards one end millennium in the aftermath of of the continuum all those who have, as W the Belfast agreement, the bystanders or merely by living in potential for an entrenched peace in Northern Ireland, been affected in some Northern Ireland is becoming real. Yet way. At the other extreme would be all implementation of the agreement has those severely affected through losing a been retarded by issues arising from the loved one or being injured themselves. exercise of force: weapons, security, Those who witnessed suffering directly policing. And, in tandem with these might fall somewhere in between. continuing challenges, an underlying But the ‘victims debate’ is not only theme of grief and resentment has arisen about whether one agrees with such a from the experiences of the ‘victims’ or view. Initiatives to assist victims and ‘survivors’ of the ‘troubles’—individuals survivors are also connected, politically who have had their rights as citizens and socially, to different groups in violated through acts of commission or Northern Ireland. They reflect the omission by paramilitary organisations, political diversity of the society, with the state or other individuals. some victims groups having specific Some would claim that all those who allegiances or affiliations. In addition, the have grown up since 1969 are victims. difficulties facing victims represent a From this perspective all have suffered microcosm of the broader process of because of the conflict. In allowing us to dealing with the violence of the past, and

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 9 present. to a large degree, depend on the context If the agreement has been under- of the person speaking. At the end of the mined by politicking, dealing with the day, if an individual feels ‘victimised’, past and the needs of victims have also then this requires some attention , within become complicated by political blame- the bounds of responsible society, games. Who is most responsible for the irrespective of political leaning. Most victimisation of others? Which victims ‘victims’, however, do not like the term: are more deserving of services, given it traps them in a specific moment when their political ‘persuasion’ (an ironic term they experienced loss and it reduces their in Northern Ireland, as persuasion identification to that experience. doesn’t much come into it)? This has The term ‘survivor’ has become more divided grieving and injured parties even politically correct because it implies further. Such divisive action is evidence something more active—someone who of the truism that the discussion of how has dealt with their circumstances and this society should deal with its ‘troubled’ moved on. A survivor is seen as a victim past—and, more specifically, its victims— coming to terms with their loss and able is merely beginning. to interact with society and, perhaps, with the perpetrator to some degree. The n Northern Ireland the number of survivor feels they have survived, are victims and survivors groups seems to more resilient to hardship and have, I be ever-growing. There appears to be although wishing the event had never too little support for all those seeking it. happened, taken something positive from Amid contention, often involving political the experience. It can be defined as actors, over how the term ‘victim’ should reaching a self-empowerment, despite be defined and who the ‘real’ (sic) victims what has happened. But this term, are, there has been much labelling and equally, can be difficult: some people say passing judgement, and the entire issue they still feel like ‘victims’, and that has become incredibly sensitive. Com- reality for them does not otherwise allow. petition for funds between groups, from While we use the term ‘victims’ different or even similar political throughout this report, this should be backgrounds, has heightened the taken as shorthand for ‘victims and tensions. survivors’. In our opinion, the range of definitions An even more highly disputed of the term ‘victim’ is broad and would, question is whether ‘perpetrators’ should

10 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 be seen as victims. Most perpetrators will trajectory. A vigorous discussion about be able to point to some experience— responsibility and what can be done to often an experience which they claim rectify the situation is needed, as well as drove them to action—of themselves or an acknowledgment that some have been their family being victimised. Others more severely affected than others and claim to have responded to a war-like that their needs require attention. context that demanded action, or that Perhaps it is too ambitious to expect they were manipulated by nefarious all the parties to put aside political point- people in political authority. Thus many scoring in an environment where the feel—obviously contentiously—that they balance of power remains so fine between do not need to take full personal parties and the wounds are so fresh. responsibility, outside of understanding Ironically, though, it is often the bereaved their actions within a specific social and and injured themselves, as well as people political context. directly engaged with victims and All these issues are debatable. But survivors—rather than those less there seems to be little rational—still less affected by the ‘troubles’—who are unemotional—debate about victims, willing to immerse themselves in the perpetrators and the past in Northern debates. Perhaps we all should take a Ireland. On many levels this is under- lead from them. standable, given what has happened, but the current antagonistic approaches he debate over how to deal with the allow exclusivist agendas to overshadow struggles of those victimised during bridge-building initiatives. T political conflict in the post-conflict Those in political positions will often stage—and whether one can genuinely argue that victims should be dealt with so describe Northern Ireland remains in differently, depending on their political contention—typically revolves around identity, or that at least the suffering of truth and justice, responsibility, victims in a community should be compensation and funding of support constantly balanced with what per- initiatives. These questions have been petrators from that community did. This common in most societies coming out of approach runs the risk of creating violence: a recent list could include marginalised groups of victims who will Guatemala, South Africa, Mozambique, remain unheard and embittered, even if Rwanda and East Timor, to mention but the ‘peace process’ unfolds on a positive a few. In all these societies victims’ needs

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 11 are paramount and pressing, and will investigations or support services like remain so for years to come. counselling—past violent incidents run Mutual respect and openness to the risk of acquiring entrenched mythical others’ experience of suffering could status. Such myths can easily be used by potentially shift the focus from political political protagonists for their own ends antagonism to inclusive agendas— and lead to further conflict. This prospect emphasising our common (in)humanity threatens to unravel the ‘peace process’ to consolidate peace. Perhaps there will in the long run—or, at least, to create a be a recognition of responsibilities when class of disaffected individuals who feel the time is right for everyone to reflect they have no place in the new order. critically on their (in)actions and those The ‘we are all victims’ discourse of others. For this to happen, a debate however runs the risk of subsuming needs to take place between all citizens individual traumas into a narrative of in Northern Ireland—not just those collective trauma. This could further directly affected or victimised. desensitise the public to the needs of International experience suggests some victims or survivors. The way the that the past has to be dealt with in some affected cope with suffering is shaped by way. Victims’ needs must be met: violent the social context, but the experience is acts will not simply be forgotten. With- always individual. out attention of some kind—be that Trauma, like losing a loved one or being violently injured, requires individual attention. Accounts of violent ‘We need to be very careful of going acts also need to be told and heard, down the road of inventing sanitised or shared and remembered (or forgotten), euphemistic language to describe some depending on the survivor’s way of coming to terms with the past. of the worst atrocities that ever happened ... Victim is a horrible word: it ealing with the needs of victims is a word that is offensive, it is a word should be an inclusive process, D based on a specific analysis of the that isn’t nice, but it is a word that needs of the bereaved and injured. It accurately describes what was done to should work at two levels. our loved ones.’ First, Northern Ireland will have to deal with broader policy issues in relation

12 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 to victimisation. Such a discussion will commissioned by the republic’s gover- move beyond simply addressing the nment to do a similar task (Wilson, 1999). direct needs of victims. It will face These initiatives became more simultaneously the complex issues of relevant following the support for reconciliation, truth and victims’ needs. reconciliation and victims of violence Such an approach could include a expressed in the Belfast agreement of truth commission or specific commissions April 1998. The relevant paragraphs of inquiry. A number of initiatives in acknowledge the suffering of victims and Northern Ireland are already working emphasise the right to remember past with people’s stories, but perhaps it atrocities. The need for support from would be useful to establish a more public statutory and community-based volun- mechanism to ensure that the bereaved tary organisations is also stressed. The feel that their suffering and loss are being paragraphs are integrated with the more formally acknowledged. At this complex issues of reconciliation but make stage, there are no clear-cut answers as a commitment to dealing with the needs to what form such a process, or processes, of victims. might take. But the debate remains The work of the contributors and critical: indeed, it spurred DD to hold a respondents to the round table—a round-table on victims policy and the diverse group of individuals who have issue is addressed throughout this report. accumulated considerable expertise in Secondly, despite some valiant this area—is reflected in this report. programmes in Northern Ireland, the Each was asked to address broad policy services individual victims receive need issues or services for victims. Three of the to be streamlined and continually papers, and the responses to them, deal developed. This has received increased with themes associated with the macro- attention since the ceasefires of 1994. In political questions: November 1997, a victims commission • forgiveness and reconciliation, was initiated by the former secretary of • truth and justice, and state, Mo Mowlam, and Sir Kenneth • commemoration and remembering. Bloomfield (1998) delivered a report in Two papers, and associated responses, April the following year. This report then deal with practical concerns about outlined possible ways to recognise the victim services and trauma, under the pain and suffering of ‘troubles’ victims headings: and John Wilson was subsequently • compensation and reparation, and

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 13 • trauma practice. Belfast: Northern Ireland Office Wilson, J (1999), A Place and A Name, Dublin: Stationery Office orthern Ireland has a long way to go before it becomes a peaceful N society. Reconciliation as a concept, or dealing with the past effectively, does not harmonise with the current antag- onistic approaches—and, specifically, with the playing on victims’ hardships by politicians anxious to score political points. Perhaps when the time is right, or when a broader policy is in place, every- one in the society will be able to reflect critically upon their actions and those of others, as a way of entrenching peace and producing a new version of humanity and understanding. The past needs to be dealt with, symbolically and concretely, and accounts of violent acts need to be heard—this is one of the strongest inter- national lessons. In this process, healing will not come for individuals who have been trauma- tised by past atrocities without the trans- formation of Northern Ireland from a place of ‘low-scale civil war’ to a society of relative peace and tolerance. We trust the views reflected in this report will as- sist to move it one more step down this road. DD

Bibliography Bloomfield, K (1998), We will Remember Them,

14 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Forgiveness and reconciliation

DuncanMorrow subjects are so fraught with danger that most politics—certainly good, secular, Forgiveness to the injured does belong; for liberal, western politics—fights shy of they neer pardon, who have done the wrong them. We content ourselves with tol- (Dryden, 1688: 2,1, ii). erance, with rights, with the limited state here are many reasons to be nervous and with a comfortingly sharp division in writing about forgiveness and between public and private. And with T reconciliation. Few subjects descend good reason: there are few other subjects so quickly into glibness or piety. Yet few that show up the lack of depth in liberal lend themselves so easily to the cowardice sensibilities and illustrate the limit of the of avoidance. coercive power of the state. Just to acknowledge forgiveness and Yet, beyond doubt, there are some reconciliation as critical social questions political circumstances where success is to invite disdain. Marxists seem to depends on our capacity to reach beyond treat them as sentimental, ‘bourgeois’ what might be reasonably demanded— constructs, irrelevant to the course of and some events that leave such indelible History. Yet, in all our experience, the marks as to resist any glib instruction to traumas of injury and oppression acquire get over them. a centrality for human beings and groups A rabbi asked his students: when, at dawn, that defies rigid adherence to ‘scientific can one tell the light from the darkness? socialism’. One student replied: when I can tell a goat from a donkey. No, answered the rabbi. But even if we do build our politics on Another said: when I can tell a palm tree the real value of human persons and the from a fig. No, answered the rabbi again. possibilities of change and renewal, these Well then, what is the answer? His students

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 15 pressed him. Not until you look into the face this sense that forgiving recreates reality of every man and woman and see your in a totally new way. brother and your sister, said the rabbi. Only The first striking aspect of forgiving then have you seen the light. All else is still is this transformation: a relationship darkness (Hasidic tale in Arnold, 1999: 32). characterised by guilt and injury is We speak of forgiveness far too cheaply. changed into something open and real. First, by always talking about the noun— The cliché that one shall ‘forgive but not forgiveness—we easily give the im- forget’ may represent a brave compromise pression that this is a readily accessible, with the impossibility of complete ready-to-wear object, with a predictable forgiveness. But it sustains us in our shape. Yet forgiveness is nothing more predicament—of relationships filled with nor less than the result of forgiving: it injury from which we cannot escape— takes all of its meaning from an active even as it recognises that every other verb. To forgive is a human action, a deed possibility may be even more difficult to that changes relationships—indeed the attempt. whole world—fundamentally. By selling an idea of forgiveness which According to the Oxford English does not free all parties from their debts, Dictionary of English Etymology, the we ultimately tie each other up in prefix ‘for-’ indicates exhaustion. At its powerful contradictions. Ideologically, we root, to forgive means ‘to give totally’. proclaim that everything is over; in our This giving is qualitatively different from depths, bitterness and guilt live on. If we all other because it knows of no cannot forgive—and some of the injuries restriction. To forgive means that ‘what for which we so easily call for forgiveness happened has no consequences for our strike so deeply to the core of who we are relationship’. When I see you, I do not that they hardly allow for it—then it is see the injury or the guilt, but you; I better that we acknowledge our dif- accept you, without restriction, back into ficulties. Better, this, than to pretend to my life. what we have not found, or to force others This does not mean that we always to mouth words that only redouble the heal totally, physically or mentally. Nor injury. does it imply that we can restore the Secondly, forgiving is always con- status quo ante. But it does mean that nected to ideas of guilt and responsibility reality is no longer veiled by our to others. Guilt is the consequence of the frustration, guilt, hate or tears. It is in offences for which we are responsible.

16 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Ultimately, guilt is not even dependent Forgivingcomesalotharder on having wilfully committed the offence. In the end, it is not the intention to offend but the fact of doing something that hurts somebody that makes us guilty. Intention only makes the wrong clearer. Guilt always exists within a relation- ship with somebody else whom one has wronged or with the community to which they belong. Paradoxically, it both isolates us from each other and ties us up more tightly, albeit in an increasingly destructive relationship. When we ask for forgiveness, we are asking for a restor- ation of our relationship and for the removal of the obstacles which our deeds and omissions have left between us. Because guilt and even injury is within a relationship, forgiving and reconciling is only really possible if it is requested, or at least accepted. Without this mutuality, the absence of real forgiveness remains, at best, a hidden scar that continues to disfigure our life. One of our predicaments as a society is that for as long as no forgiveness is asked for, or accepted, it cannot be fully given. Because forgiving is about relationships, taken away from them. Jewish thinkers the old question of whether forgiveness after the Holocaust have emphasised that precedes or follows repentance is beside only those who experienced the killing the point. In either case, the scar remains could forgive their killers. While in until the relationship is healed. essence this must be correct, we might Thirdly, the decision to forgive belongs extend it. A killing destroys not only the irreducibly to the injured and cannot be dead but traumatises the living. Guilt

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 17 and injury are not limited to the person different from the situation facing any killed but to everyone so traumatised. victim of crime. While the state pros- Thus, if relationships are to be ecutes murder, that same act limits all reconciled, the living have to find a way revenge. Personal forgiveness is neither not to forgive the damage done between sought nor required. After serving a the killer and the killed but that done to court-imposed sentence, any debt is their own relationship with the killer and considered ‘paid for’. In many ways, this to those connected to him. This is gaping hole in criminal justice is the probably even more difficult, but it may origin of the interest in restorative be the only chance of healing between the justice. living after the horror of the murder of a What makes forgiveness so burning loved one. in Northern Ireland is not that many victims are left with their injury, but that A state is a human community that claims so many of the injuries are understood the monopoly of the legitimate right to use as the grief not only of individuals but of physical force within a given territory ... The whole communities. Injury can thus state is considered the sole source of the make political demands and seek political right to use violence (Weber, 1970: 78). action, with all the risks involved. The orgiving is always a gift, something decision to forgive, or not, usually private freely given: forced forgiveness is not in western societies, becomes of im- F forgiveness. Furthermore, forgiving is portance to everyone—because without always going beyond justice and law, even it the political stability of the whole against it. By definition only injustices— system is endangered. always breaches—need to be forgiven. If politics is limited in its capacity to Forgiveness is therefore only possible as enforce forgiveness or reconciliation, the a free decision rooted in the conviction question arises as to whether forgiveness that life depends on it. As soon as and reconciliation are not ideas best left forgiving is brought into the realm of out of political calculations. And indeed compulsion, it becomes a moralistic this is the position of numerous political means to destroy the injured. It is this realists, for whom reconciliation should reality which separates interpersonal be conceived only in the narrow sense as forgiveness from the realm of formal better than war. Piet Meiring (2000: 74) politics. highlighted the division over recon- Of course, this is essentially no ciliation in reflecting on the South

18 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 African Truth and Reconciliation politics, can be measured by how much Commission, of which he was a member: more it represents than the absence of war. On the one hand there were the lawyers As Frank Wright (1987) has shown us, and jurists and politicians who, their feet what passed for peace in Northern firmly planted on terra firma, warned that we should not be too starry-eyed about Ireland before 1968 was too often a reconciliation. When the dust settles in the surface tranquillity resting on an street, when the shooting stops, when unstable balance of deterrence. The use people let go of one another’s throats, be of violence by one group against another grateful ... that is, in our context, as far as always had the potential to evolve into a reconciliation goes. Archbishop Tutu and cycle of destruction and revenge, which the Baruti (priests), on the other hand, favoured a far more lofty definition. could only be ‘resolved’ by victory and defeat. Where politicised groups of Certainly, we cannot expect the hugs and similar size and power engage in inter- tears associated with reconciliation group killing, as has occurred in between estranged friends to be the mark Northern Ireland, there is considerable of the politics. Politics is as much about potential for these cycles to be endless. seeking agreement on the rules gov- Peace in such settings depends on new erning the use of force as a taking leave agreements about the law, political power of it. Political peacemaking usually and the use of force, reached only after focuses on the crucial task of building a considerable mutual injury. Political political system accepted by all—which reconciliation between groups in public ‘enjoys a transcendent legitimacy’. life depends on a certainty about the Unless political leaders devise legitimate and illegitimate use of something positive to replace war, a violence—whether exercised by or superficial absence of war masks a against them. relationship in turmoil, where each party Forgiveness and reconciliation cannot merely prepares for the next decisive be forced. But the quest for stable politics shift in the balance of power. In the depends on the willingness of leaders to absence of political stability, all relat- make a new political relationship in ionships are vulnerable to the intrusion which they see one another as partners of violence and the consequent erosion of rather than enemies. This may require society. In the long run, the security of a all sorts of ‘confidence-building measures’ peace deal, and the depth of peace in (these are nouns), and the way to

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 19 reconciliation may depend on a series of conceived of in the agreement; choreographed steps. But no amount of • guilt and injury are dealt with only in technical expertise can remove the the context of the new relationship; loneliness of the decision, or more likely • there may still be reparation and the series of decisions, to trust (another readjustment, but these are freely verb). undertaken and accepted; The questions politicians seeking • all public justice takes its bearings from peace have to resolve are questions of the primacy of the new political price. What must we forego if we are to relationship, and end the cycle of revenge? Or, even more • institutions are secure on the basis of starkly: what must we reconcile ourselves mutual trust, rather than militant to if we are to establish reconciliation defence. between one another? In an economy of The extent to which politicians can revenge, in which there can be no rest make these decisions depends on their while debts remain unpaid, what are the relationship with their supporters. In debts of injustice owed to us that we now modern politics, leaders can only make have to forgive? peace in those areas in which their Reconciliation in politics will thus be supporters give them a mandate. If that characterised by many of the same mandate is withdrawn, the politician is dimensions as forgiveness between likely to be defeated. individuals: The ability of political leaders to • reconciliation cannot happen without apologise on behalf of their people a decision which represents a profound without being defeated is closely tied to rupture with the past; the willingness of people to contemplate • the quest is for a new and transforming forgiving one another. Where injury and political relationship, only possible trauma are widespread, the task of because of a willingness to forgive and reconciliation is an inevitably complex be forgiven for injustice carried out in relationship between the achievable one’s name in the past; limits of politics and the capacity of • after these decisions, the old world is traumatised communities to forgive and only accessible from the new—it really be forgiven. is past; Wise politicians stick to what they • political debts are cancelled and no think their constituency can bear. longer count except in the clear terms Appearing to ask for, or grant,

20 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 forgiveness on behalf of people who have towards a peace rooted in relationships. not been directly consulted is a risky No matter what the claims of political business—seeming to force people into a realists, therefore, politics must engage relationship which they cannot yet with the question of forgiveness and contemplate. By far the most effective reconciliation if the agreement is to acts of leadership are not the results of represent more than a staging-post in the policies but deeply vulnerable personal cycle of revenge. acts of contrition or forgiveness, which Of course, the roots of the agreement do not bind others but create space for are in cold political calculation. The movement and change. One thinks of unspoken dynamic was a new realism Willi Brandt’s spontaneous falling to his within republicanism and elements of knees in Auschwitz, of Anwar Sadat unionism about the emerging inter- visiting the Knesset, of Vaclav Havel national, especially British-Irish, asking forgiveness of Czechoslovakia’s consensus on the way ahead. In spite of former German population and of Nelson its early rejection, both republicanism Mandela donning a Springbok rugby and Ulster Unionism were pincered by jersey. In each case, a leader opened up the Anglo-Irish process which they had new possibilities by taking a personal rejected so vehemently in 1985: contrast risk that invited a free response, rather the formal party positions then with the than trying to legislate a new, politically- institutional substance of the agreement correct orthodoxy. in 1998. At the same time, the British-Irish eyond doubt, the Belfast agreement process, supported vocally by the represents an attempt to replace international community in the shape of Bconflict with something else. In this Bill Clinton and Jacques Delors, minimal sense, it is an experiment in presupposed something more than political stability and clearly presumes ceasefires. The move from ceasefires to a new political relationship. At the heart agreement was the adoption by parties of the agreement is proclaimed the aim in Northern Ireland of the principle that of reconciliation and the establishment peace is more than the absence of war. of a new, fully legitimate political order. In constitutional terms, the agree- Formally at least, Northern Ireland is ment presumes that nationalists agree embarked on a journey away from the to work a still-British Northern Ireland limited notion of peace, as absence of war, on condition that it is, so to speak, a

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 21 ‘second republic’—constitutionally and reconciling-of-accounts principle was not institutionally transformed from the realised in the agreement. Indeed, part previous dispensation. This clearly of the problem is an unrealistic presupposes entirely new relationships expectation that the agreement repre- in Northern Ireland, in which a new sents an arrival at reconciliation, when legitimacy replaces an old one, reasons it is nothing of the sort. for violence disappear, accounts are In addition, although the agreement reconciled and political debts are presumes a new legitimacy for the forgiven. So if the roots of the agreement consequent institutions, it appears that were in Realpolitik, the plant can this is only partial. As Adrian Guelke has nevertheless only bear fruit if it is pointed out, it represents a recognition watered by a new political relationship of different aspirations—not a full in which the past ceases (at least over acknowledgement of legitimacy. Thus, time) to be an obstacle. the republican movement believes that But just to speak in such a language it has made a pragmatic compromise draws attention to the limits of the with the ‘six-county state’ while agreement. At the time of its prom- withholding legitimacy from partition. ulgation, the leader of the Ulster Unionists, on the other hand, expect that Unionist Party had had no bilateral the sovereignty of the UK in all matters meetings with the leader of the party not specifically regulated by the which was the biggest obstacle to his agreement will be absolute. voters, Sinn Féin. Moreover, as time has Finally, the new governmental system passed, it has become clear that the new has yet to achieve its necessary monopoly beginning affects only those things over of legitimate force. In the first instance, which there is an unambiguous the fact that justice and policing remain interpretation. There is a new gov- Westminster matters reflects the ernment, but as yet no new relationship inability of unionists and nationalists to allowing generosity of spirit on construct a mature government for unresolved questions. Northern Ireland. Furthermore, the In spite of the oft-repeated principle refusal by paramilitaries to decom- established by the Social Democratic and mission is grounded in unwillingness to Labour Party leader, John Hume, that invest the organs of state with legitimacy. ‘nothing is agreed until everything is Just as the great political motivation agreed’, it is clear that this line-drawing, for conflict in Ireland—the border and its

22 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 future—has apparently been resolved, we find that our real difficulty is accepting ‘The idea of a shared truth: I have no as partners those we have not forgiven idea what it means, what a shared and cannot forgive. At best, we are operating in the realms of ‘forgiven, not understanding could be, what a forgotten’—meaning that we go on with common history could be. I have no each other but may easily return to the idea what any of those terms mean but I injury and guilt which has shaped our history. At worst, even those who are have a vision for the future. And the committed to working the agreement are vision I have is to be able to live vulnerable to a remembering or revit- alongside other people without alisation of injuries past, leaving the door necessarily understanding them, but open to a return to the politics of the last atrocity committed by the overtly knowing that in them are a lot of things unreconciled wings of our ‘imagined that I recognise in myself—and how do communities’. we work that out?’ Progress in the quality of peace in Northern Ireland is thus inextricably tied up with something over which politics has no power: our ability to ask for and an ideal world, this might provide the grant forgiveness to one another. political cover for people, quietly but Problematically, the agreement is definitively, to leave their past behind. formally constructed on the principle that Meanwhile, in the real world everyone is we can avoid doing either, even though left to maintain their own innocence, it cannot survive without both. This while nobody is released from the paradox is clearest in the agreement’s accusation of guilt by their opponents. silence about our past responsibilities to Thus unionists can countenance nothing and for one another. Not only is there no which recognises any responsibility for ‘war guilt’ clause; there was apparently violence in the political structures of no guilt. Northern Ireland, while SF continues to In the absence of a clear victor, the insist that these lie at the core of the agreement was probably only possible problem. Republicans and loyalists see because it drew a discreet veil over no requirement for serious apology to questions of responsibility and guilt. In those left suffering and unionists insist

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 23 that paramilitaries have sole respons- responsible. There is no ‘I’ or ‘we’ who ibility for violence. asks forgiveness. Official ideology hardly While there are still debates about dares to locate any responsibility, and decommissioning and policing, neither each side goes on giving every ap- side can quite let go of accusing the other pearance of continuing to pin blame of being up to their old tricks. And—who overwhelmingly on the ‘other’ while knows?—they may both be! fiercely resisting any notion of co- The programme for the early release responsibility. of prisoners was a perfect instance of this Yet the evidence suggests that a problem. On the one hand, prisoners were political system failed to cherish all its released early, without any need to children equally, a state found itself express remorse. Indeed, all organ- cutting corners off justice, a self-styled isations involved refuse any of the normal ‘non-sectarian’ ideology terrorised anyone trappings of ‘ex-offenders’. On the other who called themselves British and the hand, prisoners are not released from the Protestant working class colluded with legal pronouncement of guilt, carrying death squads prepared to kill any their licences with them—some to the Catholic. It is hardly surprising that end of their days. While one can under- victims groups are the fodder for every stand and even admire the political party seeking to undermine the ingenuity of the solution, such com- agreement. promises embody the hole at the centre Forgiveness and reconciliation are the of the agreement: everyone is left result of forgiving. They are char- innocent in their own terms, while acterised by the transformation of a remaining guilty in the eyes of their relationship, so that previous injuries no opponents. We have nowhere to ack- longer block our relationships and lives. nowledge that our relationships remain Memory, where it goes on, becomes a clouded by our experiences and per- matter of humility and warning—not a ceptions of injustice and injury. weapon with which to destroy the other. In a conflict which has claimed nearly But everything depends on the ex- 4,000 lives, traumatised tens of istentially critical decision to forgive, and thousands more and determined the a willingness to acknowledge re- residence, marriage and profession of sponsibility or to be forgiven. There are hundreds of thousands further, it is already many instances of this in always the unknowable others who are personal lives, but all the core political

24 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 organisations continue to demand their he absence of war, however relative, ‘just us’ (in the phrase of the writer creates an environment in which Robert McLiam Wilson), at any cost to T dreams become thinkable. And the the present or the future. establishment of political structures, Without a real willingness to accept even imperfect, which draw people into each other into political life, all talk of new and unexplored relationships should reconciliation runs the risk of sent- not be dismissed. The successful defusing imentality while the injuries of the past of the constitution in the agreement, as sustain their dynamic but formally a reason for violence, is a huge achieve- unexpressed poison. The gamble of the ment. But it is also necessary to be honest agreement is that time and ‘confidence- about the limits of what has been building measures’ will create the space achieved in terms of relationships. for real changes to come to pass quietly Political leadership needs to dem- and without humiliation. There is a fear onstrate, and reiterate, a vision of the that any process of truth-telling will agreement which promises and delivers snowball into a litany of charge and a place for everyone. At one level, this is counter-charge, in which the whole ‘peace a simple matter of good governance and process’ will come tumbling down in a sea coalition co-operation. But it must, of recrimination. The alternative poss- sometimes, include the visionary, which ibility is that without facing our need to leads beyond a current impasse into forgive and be forgiven, reconciliation something worth striving for. Much of remains unattainable—even in its this is already present in the seldom- limited political sense. remembered preamble to the agreement. The genius of Martin Luther King’s So I say to you my friends, that even though ‘dream’ speech was to articulate a vision, we must face the difficulties of today and to acknowledge current reality and to tomorrow, I still have a dream … I have a dream that one day on the red hills of embody that dream within human Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of relationships rather than specific former slave owners will be able to sit down political formulae. This was a compelling together at the table of brotherhood. I have dream, not a utopia to be imposed: it a dream that one day, even the state of called both oppressor and oppressed into Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat a new future. of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an Forgiveness and reconciliation are the oasis of freedom and justice (King, 1968: 17). sine qua non of any peace that moves

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 25 beyond the absence of war. In politics, which can only be reduced by the manner their presence can be evidenced by in which one responds to these decisions increasingly secure arrangements and by one’s capacity to recognise the covering a widening range of subjects. risks in small and seemingly insignificant Reconciliation cannot be legislated, changes. Even where we recognise the however; in its absence it can only be need for great changes, transition can be modelled and imitated, by people who hell at times. take decisions and translate those decisions into their political, social and We commit all sorts of injustices at every personal lives. In times such as these, step without the slightest intention. Every leadership in Northern Ireland, at minute we are the cause of someone’s unhappiness (Rankin, 1999: 5). whatever level, means little more than fulfilling this task and exploring the here cannot be reconciliation unless consequences. ideologies of communal victimhood— Some of those consequences may be T which portray every act of ‘ours’ as extremely dangerous and unpopular with an act of defence and every act of ‘theirs’ previous friends. The absence of legis- as an act of aggression—give way to a lative support makes any decision to recognition of the injury ‘we’ have also forgive, or to accept forgiveness, a risk done. In a spiral, we are victims not only of the last act of violence, but of the one which ‘provoked’ it (and the one before that and the one before that). Inevitably, ‘To me there is always the notion of ‘we’ are victims not only of ‘their’ violence scapegoating that goes on when we talk but of ‘our’ violence to ‘them’. Unless we about the issue of victims and can find our way to this recognition we cannot take real responsibility for the forgiveness and reconciliation ... The suffering, except as ‘do-gooders’. Allied to question is: whom do we forgive and this are the responsibilities of political where do we start? Do we forgive leadership: forgiveness and reconciliation in action must be supported by those in perpetrators, politicians, government, authority or forever run the risk of being security forces, the silent middle class, ridiculed. churches, etc?’ Taking responsibility also means that politicians, including those in Britain and

26 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 the republic—as well as moral and denial, which forcibly pushes away the community leaders—need to articulate demands for equity of victims and their responsibility in failing to bring an survivors. What we are concerned with end to violence. Clearly, paramilitary here is something quite different: what groups must come to terms with their makes it possible for people to forgive own activities and injuries. But this will and be forgiven, so that they are restored be impossible unless their personal and to ‘life’? As such, it has nothing to do with group responsibilities are contextualised law but with a relationship which within a wider acknowledged failure. To might even co-exist with continuing be guilty among the also guilty is one punishment. thing, to be guilty among the innocent The justice of forgiveness is ‘res- quite another. torative’. This certainly means that In practical terms, this means a things stolen must be returned where formal acknowledgment that the mater- possible, that a debt to society is repaid ial needs of those who suffered directly in a variety of manners or responsibility must be met by the public purse as a is acknowledged into the future. Again, symbol of our responsibility as a society. restorative justice can only really begin This responsibility-taking by the when perpetrators accept their respons- community, in all its parts, means we can ibility. But once a relationship is begin to memorialise the dead of the established, justice is ‘matter-of-fact’ and ‘troubles’ as a reminder from history not about revenge. It can even be about our relationships, within which we undertaken freely by the perpetrator. all played our inglorious part. ‘Honouring This is true in relationships between the dead’ might then become a decision communities and groups as well as to sacrifice no more on the altar of self- between individuals. righteousness and ‘betrayal of the dead’ Once again, leadership will be crucial might come to be understood as the to make such theories real. In political creation of ever more victims. terms, this means a long process where those associated with the injuries caused f we speak too easily of forgiveness, it by political groups to which they have is usually because we have no sense allegiance acknowledge the cost of their I of the scale of the injustice that is politics to others. Other agencies, such being forgiven. There is a legitimate fear as churches, might be encouraged to that forgiveness is a political strategy of examine their relationships to one

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 27 another and their treatment of each the participation of unionist institutions other’s members in this regard. as ‘cause’ in this conflict. For long, we have associated for- A police force in which nationalists do giveness with the duty of the bereaved. not recognise themselves is not worth And, indeed, many have behaved having. On the other hand, the serious remarkably. Gordon Wilson is, of course, concerns of those facing paramilitary well-known but there have been many attack cannot be dismissed as‘red others like him. Without their examples herrings—in a context where hundreds we probably would not believe that of families have to flee as soon as a forgiveness was even thinkable. dispute breaks out between paramil- But if I have one plea it is this: stop itaries, or mortar bombs are fired on crucifying the injured with this cruel police stations. Political reconciliation demand. The critical question is asked means the primacy of a search for a state of all the rest of us. If those who suffered which might eventually enjoy its most did so as victims of our relation- Weberian monopoly of force—no matter ships, then can we ask to be forgiven? By how imperfectly such a search proceeds. forcing those bereaved or injured into the The primary contribution of politics to decisive position, we destroy the weakest peace in Northern Ireland is a credible again and hide our own unwillingness to reduction in the room for manoeuvre of act in their despair. the cycle of violence. Social policy in this domain needs to n political terms, there is much to do. avoid any idea that it is aimed at forcing Clearly, the agreement did not address people to forgive who have good reasons I the emotional relationships sur- not to. Nonetheless, there is a respons- rounding the use of violence, as ibility to ensure that measures are taken illustrated by the disastrous divisions to build relationships which can prevent over decommissioning and the Patten the crises that have given rise to the report on policing. While both are present suffering. This does not only apparently genuine security issues, there mean giving money to the latest is a sense that the real problem with emergency situation, although that may decommissioning is acceptance that the be important. It means building struct- entire military strategy was misguided, ures and practices in institutions and while unionist objections to Patten are organisations which embed the principles about an unwillingness to acknowledge of equity, diversity and interdependence

28 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 in everyday experience. uch of this is disturbingly distant from reality. There is no human elling our truth about our experiences M society in which forgiveness is is only useful to society if it is a complete and reconciliation final. But in T mechanism for healing rather than a small place like Northern Ireland, destruction. Traditional liberal politics is where a common future depends on our extremely nervous of anything that capacity to grow into some kind of open promises more than it can deliver, working relationship with one another, preferring instead to provide minimum it is indispensable for stability. A justice equity and to demand tolerance. There which forces us to submit to one another, are good reasons for heeding this as ‘goodies and baddies’, is as unen- intuition—not least the extreme diff- forceable as it is undesirable. iculty of creating reconciliation out of Reconciliation is ahead of us, not be- pain forgiven not by the victim but by the hind—even if for many people it is al- state. As it stands, most of the ideas for ready a reality. It is there in the small a truth and reconciliation commission in but enormous acts of forgiving and the Northern Ireland represent demands for political acts of working together. But it truth from others rather than a supply will not be complete until the even big- from ‘our’ side. Unsurprisingly, there are ger task, of accepting our need to be for- few takers for this proposition among given for what ‘our’ side caused, has those who were militarily active. ceased to be the truth which dare not Paradoxically, each of us can only speak its name. DD expect a public forum for truth-telling if we accept and acknowledge that many Bibliography of the stories will highlight things done Arnold, J C (1999), Seeking Peace, in our defence and in the name of sacred Robertsbridge: Plough Publications causes that ended in bloody murder. If Dryden, J (1688), The Conquest of Grenada King, M L Jr (1968), ‘I have a dream’, speech we can really accept that, while telling delivered in Washington DC on August of our own injuries, then we will have 28th 1963, reprinted in Negro History accomplished much of the reconciliation Bulletin 21, May Meiring, P (2000), ‘The Baruti v the lawyers’, the whole process seeks. in C Villa-Vicencio & W Verwoerd (eds), Looking Back, Reaching Forward: A patient has not necessarily recovered be- Reflections on the South African Truth and cause his most obvious wounds have healed Reconciliation Commission, Cape Town: UCT (Ziegler, 1969: 60). Press/London & Zed Books

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 29 Rankin, I (1999), Dead Souls, London: Orion murders were of individuals chosen be- Weber, M (1970), ‘Politics as a vocation’, In H cause they represented a community; H Gerth and C Wright Mills (eds), From Max Weber, London: MacMillan • politicians, if they are to lead, need to Wright, F (1987), Northern Ireland: A bear in mind what their constituency can Comparative Analysis, Dublin: Gill & bear—both acts of contrition and forgive- MacMillan ness can open space for others to follow; Ziegler, P (1969), The Black Death, London: Penguin Books • both unionists and nationalists were pincered by the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, in which the governments explic- itly changed their relationship with each other and thereby set in motion changes Response in the relationships within Northern Ireland; • while political leadership needs to show BrianLennon that the Belfast agreement can operate at a practical level, there is a need for would like to start by adopting ‘the visionary’ which leads beyond the Duncan’s own warning: that I will not current impasse; I do harm to victims by my words. As • restorative justice can only begin when someone who has suffered comparatively perpetrators accept their responsibility, little in the ‘troubles’ I am deeply aware and it has to do with a relationship which of our capacity for such harm. There is might even co-exist with continuing pun- an enormous amount in his chapter that ishment; and, above all, is rich and challenging, and it helps to • we must stop ‘crucifying the injured’ clarify our thinking in this area. Clarity with the cruel demand to forgive. is vital because without it we can all the Having said that, for me reconcilia- more easily dump our responsibilities on tion is a complex process, made up of at to others. least the following elements: forgiveness, Some points I would agree with are: repentance, justice and truth. • we speak of forgiveness too easily; Duncan uses the term ‘forgiveness’ for • while the decision to forgive belongs to two quite different things. One is an act— the injured, there is also a task facing and it is an act—which only the victim the rest of us who suffer as part of a com- can perform (though we can speak of sec- munity, particularly where so many of the ondary victims in the wider community

30 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 who suffer from atrocities committed may need to ask for forgiveness: whether against people they do not know). A sec- the perpetrator should do so is a judge- ond reference is to the gift that the per- ment about how this will affect the vic- petrator receives. tim and how he or she will receive it. For me, forgiveness is first and fore- Sometimes it is not appropriate to ask most something the victim does. I prefer for forgiveness, because of the negative to use ‘repentance’ for the tasks the per- impact it would have—and the victim’s petrator needs to carry out. The problem needs have to be given priority at this with using ‘forgiveness’ to cover both is point. that it is easy for a victim to be confused A second issue is the extent to which into thinking one is making demands on we need reconciliation. This, as Duncan him or her—when in fact one may be points out, can be seen as a difference of making demands on the perpetrator. emphasis between the political realists Using a different term, such as repent- and—at least in South Africa—the ance, reduces the possibility of confusing priests, like Archbishop Tutu. Despite my the tasks facing the victim with those vocation I find myself, though not totally, facing the perpetrator. siding with the realists, taking their There is a second reason for this. Peo- points very seriously and being cautious ple often confuse forgiveness and recon- ciliation. Understanding forgiveness as (a) something that victims are called to ‘Justice is hugely controversial in do whenever and however they can, and (b) something that the perpetrator re- Northern Ireland, because whatever side ceives may lead to the conclusion that if of the fence you’re sitting on you will both occur we have reconciliation. Yet have your opinion of justice. It’s very perpetrators need to do far more than receive forgiveness for reconciliation to painful and it’s very hard to watch, but it exist. has to be faced and I believe that They need to admit the specific wrong victims in Northern Ireland want to face they have done. They need to take full it. I believe some perpetrators want to responsibility for it, as Duncan stresses. They need to apologise for it—and that face it as well, and have made some is different from merely ‘regretting’ it. steps to face the truth and start again ...’ They need to make restitution. And they

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 31 about the ambitions of the ‘priests’. of the mechanisms it used to survive was In the South African case, in practice to freeze each of the civil-war sides into too much emphasis was put on the task a political bloc with no reconciliation. of victims to forgive, and too little on the What finally began to unfreeze the task of repentance. One might not like bloc was the advent of the pragmatists the religious connotations of the term ‘re- in the mid-60s, who were willing to move pentance’, but I have yet to find a word away from the civil-war rhetoric. The fact that includes as many of the challenges that this did not happen until then is in- facing perpetrators—which may be a structive: time allowed space for the thaw comment on the difficulty secular soci- to develop. It may be that because we are ety has in facing up to the need for re- now in a much faster-changing world we pentance. As Duncan points out, secular do not need the same amount of time— courts do not deal with the issue. Nor did but I would be cautious about such a the South African TRC, at least directly. conclusion. For good reasons, amnesty did not de- I would dearly want to see repentance, pend on the willingness of perpetrators justice, truth and—in so far as victims to repent. can stumble their way on that awful jour- In our context we do not agree about ney—forgiveness. I do not like living in a our past, our present or our future. Again, society where so much wrong goes Duncan usefully highlights that a unrepented. But at the formal political strength of the agreement is that it al- level, and at other levels of our society, lows all parties to hold on to their differ- we may have to put up with considerably ent versions of history. And this may less. That may be sufficient for us to buy work; only time will tell. It is worth not- the 50 years we need to allow the past to ing the experience of the south in this be somewhat more past than it is. respect. Duncan’s statement that ‘our real po- After the civil war of 1921-23 there litical difficulty is accepting as partners was very little repentance or offer of for- those who we have not forgiven and can- giveness. There was precious little jus- not forgive’ is a more accurate statement tice and not much truth. Yet the south about unionists than nationalists. For survived. That survival is perhaps taken many unionists their problem is working for granted too easily. In the context of in government with Sinn Féin, in the the time it could have collapsed as a state absence of any republican confession or any time up to the end of 1945. But one apology. The issue for nationalists is

32 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 different: they need assurance that the undo it? institutions of the state will reflect their It may be that what the Catholic com- ‘Irishness’ and that they will be admin- munity really wants is acknowledgment istered fairly. of the wrongs done against it by the state, Beyond that there is another issue: by unionists and by loyalists. But if this resentment. The key task for the Catho- is so, then a parallel task arises for na- lic community is to let go of resentment. tionalists: to recognise the wrongs they That is not quite the same as forgiveness: have done against the state and union- forgiveness should be concerned with ists. Not a vague, general recognition that actual wrongs, not merely perceived wrong happens in ‘wars’ but a specific wrongs. I am not suggesting that the acknowledgment that specific acts were Catholic community suffers only from wrong. If we need a Bloody Sunday in- perceived wrongs, but to get rid of resent- quiry to recognise that the Derry mur- ment we have to be able to specify what ders were wrong, we need the same about the wrong was, who committed it, and Kingsmills and Enniskillen—and, I what they owe us to get rid of it. would argue, about the whole republican Duncan frequently alludes to the con- ‘armed struggle’ as well as instances of nection between letting go of debts and Catholic sectarianism. forgiveness. This is the emphasis present Is, then, the Catholic task more to deal in the gospels: ‘Forgive us our trespasses’ with resentment and that for Protestants reads in some versions ‘Forgive us our more to deal with offering forgiveness in debts’. But before one can forgive debts the absence of repentance? And what is one has to specify what they are. Then the difference between these two tasks? either the debtor gives what they owe or If one accepts that reconciliation is one cancels the debt. Either way, both made up of the four elements of forgive- know where they stand. Resentment can ness, repentance, justice and truth, then often be about wrongs that are unspeci- a final question arises. Is reconciliation fied or where the perpetrator is unspeci- the most appropriate thing for us to be fied. For instance, when nationalists say seeking in politics? Or should we be look- the British did us harm, which British ing for something less ambitious, such as are we talking about, and what is the ‘political healing’ or ‘a way to live in mod- harm they did? And when? What would est peace for the future’? In Northern Ire- it take to undo that harm? Or is it—and land today, each would be ambition this is very often the case—impossible to enough. DD

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 33 Commemoration and remembering

BrandonHamber

ecently, while reading the diary of Deneys Reitz—best known in South RAfrica for writing about his experiences as an Afrikaner in the Anglo- Boer war of 1899-1902 and then in the first world war—I came across some of his thoughts about the Irish. Reitz (2000: 365) wrote of how, following his par- ticipation in the war (ironically then on the side of the British), he had gone to Ireland, arriving shortly after the Easter rising:

During one stage of the war, I had served with the 7th Irish Rifles in France and it struck me then as it struck me now, that the Irish politically resemble our Dutch- speaking element in South Africa. We too are more concerned with the sentiment- alisms of the past than with the practical questions of today and tomorrow.

Regardless of its provocative nature, this assertion made me realise how far back

34 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 comparisons between South Africa and is filled with emotion. Even Nelson Ireland have been made. It also made me Mandela has argued at times that the consider whether such comparisons arise past needs to be forgotten in the interests from ‘sentimentalisms’, rather than of peace. In 1996, at the inauguration of systematic social or political analysis. the Enoch Makanyi Sontonga Memorial Obvious as it sounds, South Africa and in Johannesburg, he said (Hayes, 1998: Northern Ireland are very different 48): ‘Let’s forget the past, and concentrate places. Their similarity lies not so much on the present.’ in the structure of their conflicts, but in Countries coming through conflict their psychological outcomes. This is tend, in the name of pragmatism, to gloss typified by the responses of individuals, over the fissures caused by decades of ranging from those who minimise the antagonism. Although this may be conflict and deny any complicity to those necessary in the short term, dealing with who have experienced extreme trauma the past—and the needs of victims of and repression. political violence—is a continuing re- Reitz also conveys another myth— quirement, albeit difficult and fraught. that some Irish, particularly now in And dealing genuinely with the past, and Northern Ireland, are especially stuck in the experiences of those victimised by it, the past. All societies coming out of is as much about looking back as it is conflict draw on history to arm them- about pragmatism in the present. selves for the confrontations of the present, which for the most part are real, outh Africa attempted to deal with historically and materially based. The the victims of apartheid violence extent to which the past is used, and its S largely through one approach, the cultural and social manifestations, may Truth and Reconciliation Commission. vary, but in all conflicts the ghosts of the South Africa did not invent the truth past enshroud the divisions of today. commission—since 1974 there have been The way the past is used in Northern 15 around the world—but the TRC was to Ireland has its peculiarities, but it is not capture the world’s attention. exceptional. This was partly due to the inter- Reitz also implies that it is preferable national interest in the fight against to deal with ‘the practical questions’ of apartheid. The South African model also here and now, rather than spend time promised an alternative way of peacefully looking back—especially when the past resolving entrenched differences. So the

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 35 notion of using a truth commission to deal in December 1995 and ended, technically with political conflict gained momentum: at least, when the commission handed its Indonesia, Sierra Leone and Northern 3,500-page report to then President Ireland are flirting with the idea. But Mandela in October 1998. how well did South Africa fare? The amnesty process still continues. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that About 20,000 people came forward and without the compromises made during told how they had been victimised under the negotiations to ensure majority rule apartheid. More than 7,000 people the country would have gone up in applied for amnesty and, to date, nearly flames. From this perspective, the 800 have received amnesty for such agreement by the African National crimes as murder and torture. Congress to grant amnesty to perpetrat- Public acknowledgment of past crimes ors of apartheid violence was a pragmatic was the TRC’s greatest success. The brutal choice. Amnesty was the cost—a high one horrors of apartheid found their way, via for victims—of saving innumerable lives the media, into the living-room of every lost had the conflict continued. South African. An undeniable historical Unlike in Chile, amnesty in South record was created, and it will be very Africa was neither blanket nor auto- difficult for anyone to deny the impact of matic: conditions applied and the TRC was apartheid violence. the vehicle. Perpetrators of political For a minority of victims, suppressed violence, from every side, had to disclose truths about the past were also uncov- full details of past crimes. Simply put, it ered. In some cases, missing bodies were was agreed that justice would be located, exhumed and respectfully overlooked, provided the perpetrators buried. For others, the confessions of told the truth. Truth was considered vital perpetrators brought answers to prev- to understanding what had happened, iously unsolved political crimes—crimes assisting victims to come to terms with which the courts, due to expense and the past and preventing its repetition. inefficiency, might never have tried. Victims of political violence were also Yet for many the TRC began a process given the opportunity to tell their stories. it was unable to complete. Many victims The TRC then made recommendations felt let down, and no closer to the truth regarding possible reparations, as well than before they told of their suffering. as proposals to prevent future human- Irrespective of the feasibility of in- rights violations. The TRC process began vestigating every case, victims’ high

36 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 expectations were dashed, and in their eyes this undermined the commission’s ‘I don’t think actually that what we’re credibility. going to arrive at is a truth commission. Justice has remained a burning issue. Politicians may have been able to justify I think we’re going much more to see a the exchange of formal justice for peace, series of truth processes that are going but it has been difficult for victims to to be painful for everybody, because I watch while the perpetrators have received amnesty. don’t think there is any right or wrong. I Moreover, the government of Thabo don’t think that anybody is going to Mbeki has been slow in responding to the come out of that process with their head TRC. More than two years since the held high and nobody is going to come proposals for reparations were tabled, they still have not been discussed in out and say: we were clean. Nobody Parliament; nor, indeed, have the TRC’s was clean over the last 30 years.’ broader recommendations. There have also been debates about the wider merits of the commission. At the very least, the reconciliation project— this perspective, the commission also the TRC at its helm—brought South Africa missed the bigger picture by defining through the transition with relative victims only as those who experienced political stability. The humanist ap- intentional physical violence. Those who proach of Messrs Mandela and Tutu were not victimised directly in this way brought compassion to an extremely but suffered more broadly from the brutalised country. Despite the horrors economic ravages of apartheid were revealed by the TRC, glimmers of hu- excluded. Another, more cynical, view is manity shone through and provided some that the rapprochement between the old hope for the future. and new régimes was a strategy to For some, however, reconciliation has consolidate a new black élite under the become a mere euphemism for the banner of reconciliation. compromises made during the political These different perspectives demon- negotiations—compromises that sus- strate the complexity of issues of tained white control of the economy at oppression and violence, and how past the expense of structural change. From events shape the process of reconciliation.

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 37 In South Africa, the balance of power the past cannot be put off forever. dictated the terms of the amnesty: the In Namibia, 10 years after inde- ANC had too little power to prosecute the pendence, there are now vocal calls from perpetrators of apartheid violence, but victims for an investigation into the enough to impose amnesty conditions. atrocities committed by the South West Africa People’s Organisation in its camps. auding South Africa for its innovative In Mozambique, people felt that a truth approach—trading truth for am- commission would be too risky, given the Lnesty—is meaningless without extent of violence committed by all sides referring to its context. South Africa’s during the civil war. But the past approach to reconciliation cannot be continues to play itself out, as people applied elsewhere without first analysing struggle to rebuild their lives in the power relations in that society. communities reeling from years of While there may be sufficient political violence, injustice and suspicion. space in Northern Ireland for the re- opening of the inquiry into the Bloody truth commission is just one vehicle Sunday massacre of 1972, it is unlikely of reconciliation: commissions of that its politicians and the British A inquiry, tribunals and grassroots government would agree to a broad truth initiatives can also help victims and commission embracing all the events of perpetrators come to terms with the past. recent decades. In the context of its Strategies for dealing with the past can ‘imperfect’ peace, most parties fear that also include the documentation of victims’ uncovering the truth could weaken their stories—in the form of books, archives, position and increase tension, rather poetry, writing, theatre and song—as well than advancing peace at this stage as more structured truth-telling pro- (Hamber, 1998). A truth commission cesses, ranging from counselling to should be used to consolidate peace after commemoration through monuments a formal agreement has been secured, not and rituals. Governments, voluntary mistakenly used to try to make peace. groups, communities or individuals can This does not mean questions of truth adopt such approaches individually or, and justice will disappear in Northern ideally, in partnership. Ireland, or elsewhere. While power Their importance, however, is in relations shape the path a country follows drawing public awareness to the plight in the post-conflict phase, dealing with of the victims of the past. They should be

38 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 used to mend relationships, not to were killed or ‘disappeared’. But, in one alienate those from different com- way or another, we all resist the truth munities. Many stories of the hardships about the past coming to the surface: each and violence of the past in Northern one of us is fearful. Ireland are inevitably untold; these A South African colleague, Grahame stories will need to (and will) filter into Hayes, eloquently captures this resist- the public space. The challenge is for ance (Hayes, 1998: 46): policy-makers, government and com- the perpetrators fear the truth because of munities to find frameworks to deal with the guilt of their actions; the benefactors this eventually. fear the truth because of the ‘silence’ of their A truth commission is only one, complicity; some victims fear the truth limited, institutional framework. More because of the apprehension of forgetting importantly, a continuous process of through the process of forgiveness; and other victims fear the truth because it is dealing with the needs of victims should too painful to bear. be put in place. A public debate on how best to deal with the past, and the needs He concludes that reconciliation takes of victims, is a necessary first step. place at the point where we struggle with Only one aspect in this debate is understanding our own personal resist- universal: victims have a right to truth, ance to uncovering the past. This is a justice and compensation in the wake of challenge to society at large, not just to political violence. These ‘universals’ can, those with political power. however, be more difficult to implement At the same time, we should not fall than at first glance. In the so-called into the simplistic trap of arguing that interests of peace-making and political revealing (telling the truth) is instantly stability, leaders—and, often, the major- healing. Dealing with the truth, once it ity of people in a country—may limit is out, is a complex and difficult process, these rights. This pragmatic choice may which will plague Northern Ireland for have benefits in the short term but will decades. Nor does extensive trauma demand close attention as the peace counselling equate with dealing with the unfolds. past. Of course, victim support services Truth is a contested terrain in the are necessary, but an over-emphasis on post-conflict phase. Perhaps we would all counselling and support can deflect agree that victims have the right to know attention from the other needs of what happened to their loved ones who survivors.

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 39 Many victims are unlikely to divorce achieved a necessary balance between the questions of truth, justice, the ensuring peace and guaranteeing some labelling of responsibility for violations, truth and victim support. Yet without compensation and official acknow- broad, structural change, and continuing ledgement from the healing process. recognition that victims’ rights to justice Therein lies the challenge: we can and reparation have been violated envisage setting up sufficient support through the peace process, it is unlikely services for all victims of political the TRC will ever be judged to have been violence, but integrating their other sufficient. needs—perhaps overridden in the name of peace, such as the right to justice—is his provides some perspective on the infinitely more complex. debate as to how Northern Ireland Models and policy initiatives need to T can best remember, and commemo- look to the individuality of victims and rate, the past, and deal with victims and their particular context, and to the long survivors. The rights to justice, truth and term. Governments supervising trans- reparation are real for victims of politi- ition may find themselves at odds with cal violence, and these principles need to victims, even communities, as the desire be agreed. And it needs to be understood to move on politically is normally more that, for the survivor of political violence, rapid than for individuals. Individual truth, justice and reparation are linked. recovery, over time, is linked to the Truth complements justice, justice can reconstruction of social and economic reveal the truth, and reparation is not networks, and of cultural identity only a right but is integral to the rule of (Summerfield, 1995: 25). law and to the survivor’s trust in a just South Africa attempted to meet these future. Reparation (and often punish- multiple needs through the TRC. But even ment) is the symbolic marker that tells the commission was a flawed process: did the survivor justice has been done; sim- it uncover enough of the truth and did it ply put, justice is reparation (Hamber, offer victims sufficient support, to offset Nageng and O’Malley, 2000). the denial of their rights in the name of These rights, and the complex needs peace? Inadequate reparations and the of survivors with regard to truth, justice compromise of amnesty exacerbated the and reparation, may not be attainable problem. due to compromises made to ensure It has been argued that South Africa peace. But, if so, policy-makers and

40 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 government will be required to deal as limitations of western psychiatric models’, best they can with the legitimate frus- in R J Kelber, C R Figley and B P R Gersons (eds), Beyond Trauma: Cultural trations of victims whose rights have and Societal Dynamics, New York: Plenum been violated—a less than ideal position. Press Finally, I would return to Deneys Reitz. The maintenance of peace and social reconstruction in Northern Ireland will undoubtedly become the ‘practical work of today and tomorrow’ over the Response next few years. But if we want to foster genuine reconciliation in the region (and in South Africa, for that matter), we must AvilaKilmurray have the courage to walk headlong into, and deal with, the ‘sentimentalisms of he past need not always haunt us, but the past’—a process that may take as can offer pragmatic solutions in the long as the past itself. DD T present if we are prepared to deal with it in a genuine manner. This is a Bibliography particularly important point in Ireland, Hamber, B (ed) (1998), Past Imperfect: Dealing where we are often accused of dwelling with the Past in Northern Ireland and on the past. Societies in Transition, Derry: University of But it is difficult to talk about dealing Ulster and INCORE Hamber, B, Nageng, D and O’Malley, G (2000), genuinely with the past when we are still ‘Telling it like it is … survivors’ perceptions in the midst of a political struggle over of the Truth and Reconciliation the present and the future. Perceptions Commission’, Psychology in Society 26, 18- of history are an important part of that 42 Hayes, G (1998), ‘We suffer our memories: struggle, which has sharpened around thinking about the past, healing and the issue of victims—indeed around the reconciliation’, American Imago 55, 1, very definition of the word. spring Reitz, D (2000), The Deneys Reitz Trilogy: Brandon commented on the import- Adrift on the Open Veld: The Anglo-Boer ance of leadership rooted in compassion, War and its Aftermath 1899-1943, Western rather than partisan passion. One of the Cape: Stormberg Publishers most dismal legacies of the years since Summerfield, D (1995), ‘Addressing human responses to war and atrocity: major the Belfast agreement has been the challenges in research practices and the spectacle of party-political struggle over

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 41 the ‘ownership’ of victims. Brandon referred to the variety of While the concern of some politicians potential approaches to recording the is undoubtedly compassionate, for others experiences of victims and perpetrators any compassion has been selective. (and those who were both). Diverse Perhaps we need a firmer sense of approaches have been piloted in North- political stability to secure that leader- ern Ireland; many have much to ship, although in South Africa the latter recommend them. Certainly, variety is was instrumental in establishing necessary to reflect the different needs stability itself. of victims themselves. If we engage in Nor is the necessary confidence to recording stories, however, we need to be confront issues of truth and justice yet able to deal with the messages—often apparent in Northern Ireland (or, for that conflicting messages—emerging from matter, in Britain, where the government them. still finds it incredibly hard to come to The diversity of the interests, views, terms with having been an active experiences and responses of victims is protagonist in the violence of the last 30 worth underscoring. If we are to take years). It is difficult when so many commemoration and remembrance participants in the struggle still take seriously, we have to move beyond the refuge in moral certainties, a refuge they who-is-a-real-victim? issue; otherwise, then deny to others. we are in danger of creating more hurt and controversy. Brandon spoke of the need for clarity about the context. Unfortunately, that is ‘The most painful battle over the last the very thing that we do not have in few years has been over who is a victim Northern Ireland. Essentially, we still have two philosophical explanations of and who is not ... We’re still caught up the recent—and not so recent—past. in that: some deserved what they got There are those who see a sharply divided and some didn’t. It’s a very difficult society, formed on the basis of a sectarian discussion but a very important head-count, with endemic discrimination, leading to violence. As against this, there discussion in relation to are those who see Northern Ireland as a commemoration and remembrance.’ normal democratic society which exper- ienced an aggravated crime wave over

42 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 the past 30 years. issue for many people. This philosophical fault-line has There is also the question of disclosure destabilised the interpretation, and so by the state. This is often seen as a implementation, of the agreement. It has concession to republicans—and as also haunted discussion of the remem- unwarranted, given little corresponding brance and commemoration of victims of movement from that quarter. But should violence. the state and paramilitary movements be Remembrance can take place on a judged by the same criteria? Many would number of levels: private, public and argue that more should be expected of the social. We all remember the facts as we former. know them—or wish to know them. Public or social commemoration must Similarly, a local context will influence be inclusive if it is to contribute towards how we remember things. As the research overall healing. If not, it would do more by Smyth and Fay (2000) underlines, how harm than good. Northern Ireland is not people remember the violence and the yet at a stage where we could envisage a victims as a Protestant in south Armagh parallel to the Vietnam memorial wall in or west Fermanagh will be quite different Washington, with its naming of the from how a Catholic will remember in dead side by side. But there remain the inner north Belfast. options of developing a place—a forest, a So much of our remembrance is like a park or the like—as a sanctuary of kaleidoscope, but while we still have a remembrance. divided society it will be difficult to We are still at the stage of quiet, appreciate its full extent. This is why it private remembrance—better that than is very important to create space and commemoration that is combative in opportunity to exchange perceptions, to nature. We need to create a range of check out memories against those of spaces and develop a variety of ap- others. proaches. We also should be wary of One of the issues that dogs remem- remembrance being overtaken by brance is lack of disclosure. This, in turn, detached academic analysis, as this gives rise to conspiracy theories about might further disempower victims and what did, or did not, happen in cases of survivors. violent death or injury. Any effective Equally, we have to develop the disclosure would require amnesty shared context and confidence that will arrangements—and that is a difficult allow remembrance to be open to a more

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 43 general discussion and, where necessary, challenge. We need to work to create an inclusive kaleidoscope. What we cannot allow is that we be told to ‘draw a line in the sand’—forget about the past and move on. As Brandon suggested, it is crucial that we learn to deal with the past in a positive manner. In any case, lines in the sand are

invariably washed away. DD

Bibliography Smyth, M and Fay, Marie-Therese (eds) (2000), Personal Accounts from Northern Ireland’s Troubles: Public Conflict, Private Loss, London: Pluto Press

44 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Killings by the state

BillRolston 1971-73, there were 160 state killings, 45 per cent of the total of such deaths. want to focus on one category of vic- Civilian deaths constitute the largest tims—those killed by state forces dur- category of victims of state killings—over I ing the Northern Ireland conflict. 50 per cent. Almost all such victims were Much of this chapter is based on inter- unarmed; the vast majority—86 per views with 20 families who have cam- cent—were Catholic. The next largest paigned for truth and justice in relation category is republican paramilitaries, to the death of their loved ones at the accounting for 37 per cent of state kill- hands of the state (Rolston, 2000). ings. Remarkably few loyalist para- State forces have been responsible for militaries were victims of state killings— 10 per cent of all deaths during the con- only 4 per cent of the total. All but two of flict. The major perpetrator in state kill- the latter killings occurred before 1975. ings has been the army, responsible for over 82 per cent. Next has come the Royal any human-rights activists have Ulster Constabulary, at approximately 15 referred to those killed by state per cent. M forces as ‘forgotten victims’. They State killings figured largely in the would argue that there have in effect early days of the conflict. There were 62 been two classes of victims: ‘deserving’ deaths attributable to state forces before and ‘undeserving’. The latter were pre- the most-publicised instance, Bloody sumed less than innocent or, worse, Sunday, in January 1972. The worst year downright culpable—implicated in their for state killings was 1972, when 83 peo- own fate. Thus, at the top of the hier- ple died as a result. In the three years archy of victims, were those deemed

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 45 ‘innocent’—usually women and children, To draw attention to victims of state usually killed by paramilitaries. At the killings was to risk being labelled ‘soft bottom were members of those same on terrorism’. Criticism of the state’s hu- paramilitary groups killed by state man-rights record was usually con- forces; they often attracted little wide- demned as ‘playing into the hands of the spread sympathy outside the communi- terrorists’. It was even worse for relatives ties from which they drew support. who dared to demand disclosure or pros- Raising the issue of state killings ecutions: to agitate for such was to draw while the violence raged was difficult. down the wrath of state forces. Vilifica- First, there was an unquestioned belief tion of the dead was echoed in the treat- that the state does not act as a terrorist, ment of those who sought truth and and does not kill without reason or justi- justice. fication. Secondly, there was a presump- In most cases, those interviewed said tion of ‘no smoke without fire’, despite they had never been officially informed protestations of innocence. Thirdly, these by the RUC or anyone else that the killing deep prejudices and presumptions were had taken place. Others were informed disseminated by powerful institutions, by the police or the army in the most cal- especially the media. And there was de- lous of ways. As Peter McBride’s body lay liberate misinformation and manipula- in his house awaiting burial, soldiers tion of the media by state forces, ensuring drove past shouting ‘One down. One nil’. that a partial or downright false story When Kevin McGovern’s mother phoned was the first in the public domain, and the RUC to inquire about her son, she was therefore the most likely to be believed told: ‘You’ll get his body in Magherafelt and remembered. morgue.’ Such was the power of this ideology For many, the first intimation of the that it was possible in the cases of state death was an RUC raid on their home. In violence to override the most basic right such cases, relatives were convinced that to presumed innocence. Thus, it was usu- the police were on a ‘fishing exercise’, ally presumed (indeed, often stated) in searching for some information that official accounts that children killed by might allow them to tarnish the name of plastic bullets were involved, or at the victim and thereby excuse their own least caught up, in riots—the implication involvement. Misinformation about the being that there was contributory character of the dead person was high- negligence. lighted by all interviewees.

46 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 In each case of state killing there have been two opposed versions: that of the ‘I think as citizens we need the truth. state and that of relatives and human- rights campaigners. There is one way out For those of us who have supported the of the dilemma of deciding which is cor- state and the security forces in the past, rect. The state has the resources to be we particularly need to know who it is much more than an uninformed observer: we are being loyal to, what they’ve been it has the means to investigate these kill- ings as systematically as those of every up to and whether or not we can other person killed in the conflict. Has it mitigate that loyalty with a dose of what done so? they’ve been up to.’ The emphatic answer is ‘no’. For ex- ample, campaigners in the case of the death of Louis Leonard pointed out that the RUC had made no attempt to seal off later. the scene of the crime: ‘There was no in- Loretta Lynch, a campaigner in the vestigation. Louis’ case was a murder in case of Mr Leonard, summed up the con- a small village and it was never treated clusion of many relatives: ‘Not only was like you would imagine a murder to be there no investigation, but there was a treated.’ The experience was similar for concerted effort not to investigate.’ Nor the family of Carol Ann Kelly: ‘There was are such comments confined to relatives. never a proper investigation into Carol After examining the RUC’s investigation Ann’s death. They didn’t do any meas- of the killing of six men in north Armagh urements or take statements from wit- in 1982, the then deputy chief constable nesses. A lot of the local people went to of Greater Manchester, John Stalker, con- Woodburn Barracks to give statements cluded: ‘The files were little more than a and they were told it wasn’t necessary.’ collection of statements, apparently pre- Even the most obvious of police rou- pared for a coroner’s inquiry. They bore tines—the interviewing of those involved no resemblance to my idea of a murder in killing—was often ignored. For exam- prosecution file.’ ple, the SAS undercover soldiers who Yet families found themselves targets killed three IRA members in Gibraltar for undue attention by the RUC and the were whisked back to England immedi- army. The harassment was usually ver- ately and only interviewed two weeks bal and highly offensive. The family of

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 47 Charles Breslin were subjected to numer- for Northern Ireland introduced in 1981, ous taunts, such as ‘Charlie’s a Tetley tea inquests can only record findings as to bag’—a reference to the fact that he had the identity of the dead person and how, been shot at least 13 times. The brother when and where he or she died. In addi- of Seamus Duffy, killed by a plastic bul- tion, public interest immunity certificates let fired by the RUC, was frequently har- were frequently issued, preventing dis- assed: ‘Do you want to be the next?’ he closure of information on grounds of ‘na- was asked. The younger brother of Pearse tional security’. Police and soldiers Jordan, shot dead by the RUC, received implicated in the death did not have to similar treatment. appear, but could send unsworn state- This harassment was not confined to ments. relatives of republican activists. Moreo- ver, it increased the more the relatives any of those interviewed were ada- became involved in political action to mant that they did not want to see achieve justice. Robert Hamill was killed Manyone imprisoned for killing their by a Protestant mob in Portadown; his relative; given how much they had suf- family claim police nearby did nothing fered, this showed remarkable tolerance to intervene. According to his sister and magnanimity. Others insisted that Diane, commenting on the attention she they wanted to see prosecutions, but a and her family had received from the court case was seen as a means to an police, ‘If we had not stood up and said end—the truth. this was wrong, they would probably not At one level ‘truth’ refers specifically have given us so much hassle.’ to the facts: there is no closure without Despite the odds against them, many disclosure. But, fundamentally, even if relatives hoped to gain some satisfaction the facts, including the names of the by having their day in court—a trial or perpetrators, are already well-known— inquest. But there have been very few and in many cases they are—relatives prosecutions in relation to state killings. demand official acknowledgment of And very few of these have led to custo- wrongdoing. dial sentences. Even then, the guilty were Kathleen Duffy, whose son Seamus often released within a few years. was killed by a plastic bullet, put it this Moreover, the experience of the in- way: ‘I just cannot understand how we quest was usually a frustrating one. As a don’t get recognition. It’s the same hurt, result of changes in the coroners’ rules the same as any other murder … I want

48 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 the same recognition as everyone else. I Some commentators have suggested don’t want to be any different. I want to the Saville inquiry into Bloody Sunday be on the same footing as any other could become a mini-version. The mother whose son has been murdered. I Bloomfield report on victims proposed think I have the right to that.’ policies to allow relatives access to edu- How can the relatives achieve this ac- cation and business start-up; similar poli- knowledgment? One mechanism which cies emerged, for example, from the truth has been tried in at least 19 societies in commission in Chile. The criminal- the past two decades—including, most justice review recommended a broad recently, South Africa and Guatemala— range of reforms. Finally, out of the agree- is a truth commission. ment came a human rights commission, A truth commission marks a symbolic alongside the UK-wide incorporation of break with the horror of the previous the European Convention on Human régime. It states unequivocally that what Rights into domestic law. the state did—torture, ‘disappearances’ But what distinguishes the current and killings with impunity—was wrong situation from that in most societies em- and should never recur. In conjunction barking on a truth commission is an ab- with other legal and political changes, it sence of consensus on the legitimacy and may mark a turning point. Although a purpose of these innovations. There are truth commission may appear simply three ways in which these events are rep- symbolic, it is intended to underwrite a resented. new consensus about human rights— First, the changes are described as, without which there is no assurance that at best, unnecessary and, worse, an at- the future will be any different. tack on respectable institutions which Some have argued that we are already have proven their worth in the defence at that point in Northern Ireland, and of democracy—in effect, a victory for that elements of a definitive break with ‘terrorism’. This is the position of many the past are present in mechanisms es- unionists. tablished by the Belfast agreement. The Secondly, the reforms are presented Patten commission on the reform of the as a welcome and appropriate recogni- RUC held a number of well-attended and tion of political change. The ‘terrorist animated public meetings, leading some menace’ is potentially gone forever, so of the commissioners to conclude that it there is an opportunity to professionalise was the equivalent a truth commission. and modernise institutions. Such

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 49 changes do not, however, constitute any political problems. The South African criticism of the past. This position is held Truth and Reconciliation Commission by the British government. proves that. Thirdly, the changes are deemed Although it gained wider support in cosmetic and likely to be superficial. the society than might have been imag- They do not represent the root-and- ined and led to remarkable instances of branch transformation required to disclosure and reconciliation, the TRC was achieve a break with the past. This is the criticised by some of those it might have position of republicans and some other been expected most to help. Thus, the nationalists. family of the murdered black-conscious- So, we are not even at the stage at ness activist Steve Biko objected to the which other countries had arrived when trade-off of amnesty in return for disclo- they established their truth commissions. sure. Even those who reluctantly ac- Nor does it follow that—if and when cepted the necessity of such a compromise we did arrive at that point—a truth com- ended up feeling a sense of anti-climax. mission would magically solve all our All their eggs, as it were, had been placed in one basket. No one event, no matter how wide-ranging, could hope to give eve- ryone a sense of accomplishment. For those who had suffered at the hands of the apartheid state there was the realisation that some of those respon- sible were never going to own up, that the truth would not be total, and that there would be often little more than a begrudging acknowledgment of injustice. And because the TRC was a one-off event, there was no second chance to bring about a closure. Despite this and other shortcomings, the TRC had one irrefutable benefit for victims: it acknowledged the suffering they had experienced, it vindicated their

Theargumentofforce—attendinganIRAfuneralinCoTyrone demands for equal recognition, and it laid

50 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 down a powerful social marker of con- motivated prisoners. To ‘sweeten the pill’ demnation of the actions of the state for many victims and relatives, there was in the past and of good intent for the a balancing commitment to addressing future. their plight. The Bloomfield report off- Does this mean that there should be ered a welcome focus but the sting in the a truth commission in Northern Ireland? tail of this new-found concern was the Some relatives say yes—aware that, as ‘forgotten victims’ and their supporters. in South Africa, they may have to com- Relatives of those killed by the state promise. Truth may require less than full have argued for equality of treatment, as justice, especially in terms of prosecu- held out by the agreement, and have won tions. Their compromise would be seen a place in the debate. But that debate is as the price that must be paid for build- not yet over. For some, inclusion has been ing a future society where the protection conceded begrudgingly; it is far short of of human rights is central. heartfelt acknowledgment of wrong done. That a truth commission however Elsewhere, truth commissions have seems unlikely—in the absence of a con- played a role in bringing about that ac- sensus in the society that there should knowledgment. Whatever the mecha- be such a mechanism—might suggest a nisms, true justice demands we reach pessimistic message. On the contrary, that point also. DD given that truth and justice cannot be guaranteed by one event—even one as Bibliography significant as a truth commission—it fol- Rolston, B (2000), Unfinished Business: State lows that truth has to be built through a Killings and the Quest for Truth, Belfast: patchwork of events and mechanisms. Beyond the Pale Publications Inquiries, prosecutions, the disclosure of documentation, public events and archiv- ing of memories can in the end contrib- ute to an acknowledgement that there are no second-class victims and that the campaigns of relatives of state victims have been justified. As a society, we are not yet at the point of inclusiveness. With the agreement came the decision to release politically-

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 51 the same community. This intimacy re- Response quires an approach to truth, justice and reconciliation that reflects this special nature of our conflict. DaveWall Bill accurately reflects that, in large part, victims are more concerned with believe that mechanisms must be knowing the truth than with retribution. found to enable a shared truth to be But I do not entirely concur with the view I told. These must be based on recon- that those calling for judicial inquiries see ciliation and reparation, not retribution. this only as a means of identifying truth. There are examples of processes from We live in a bitterly divided and puni- which we can learn, such as the South tive society. He reflects on the small African TRC. But whatever process we number of prosecutions of British soldiers adopt will have to be specifically designed but the early release of Pte Clegg and to meet our particular needs. others, and their return to the army, pro- Bill’s paper only comments on killings duced a very angry response. While this by the state. Certainly, the state has a was expressed in the language of equal particular responsibility to act within the treatment, there was certainly a strong law; failure to do so fundamentally element of concern for retribution. undermines all our human rights. In that Bill also reflects that other countries sense the state is deserving of special had a consensus enabling them to move attention in the search for truth. But the on to a truth-and-reconciliation process. great majority of killings in Northern In one sense that is correct: the TRC did Ireland have been carried out by follow extended and extensive discussion paramilitary organisations. across South Africa. Yet, while there was The combination of state and para- considerable consensus, in the end the co- military killings has left a bitterly divided operation of the agents of the apartheid society. Identification of the wrongdoings state, the security services, was only of the state alone is unlikely to achieve secured in exchange for amnesty. reconciliation. The violence has been very Therefore a truth-finding process (or intimate and localised. Victims often commission) comes as part of the know, or believe they know, who killed achievement of consensus, of restoring their loved one. Often these people have relationships. All sides have to believe lived in the same street, the same village, they have something to gain.

52 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 He does correctly identify the disillu- process. sionment of many in South Africa after We do not yet know what kind of pro- the conclusion of the TRC, but my under- cess, if any, will suit Northern Ireland in standing of its cause is that the South establishing a shared truth. It will not African government has failed to imple- be the same as in South Africa but we ment the recommendations in the TRC will not achieve a political peace without report about the compensation of victims. mutual recognition of the nature of the There is a view that there is an imbal- past. ance between an amnesty for perpetra- Dr Boraine identified three ways for- tors yet no compensation for victims. ward. First, we could ‘put the past be- hind us’ and engage in collective amne- uring the visits of Alex Boraine, vice- sia. But victims do not forget; to ignore chair of the TRC, to Belfast over the this re-victimises them. In South Africa Dpast two years, we discussed with a this was not considered a viable option wide variety of organisations and and it is not a sensible option for individuals the relevance of a truth- ourselves. finding process in Northern Ireland. The Secondly, we could hold a series of tri- vast majority of participants felt the als or prosecutions. Alleged perpetrators achievement of a shared truth was an would be charged and, if found guilty, important objective. Denial was not penalised. This approach has serious considered an option by many. How and limitations. Where would prosecutions when such a shared truth could be begin and end? Would it be possible to realised was, of course, not easy to reconcile different and conflicting com- identify; nor was the appropriate phasing munities if the resolution involved pun- with other political developments. ishment? Arms are still widely available The discussions so far indicate key in Northern Ireland and those who hold elements to address. First, whatever the them might seek revenge for any pun- process we adopt to achieve truth, it is ishment handed out. an essential requirement in our quest for Thirdly, we could develop a restora- peace. Secondly, we need extended and tive-justice approach, enable people to inclusive discussion and debate. Thirdly, tell the truth so everybody knows what and most importantly, we need to has happened, and contribute towards a establish the political and moral common history: who killed whom and authority to support a truth-finding why? This would acknowledge what had

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 53 happened and why it had happened, es- Africa to get perpetrators who acted on tablish accountability and responsibility behalf of the state to give evidence (many for those actions, and enable some peo- did but many in positions of command ple to say sorry and to move on. did not). Will it be even more difficult, where the state authorities have not hile there must be much fuller changed, for the state to give evidence? discussion with all stakeholders, Does this again point us in the direc- W the possibility of a structured tion of a series of inquiries, rather than truth-finding process will be dependent a truth commission? What does this in- on the ability of our politicians to achieve dicate about those inquiries in terms of a consensus on the way forward. amnesty for witnesses, reparation for Following on from Dr Boraine’s earlier victims and the relationship with any visits, it is now intended by September prosecutions? 2001 to submit to London and Dublin, I think inquiries will play a signifi- and the Office of the First Minister and cant role in the development of a consen- Deputy First Minister, a report ident- sus about the need for a defined process. ifying a programme of action that may As more evidence emerges of the truth of lead to a successful truth-finding process. our conflict, there will be greater need The South African TRC was born out on all sides to see the story from all sides, of a political settlement. While not all to develop a shared truth. sectors of South African society trusted In the same way that the Belfast the new government, it gave the agreement was established and its im- commission the authority and inde- plementation is continuing because there pendence to carry out its task without really is no other show in town, I believe interference. we will develop a consensus as to the need The difference between the nature for a defined and inclusive process of and role of the state in South Africa and truth-sharing. Inevitably, this will in- in Northern Ireland cannot be overem- volve trade-offs between perpetrators phasised. South Africa had a new state. and victims. It must be sensitive to our We will have the same state, albeit work- intensely localised conflict. It may well ing in a rapidly changing political envi- involve a combination of elements: in- ronment in the UK, Ireland and Europe. quiries about identified events, a more That state must also be part of any truth- general process for other incidents and finding process. It was difficult in South some mechanism for very local support

54 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 and mediation. Whatever the mix of mechanisms and ‘Ask the victims again what it is they strategies, it must be aimed at reconcili- ation and restoration. I do not believe want. Some of them say they want that a process based on retribution can inquiries, some of them say they rule produce closure. out the issue of prosecution and punishment altogether, but what most n its ‘Declaration of Support’, the Belfast agreement reflects the values say is they want the truth ... facts and I that will be at the heart of a truth- acknowledgment.’ finding process:

The tragedies of the past have left a deep and profoundly regrettable legacy of conflict? suffering. We must never forget those who have died or been injured, and their 2. How can we achieve a change that re- families. But we can best honour them moves the sense of the need to defeat the through a fresh start, in which we firmly other side? dedicate ourselves to the achievement of 3. How can we all learn to challenge our reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual own allegiances, to manage without the respect, and to the protection and comfort of our own reference group? vindication of human rights for all. 4. How can we begin a process of healing We are committed to partnership, equality in the absence of a political settlement? and mutual respect as the basis of What are the steps we must take; what relationships within Northern Ireland, between North and South and between is our goal? Is this completely independ- these islands. ent of the political process or are they intertwined? Our task must be to help the political 5. How can we avoid the dangers of those parties to identify a process that can lead who want to identify the ‘true’ victims, to a shared truth, based on these values. to establish a hierarchy of victims with I conclude with the following quest- the worthy and unworthy? ions taken from the report of one of Dr 6. Will our community be prepared to tol- Boraine’s visits (Boraine, 1999): erate an amnesty provision? Should this 1. What special measures are required be a blanket provision or relate to spe- to deal with our intensely localised cific incidents?

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 55 And, perhaps most importantly, and where Bill’s paper began: 7. Where there has been no radical change in government, how can the state be persuaded to tell the truth? DD

Bibliography Boraine, A et al (1999), All Truth is Bitter, Victim Support Unit Northern Ireland/ NIACRO: Belfast

56 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 The ‘discovery’ and treatment of trauma

MarieSmyth ignored, often at our peril. The psychologising of everyday life Trauma n (pl –ata, -as) wound, injury; (Shorter, 1997) and the decreased painful psychological experience etc, tolerance of psychic pain associated with emotional shock, esp as origin of neurosis. increased expectations of happiness Traumatic a (The Little Oxford Dict- (Giddens, 1993) provide a broader social ionary, 1969) context for any discussion of trauma. In Trauma (trow-mã) n (pl –mas –mata) 1. A his polemic on the history of psychiatry, wound or injury. Shorter (1997: 290) writes: 2. Emotional shock producing a lasting effect upon a person traumatise (trow-mã- Since ancient times, both boys and girls tiz) v (traumatized, traumatizing) have become anxious about scary stories. (Oxford American Dictionary, 1986) Yet it would have occurred to no one across the centuries to give psychiatric diagnoses rauma has more than one meaning to these anxieties about phantasms, not at and it is not always clear. The word least until the advent of ‘post traumatic stress disorder’ (PTSD), a syndrome initially is used to refer to both physical and T associated with the trauma of combat. psychological wounding. Perhaps this Whether a distinctive veteran’s psychiatric should suggest a more holistic ap- syndrome involving stress actually exists proach—that both the physical and is unclear. But even if it exists, once PTSD psychological be borne in mind. Moreover, became inserted in the official psychiatric in a culture increasingly influenced by lingo, the popular culture grabbed it and hopelessly trivialised it as a way of the popularisation of psychology, and by psychologising life experiences. By 1995, highly specialised and demarcated therapists were talking about ‘PTSD’ in services, material circumstances can be children exposed to movies like Batman.

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 57 According to one authority, 80 per cent of increased cultural and social intolerance children who had watched media coverage of psychic pain—allied with the growing of a crime hundreds of miles distant use of psychotropic drugs for the exhibited symptoms of ‘post traumatic management of unhappiness—and an stress’. The anxieties of children themselves were nothing new under the sun. New was increasingly individualised culture have psychiatry’s willingness to persuade created a context in which large, parents that the quotidian problems of undifferentiated numbers of people can maturation represent a distinct medical acceptably claim to have been traum- disorder. atised. Yet this can only increase the In this cultural climate, which Shorter demand on the diminishing supply of the deftly describes, ‘everyone is a victim’. milk of human kindness, and reduce the And terms such as ‘traumatised’ are used chances of those in dire need receiving to describe effects as disparate as their due share. responding to a film and witnessing the Nor do the supposedly more scientific killing of a close family member. The psychiatric frameworks such as PTSD assist, since they themselves are artefacts of the same social circum- stances. Young (1995) contextualises ‘It is extremely difficult to make a current thinking about trauma and generalised statement about what traumatic memory in the emergence of victims want—including that victims new concepts of human nature and consciousness and of psychiatry as a want the truth—because, in my medical speciality. PTSD does not exist as experience of working with people, an independent fact: we have invented it some people find the truth too difficult as a way of summarising and bringing together things that were understood to bear ... However, I do think that we differently—or perceived as unremark- need the truth and that’s a different able—in the past. statement. Let’s not hang the truth on the necks of the victims: they have ntil the advent of the Bloomfield report (Bloomfield, 1998), scant enough problems of their own to get on U systematic official attention had with ...’ been paid to those bereaved or injured in Northern Ireland’s ‘troubles’. This was,

58 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 in part, due to the exigencies of the times: ‘qualifies’ as a ‘victim’ in Northern physical survival, rather than psych- Ireland. These matters are far from ological well-being, was often the priority. simple, and meaning is often contested. Yet, even when the violence was at its The use of the term ‘trauma’ peak, there was a Criminal Injuries presupposes a universality of definition Compensation scheme (also reviewed by of experience and effects. Yet, as Bloomfield) and a property-related mentioned above, what is described as Criminal Damages scheme. traumatic in one set of circumstances Under the former, a determination of might be regarded as inconsequential in emotional distress was required for another. Attempts to systematise a eligibility. This depended heavily on the definition, through the International opinions of psychiatrists who applied the Classification of Diseases (ICD) or the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Psychiatrists Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), were employed as expert witnesses by have raised further problems—as the both the plaintiff and the state, yet little origins and history of the PTSD category consideration has been paid to the illustrate. possible impact of these financial arrangements on diagnostic practice. n war and other chronic danger, There have been suggestions that combatants and civilians experience psychiatrists in Northern Ireland have I severe and persistent fear. Such fear adopted the PTSD diagnosis much less is, predictably, greater for some. Those frequently than their counterparts whose lives are in extreme jeopardy, such elsewhere in the UK. One might conclude as combatants, are supposedly equipped that this might have assisted the state by their training to find ways of in limiting its expenditure on compens- managing high levels of fear. Others, not ation, and would have had ramifications so trained or habituated, or who have for its distribution. particular sensitivities, may experience Thus, the determination of the strong fear, even when facing lesser risk. existence of ‘trauma’—its recognition, its Such severe fear produces a range of manifestation in particular forms—or the effects, variously described over the last lack of attention paid to it are influenced century, arising from the experience by financial, social, professional and of soldiers in the first world war political factors. Elsewhere (Smyth, and subsequent conflicts: ‘cowardice’, 1998), I have discussed the issue of who ‘shell-shock’, ‘hysteria’, ‘malingering’,

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 59 ‘commotional shock’, ‘soldier’s heart’ and War-related trauma entered the ‘disordered action of the heart’. After diagnostic system through a series of World War I, such conditions were dealt debates and struggles relating to the with by methods ranging from court- experience of Vietnam veterans: the PTSD martial to psychiatry. diagnosis as it appeared in the DSM was The psychiatric approach was rather based on their experience. The standard inconsistent and sometimes brutal. tour of duty in Vietnam was 12-13 Sufferers could be treated by electric months and most veterans served only ‘faradisation’ at the hands of Yealland, or one, though some did two or even three. by the ‘talking cure’ advocated by W H R Most returned between 1964 and 1975 Rivers (Showalter, 1987). Hunter (1946) but the PTSD diagnosis first appeared in pointed out that the army was the 1980. patient, even though the individual This led to anxiety on the part of the soldier was being treated: the goal was authorities about the financial imp- to get the latter back on duty so that the lications of providing treatment for war could be won. A fictionalised account service-related disorders, now including of the associated moral and clinical PTSD. Shorter (1997: 304) described these dilemmas is provided in Pat Barker’s developments thus: novel, Regeneration. In the years after 1971, the Vietnam Young (1995) discusses the so-called veterans represented a powerful interest DSM-III revolution, when the Council on group. They believed their difficulties in re- Research and Development of the entering American society were psychiatric American Psychiatric Association in nature and could only be explained as a established a task force to take diagnosis result of the trauma of war. In language that anticipated ‘the struggle for towards a standardised classification of recognition’ of numerous later illness conditions. The DSM-III, and subsequent attributions, such as repressed memory editions of the manual, aimed to establish syndrome, the veterans and their a research-based system of classification psychiatrists argued that ‘delayed massive of diseases common to all theoretical trauma’ could produce subsequent ‘guilt, orientations within psychiatry and rage, and the feeling of being scape-goated, psychic numbing, and alienation’. In early psychology, tested in clinical trials and 1973, the National Council of Churches meeting validity challenges. None of the organised a First National Conference on research, however, was conducted in the Emotional Needs of Vietnam-Era societies undergoing conflict. Veterans. Out of this grew a nation wide

60 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 campaign to persuade recalcitrant Vietnam, in Northern Ireland exposure psychiatric establishments to recognise the to conflict has lasted for almost three new disease. Once it became known how decades, which may well merit an easily the APA’s Nomenclature Committee examination of the applicability of PTSD had given way on homosexuality, it was clear that psychiatrists could be rolled. as a framework in long-standing civil conflicts. The more recent differentiation PTSD first appeared in the third edition of between ‘type one’ and ‘type two’ trauma the DSM, replacing the earlier ‘gross stress remains inadequate in the face of ongoing reaction’, a passing response to intol- experience of violence. And the pop- erable stress. The DSM now specified that ulation of the region—particularly police the stress should be ‘outside the range of officers and locally-recruited soldiers, usual human experience’ and be suf- paramilitary combatants and residents ficient to evoke ‘significant symptoms of of militarised areas—have not left the distress in most people’. The DSM then ‘war zone’: this is not ‘post-trauma’ listed symptoms: persistent and dis- experience. tressing re-experiencing of the traumatic Voluntary organisations offering event, dreams, flashbacks, intrusive support to those affected by the ‘troubles’ images, numbing, avoidance of situations experienced a rapid increase in requests that trigger memories of the traumatic for help after the 1994 ceasefires in event, hyper-vigilance evidenced through Northern Ireland and on subsequent sleep disorders, inability to concentrate, occasions when the level of violence irritability and so on. diminished. This suggests it is only in the PTSD was developed to deal with the post-conflict phase that the full reactions of soldiers who saw between 12 psychological and emotional impact of and 39 months of combat. It was also armed conflict can emerge, yet help is developed according to symptomatology also required while conflict continues. that appeared after the soldiers were The diagnostic criteria for PTSD removed from the war zone, and where differentiate between acute and chronic such symptoms and behaviour were forms. The appearance of the syndrome clearly outside the population norm. Yet is correlated with the severity of the the PTSD framework is universally applied stressor (Kaplan and Sadock, 1988), with to conflicts such as that in Northern 50 to 80 per cent of those exposed to a Ireland. devastating disaster suffering from PTSD. Unlike the average tour of duty in The incidence in the population is cited

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 61 as being 0.5 per cent for men and 1.2 per bombing are ‘outside the range of human cent for women. Onset can be from a week experience’. Yet for those living in the to 30 years, with about 30 per cent of worst-affected areas, and for the mental- patients recovering, 40 per cent retaining health professionals who treat them, mild and 20 per cent moderate militarisation, shooting, killing and symptoms, and 10 per cent remaining the bombing have been commonplace. This same or deteriorating. challenges the validity of such a Diagnosis of PTSD in Northern Ireland diagnostic category in this context. is probably lower than might be expected Straker (1987) holds the view that PTSD in such a protracted violent conflict (Fay is a misnomer where violence is ongoing, et al, 1999). The lack of respite from proposing instead ‘continuous traumatic violence is one factor. Psychiatric stress syndrome’. diagnosis is the sole prerogative of A further difficulty with the category psychiatry in Northern Ireland, unlike in lies with its origin in military psychiatry. the US where several professions may Combatants’ and soldiers’ experience has diagnose, and differences in diagnostic played a defining role in the definition of practice (mentioned above) may account a set of diagnostic criteria and concepts for some of the difference. have then been applied broadly to Furthermore, as already discussed, civilians and combatants alike. In this obtaining a PTSD diagnosis has been a field, as in many others, it is those with prerequisite for compensation under the the power of weaponry and relationships Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme with political leaders whose experience for psychological and emotional injury as has been seen as the defining factor. a result of the ‘troubles’. The role of many Significant departures between in the psychiatric profession in assess- civilian and combatant experiences seem ments of litigants, as prosecution or likely: the relative powerlessness of defence witnesses, complicates the civilians, for example, would suggest they predominantly therapeutic remit of might experience war and civil conflict diagnostic practice. differently. Yet none of this is clear in In a continuing conflict such as current conceptualisations. Northern Ireland, a diagnosis of PTSD will Similarly, age, gender and cultural be given when the diagnostic criteria are differences in responses to violent social met—assuming, as does the DSM, that division are relatively unexplored, yet experiences such as shooting and emerging evidence would indicate their

62 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 existence (Fay et al, 1999). It’snotover

wo polarised views of trauma are in- dicated by PTSD and Straker’s alter- T native category. The latter sees the sufferer’s context as the still violent so- ciety, the former as the consulting room— where the solution for PTSD is also seen as lying. Yet in many political conflicts, it is neither financially feasible nor so- cially desirable to offer clinical treatment to all those who suffer psychologically from exposure to violence. From the available evidence (Fay et al, 1999), relatively few require intensive and specialised psychological help. For others who may have symptoms of trauma, and who can be sustained within community and family networks, per- treatment of Yealland is still reflected in haps other group and community inter- debates today, albeit in less extreme form. ventions can prove less stigmatising and The psycho-dynamically inclined tend more empowering. Yet even for those for to the view that exploration of the whom this kind of intervention is appro- experience through talking—telling and priate, accessibility to such services (for retelling the story of the trauma—will civilians) is often difficult. It is a para- ‘wear it out’ and achieve therapeutic dox of modern warfare that while provi- results. Those of a more behavioural bent sion is often made by armed parties for favour instead a ‘reprogramming’ to the care and psychological rehabilitation extinguish unwanted or dysfunctional of their members, that for the overwhelm- responses. Other treatments, (‘eye ingly civilian victims is often scant. movement desensitisation reprocessing’, The mental-health professionals have for example) offer seemingly technical from the outset been divided in their solutions which focus on apparently approach to PTSD and its antecedents. unrelated issues. Rivers’ ‘talking cure’ versus the shock In the community, debates about

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 63 remembering the past have involved forms of such medication have been those who have been bereaved and provided in Northern Ireland for almost injured ‘telling their stories’ to raise three decades. awareness of the suffering of those who Evidence from South Africa suggests have been hurt. The consumption by the that drug companies regard the media and the publishing world of ‘fight medication of, for example, adolescents and tell’ biographies of former IRA, SAS and diagnosed with PTSD as a worthy other combatants, and of those who have investment in research on the application been bereaved or injured, is indicative of of (exclusively) chemical intervention. Yet the ‘market’ for story-telling. these adolescents have been traumatised While these various forms of narrative in political violence and live in violent can, on occasion, be socially valuable, and environments. This may present a new personally assist the ‘story teller’, there market for pharmaceutical companies; it is cause for caution. The teller may be may not, however, appear socially or trapped in an identity which inhibits morally attractive to the rest of us. whatever personal resolution might be Finally, human-service professions achieved. Moreover, while the focus of the have been hesitant to acknowledge the story may be humanitarian—as what the political aspects of work in this field. market ‘wants’—rather than on any Distrust, partly stemming from this political context, the teller may be caught reluctance, has meant little open up after publication in a maelstrom of exploration of new and creative ways of political claim and counter-claim. This is supporting those who have suffered. A not a process conducive to good mental range of solutions must be found and health. made available, and no one method will A further area of concern is the role of serve all. psychotropic drugs in ‘treating’ the This, however, will require a multi- distress associated with trauma. Many dimensional and multi-disciplinary were shocked last year by a scene approach, based on mutual respect broadcast from Russia, where a woman between political actors, professionals bereaved through the wreckage of a and communities. A first step might be nuclear submarine was injected with a working to establish that respect. DD tranquilliser—in full public view—after she expressed her anger at a senior Bibliography politician. Yet more subtle and hidden Barker, P (1992), Regeneration, London:

64 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Penguin Books The Past in Northern Ireland and Societies Bloomfield, K (1998), We Will Remember in Transition, Derry: University of Ulster Them: Report of the Northern Ireland and INCORE Victims Commissioner, Sir Kenneth Smyth, M, Hayes, P and Hayes, E (1994), ‘Post Bloomfield, Belfast: Stationery Office traumatic stress among the families of Crawford, C (1999), Defenders or Criminals? those killed on Bloody Sunday’, proceedings Loyalist Prisoners and Criminalisation, of Northern Ireland Association for Mental Belfast: Blackstaff Press Health conference on violence, Belfast Fay, M T, Morrissey, M, Smyth, M and Wong, Straker, G and the Sanctuaries Team (1987), T (1999), Report on the Northern Ireland ‘The continuous traumatic stress syndrome: Survey: The Experience and Impact of the the single therapeutic interview’, Troubles, Derry: University of Ulster and Psychology in Society 8: 48 INCORE Young, A (1995), The Harmony of Illusions: Giddens, A (1993), The Transformation of Inventing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in New Jersey: Princeton University Press Modern Societies, Palo Alto: Stanford Thomas, L M (1999), ‘Suffering as a moral University Press beacon: blacks and Jews’, in H Flanzbaum Hunter, H D (1946), ‘The work of a corps (ed), The Americanization of the Holocaust, psychiatrist in the Italian campaign’, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps 96:127-30, cited in C Garland (1998), Understanding Trauma: A Psychoanalytic Approach, London: Duckworth/Tavistock Hynes, S (1997), The Soldiers’ Tale: Bearing Witness to Modern War, London: Pimlico/ Response Random House Kaplan, H I and Sadock, B J (1988), Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences Clinical Psychiatry, Baltimore: Williams and KarolaDillenburger Wilkins Little Oxford Dictionary (1969) (fourth edition), Oxford: Clarendon Press famous psychologist once said (Skin- Oxford American Dictionary (1986), New York: ner, 1980: 127): ‘One can picture a Avon Books good life by analysing one’s feelings, Shorter, E (1997), A History of Psychiatry, New A but one can only achieve it by [arranging York: Wiley Showalter, E (1987), The Female Malady: circumstances that make it happen.]’. We Women, Madness and English Culture need to do something concrete to achieve 1830-1980, London: Virago a ‘good life’ for people who have experi- Smyth, M (1998), ‘Remembering in Northern Ireland: victims, perpetrators and enced trauma. Marie consistently pro- hierarchies of pain and responsibility’, in B motes a sensitive, yet sensible, practical Hamber (ed), Past Imperfect: Dealing With and down-to-earth approach to the

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 65 problems of victims. strikes in 1981. The ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland have cost more than 3,500 lives, mostly arly efforts to research the effects of of young adults (74 per cent were under intercommunal violence were fraught 39) (Fay et al, 1997). Some 7,000 parents Ewith difficulties. Local researchers have thus lost a child, some 14,000 had usually been educated in local grandparents a grandchild. An estimated schools and universities and had a life- 3,000 people have lost a spouse, affecting long history of exposure to the situation around 10,000 children, while perhaps they were attempting to explain. While 15,000 have lost a sibling. Some 45,000 this may have made them sensitive to the may have lost an uncle or aunt and issues, they were categorised by their re- around 21,000 a niece or nephew. ligious affiliations and thus unable ad- All in all, more than 115,000 people equately to study the ‘other’ community may have lost a close relative. Northern (Dillenburger, 1992). On the other hand, Ireland is a close-knit society and people strongly held conventions and a wide tend to have a large circle of friends. A range of taboo subjects (for example, per- conservative estimate (10 friends each) ceptions of violence, religious beliefs and would mean that more than a million political attitudes) limited the topics they people would have a friend who has lost were able effectively to explore. This a relative. created an almost incestuous research Other statistics (Northern Ireland culture. Abstract of Statistics, 1987) show that The relatively small number of inter- more than 30,814 shooting incidents, national researchers studying the conflict 8,304 explosions, 7,264 malicious fires brought their own problems. They mostly and 12,306 armed robberies have re- conducted their fieldwork during a brief sulted in more than 27,347 people (in- visit and returned to their country of ori- cluding 19,496 civilians) being injured. gin to write up (Fields, 1973). They In a total population of one-and-a-half mostly did not stay long enough to un- million, this means everybody has been derstand the complexity of the situation. affected. This ‘goldfish bowl approach’ (Darby, The early years of the ‘troubles’ were 1976) usually led to superficial under- the most vicious. Nearly 70 per cent of standing and limited impact. the dead were killed between the civil- Data about the psychological effects rights marches in 1969 and the hunger of violence during this period are scant.

66 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Research was mainly concerned with the media attention focused on the problems social-services response (Darby and of violently bereaved individuals (Orner, Williamson, 1978), community relations 1987; Taylor, 1989). (Whyte, 1978) and mental health (Lyons, The research focus was also broad- 1971; Fraser, 1973). The data showed ened by international psychologists who relatively low impact of violence on psy- began to understand the issues more chological health (Lyons, 1971; Fraser, fully. Some came to Northern Ireland for 1973; Mercer, Bunting, and Snook, 1979). repeated fieldwork (Higgins and Brown But the indications were that social serv- Diggs, in press), others worked with lo- ices were slow to respond, community cal researchers and stayed in the coun- relations were deteriorating and ad- try for prolonged periods (Toner, personal mission rates to mental hospitals were communication), while still others settled rising. (Dillenburger, 1992). In general, people were thought to be The first indication of long-term ef- able to cope because they ‘distanced’ fects of the ‘troubles’ came from a study themselves from the violence—for of widows who had lost their husbands example, by not discussing certain events in sectarian violence (Dillenburger, or issues. Children as well as adults were 1992): they showed significant long-term thought to have adapted to adversity ‘clinical disturbance’ (Goldberg, 1978). with characteristic human resilience These findings were confirmed by Curran (Heskin, 1980). As Mercer et al (1979: et al (1990), who also found significant 157) put it, ‘People are adaptable and psychological distress in their study of apparently can eventually get used to the effects of the Enniskillen bomb in this nearly wartime environment. It may 1987. possibly be this very adaptability which While a picture of long-term psycho- in part allows the situation to persist.’ logical suffering was slowly emerging, a Between the hunger strikes in 1981 significant number of researchers still and the ceasefires in 1994, violence de- maintained that relatively few had suf- creased somewhat. About 30 per cent of fered distress that merited clinical atten- ‘troubles’-related deaths (1,119) occurred tion. The stresses experienced by most during these years. Psychological re- people in Northern Ireland were thought search gained momentum, with a par- to be relatively short-lived. ticular emphasis on the effects on The ceasefires from 1994 and the children (Cairns, 1987). Increasingly, subsequent Belfast agreement of 1998 led

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 67 to a dramatic decrease in inter-communal or all of the above—it has to be based on killing. While violence has not ceased, evidence. recent political developments give hope The notion of ‘evidence-based’ practice that such deaths may eventually become is now so firmly established as the basis a thing of the past. These developments of accountable and professional social have also led to a change in the work that its definition is prominent in psychological understanding of violent the recently published Encyclopaedia of death in Northern Ireland. More and Social Work (Mcdonald, 2000:123): more evidence of long-term effects is Evidence-based practice denotes an ap- coming to the fore. proach to decision making which is trans- For example, Hayes and Campbell parent, accountable, and based on a (2000) point to the long-term stress consideration of current best practice about caused by the shootings on Bloody Sun- the effects of particular interventions on the day in 1972. They found, 25 years on, that welfare of individuals, groups and commu- nities. It relates to the decisions of both in- 61 per cent of relatives of the dead dividual practitioners and policy makers. showed ‘significant clinical disturbance’ (Goldberg, 1978). Dillenburger and The key question then for trauma prac- Keenan (1994) emphasised that violently tice in Northern Ireland is ‘what is bereaved widows showed psychological evidence?’. It seems there are many distress far exceeding that of the general answers. population over 10 years after their loss. Traditionally, and as in many other In fact, 67.2 per cent of their sample suf- places, trauma practice was based largely fered significant clinical disturbance. on circumstantial evidence: workers Smyth and Fay (2000) illustrate the long- tended to ‘establish a conclusion by in- term suffering with vivid narrative. Their ference’ (Collins English Dictionary, video account of the agony of the violently 1991). It is easy to see the roots of this bereaved is chilling (Northern Visions, practice when one considers that the his- 2000). tory of the helping professions is rooted Marie contends that, whatever firmly in philanthropy. In this context, solutions we offer in terms of treatment, for example, the categorisation of some ‘no one method will serve all’. Whatever victims as ‘deserving’ and others as method we choose, however—be it ‘undeserving’ would be considered focused on case or community, political, evidence-based. therapeutic, individual, family or society, Today the use of circumstantial

68 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 evidence is much more conspicuous and witness’ (Collins English Dictionary, is maintained mainly under the auspices 1991) is increasingly used in Northern of traditional theoretical orientations and Ireland with the aim of ‘healing the ideologies. Here workers over-interpret wounds of the troubles’. There were some what a client says and make inferences attempts to give victims a voice before about what a client means. The result is the ceasefires (Dillenburger, 1992). But misunderstanding and wrongful label- these were largely ignored (Cairns and ling. The worker who bases the interven- Darby, 1998) and Smyth et al (1993) tion on circumstantial, inferred evidence spoke of a sense of great silence, in which assumes that an explanation or under- the motto was ‘whatever you say, say lying cause for the behaviour is identi- nothing’. fied. In fact, nothing is added to the The use of ‘narrative as evidence’ is analysis (Dillenburger and Keenan, only now being fully explored. Today 1997). The use of this kind of evidence is many consider witness evidence a still promoted in some quarters but it is prerequisite to coming to terms with the increasingly discredited by courts and past. In their recent book, Smyth and Fay inquiry reports (SSI, 1998). (2000) have published many personal Another kind of evidence is material ‘troubles’ accounts; the film has already evidence or ‘in evidence’, ie ‘on display; been mentioned. At the launch of both, apparent; conspicuous’ (Collins English Sir Kenneth spoke of the importance of Dictionary, 1991). In the past this kind giving victims a voice. Overall, there of evidence was often related to segrega- seems to be a consensus that (Hayes and tion. For example, the so-called ‘peace Campbell, 2000: 708): line’ is very much ‘in evidence’ in Belfast, Telling the story and integrating the trauma dividing the two communities physically, into one’s life is necessary for healing to keeping them apart. This kind of evi- occur ... Story telling provides perspective dence seems particularly important in and closure regarding the trauma and nar- relation to victims. For example, the vic- ratives are important in the ‘working tims commissioner, Sir Kenneth Bloom- through’ phase of coping with a trauma ... Failure to work through may lead to chronic field (1998), suggested that the erection problems, even illness. of a memorial building with surrounding gardens would be one important way to A growing effort is also being made to ‘remember them’. gather empirical and statistical evidence Direct evidence or ‘testimony of a (Iwaniec and Pinkerton, 1998). While in

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 69 the past statistics were often accum- kind of evidence most victims want. ulated in a haphazard fashion, today this Ultimately, this is what we need for is co-ordinated and structured. The Cost any intervention, treatment or policy, of the Troubles study is a perfect example regardless of ideological or theoretical (Fay et al, 1997). standpoint (Sulzer-Azaroff and Mayer, Evidence of effectiveness is a measure 1991; Mattaini and Thyer, 1996). We of performance. It is ‘productive or capa- must move on from the notion that just ble of producing a result, actual rather because we have done something we have than theoretical’ (Collins English Diction- helped, and we can therefore feel ary, 1991). Evidence of effectiveness is a absolved. We must gather the data to relatively new concept in Northern Ire- ensure that what we have done has had land. It is evidence that interventions do the intended effect. what they say they do—that they are ef- fective in achieving the aim of the inter- cdonald’s entry in the recently vention. This is not a new concept in most published Encyclopaedia of Social other professions and it seems to be the M Work sets the agenda for evidence- based trauma practice in Northern Ire- land, as elsewhere (Mcdonald, 2000: 123): Those who espouse an evidence-based ap- proach to policy and [trauma] practice rec- ognize the importance of a range of factors in decision making, including societal and individual values, practice wisdom and re- sources. However, they argue that the in- fluence of these factors should be informed by a rigorous consideration of current best evidence available of the effects of particu- lar interventions. In Northern Ireland this challenge is be- ginning to take hold. There is much to be done. But it seems the call for ‘evidence- based’ and ‘research-minded’ trauma practice is putting pressure on academ- ics to produce the necessary evidence. Theeffectsarelong-term The same pressure now applies to

70 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 practitioners. They have a responsibility Journal of Psychology 15: 524-539 to evidence the effectiveness of their ——— (1997), ‘Human development: a question of structure and function’, in K interventions. Dillenburger, M O’Reilly and M Keenan The time has come for practitioners (eds), Advances in Behaviour Analysis, and academics to work together to estab- Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 3-22 lish a framework where clients have a Fay, M T, Morrissey, M and Smyth, M (1997), right to the most effective treatment Mapping Troubles-related Deaths in available (Van Houten et al, 1987). In the Northern Ireland 1969-1994, Derry: 21st century, victims should expect noth- University of Ulster and INCORE Fields, R (1973), A Society on the Run, DD ing less. Hamondsworth: Penguin Goldberg, D P (1978), Manual of the General Bibliography Health Questionnaire, USA: NFER Publishing Company Bloomfield, K (1998), We Will Remember Hayes, P and Campbell, J (2000), ‘Dealing Them: Report of the Northern Ireland with post traumatic stress disorder: the Victims Commissioner, Belfast: Stationery psychological sequelae of “Bloody Sunday” Office and the response of state services’, Cairns, E (1987), Caught in the Crossfire, Research on Social Work Practice 10: 705-20 Belfast: Appletree Press Heskin, K (1980), Northern Ireland: A Cairns, E and Darby, J (1998), ‘The conflict in Psychological Analysis, Dublin: Gill and Northern Ireland: causes, consequences, Macmillan and controls’, American Psychologist 53: Higgins, T and Brown Diggs, N (in press), 754-760 Conflict and Courage: The Women of Collins English Dictionary (1991) (3rd Northern Ireland, Lampeter, Ireland: edition), Glasgow: Harper Collins Edwin Mellen Press Curran, P S, Bell, P, Muray, A, Loughrey, G, Iwaniec, D and Pinkerton, J (eds) (1998), Roddy, R and Rocke, L G (1990), Making Research Work: Policy and Practice ‘Psychological consequences of the in Child Care, Chichester: John Wiley & Enniskillen bombing’, British Journal of Son Psychiatry 156: 479-482 Lyons, H A (1971), ‘The psychiatric sequelae of Darby, J (1976), Conflict in Northern Ireland, the Belfast riots’, British Journal of London: Gill and Macmillan Psychiatry 18: 544 Darby, J and Williamson, A (eds) (1978), Mattaini, M A and Thyer, B A (1996), Finding Violence and the Social Services in Solutions to Social Problems: Behavioral Northern Ireland, London: Heinemann Strategies for Change, Washington: Dillenburger, K (1992), Violent Bereavement: American Psychological Society Widows in Northern Ireland, Avebury: Mercer, G W, Bunting, B and Snook, S (1979), Ashgate ‘The effects of location, experiences with Dillenburger, K and Keenan, M (1994), civil disturbances and religion on death ‘Bereavement: a behavioural process’, Irish anxiety and manifest anxiety in a sample of

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 71 Northern Irish university students’, British Northern Ireland problem’, Economic and Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology Social Review 9, 257-282 18: 151-158 Northern Ireland Abstract of Statistics (1987), Belfast: Policy, Planning and Research Unit, Stormont Northern Visions (2000), ... And then there was silence ... Personal Accounts of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, film directed by Simon Wood, produced by Marilyn Hyndman, interviews by Marie Smyth Orner (1987), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Falkland War Veterans, April, BBC1 Skinner, B F (1980), Notebooks (edited by R Epstein), Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Smyth, M, Schlindwein, H and Michael, G (1993), Race, Sectarianism and Social Work Training in Northern Ireland, working group on the teaching of inequalities, Derry: University of Ulster Smyth, M and Fay, M T (2000), Personal Accounts from Northern Ireland’s Troubles: Public Conflict, Private Loss, London: Pluto Press Social Services Inspectorate (1998), Community Care from Policy to Practice: The Case of Mr Frederick Joseph McLernon (deceased), Belfast: Department of Health and Social Services Stewart, A T Q (1977), The Narrow Ground, Belfast: Pretani Press Sulzer-Azaroff, B and Mayer, G R (1991), Behavior Analysis for Lasting Change, London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston Taylor, P (1989), Families at War, August, BBC1 Van Houten, R, Axelrod, S, Bailey, J S, Favell, J, Foxx, R M, Iwata, B A and Lovaas, O I (1987), The Right to Effective Behavioral Treatment, Kalamazoo: Report of the Association for Behavior Analysis, taskforce on the right to effective treatment Whyte, J (1978), ‘Interpretations of the

72 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Compensation and reparation

SirKennethBloomfield a suit before a court against someone who has damaged your person, your quality he BBC English Dictionary, which fo- of life or even your reputation, the out- cuses upon the contemporary use of come can be a decision compelling the T words, defines ‘compensation’ as wrongdoer to pay damages to the plain- ‘money that you claim from a person or tiff. As the litigation involving Count organisation to compensate you for some- Tolstoy and Lord Aldington shows, such thing unpleasant that has happened to suits can on occasion have a problematic you’. ‘Reparation’, on the other hand, is outcome. But reparation can also be ‘the act of giving someone money or do- made voluntarily, as an act of grace and/ ing something for them because you have or acceptance of guilt. caused them to suffer in the past’. As victims commissioner I was urged For reparation, then, you look to some by a number of witnesses to press for the individual or organisation which has acknowledgment of wrongful action, wronged you; for compensation, you may whether taken by the state itself, by the look elsewhere for an appropriate recog- police and army, by paramilitary groups nition of the hurt you have suffered. As or by individual citizens. Some of these victims commissioner in 1997-98 I con- witnesses also argued that a regional cerned myself with both compensation variant of a Truth and Reconciliation and reparation, as chair of the Review of Commission could provide the setting for Criminal Injuries Compensation with what one might call ‘moral reparation’. compensation alone. I was subsequently criticised in some Reparation can come about by com- quarters for not saying bluntly that the pulsory or voluntary act. When you bring state and its agents had on occasion been

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 73 guilty of wrongdoing for which they 26th 2000. should apologise, and for failing to rec- We had three big questions to answer: ommend such a commission. But I had • what should be the basis of an equita- not then, and do not have now, the means ble system to compensate victims of to determine the truth of various highly criminal injuries? controversial episodes. • what should be the circumstances in If the courts and/or tribunals of some which individuals should have the right sort can demonstrate beyond doubt to claim such compensation? and wrongful action by the state or its agents, • what should be done about individuals unquestionably apology, coupled in ap- absolutely or relatively ill-served in the propriate cases with monetary repara- past? tion, ought to follow. As for a Truth and These issues might be summarised as Reconciliation Commission, it remains ‘quantum’, ‘eligibility’ and ‘retrospection’. my view that this could only have a truly Systems of compensation for criminal beneficial effect if all the principal inter- injuries differ, not only around the world ests were to believe—even if for differ- but within the UK. In Northern Ireland ent reasons—that it would be helpful. awards under the current law are made on a ‘common law’ basis, just like awards y involvement in questions of in industrial or other non-criminal injury criminal injuries compensation cases. In Britain, on the other hand, a M arose out of my earlier work as ‘tariff scheme’ introduced in 1994 pro- victims commissioner. In my 1998 report, vides for awards attaching a tariff value We Will Remember Them, I had recom- to specific, carefully defined injuries. mended ‘an objective, independent and Other jurisdictions have taken a dis- wide-ranging review of the “fitness for tinctly different approach in dealing with purpose” of the compensation system’. victims or certain categories of victims. The government invited me to lead such In Israel, for example, support for the a review, with the invaluable support of victims of terrorist action is analogous Desmond Greer, professor of common law with the benefits of non-contributory in- at Queen’s University, and Marian surance, with the injured person becom- Gibson, an experienced social-work man- ing a pensioner of the state. ager. We reported at the end of June 1999 Criminal injuries compensation is one and the secretary of state finally re- of the matters not devolved to Northern sponded to our recommendations on July Ireland but reserved to the secretary of

74 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 state. It follows that any new code of law parity and the need for the Northern Ire- for the region has to commend itself to land secretary to carry his colleagues, it the Commons, the vast majority of whose is however a very important achievement members do not represent Northern Ire- that the starting point for a tariff sys- land constituencies. Should people who tem will be the historic level of awards suffer in Northern Ireland be more gen- in Northern Ireland, which by and large erously compensated than in similar cir- are substantially more generous. cumstances in Britain? We are promised, in due course, con- Where there is no devolved responsi- sultation on a draft order in council. I bility, the arguments for ‘parity’ will al- note that the secretary of state’s state- ways be strong, not least on the part of ment envisaged a three-yearly ‘review’ by the Treasury. My colleagues and I could government of tariff levels. Government see very clearly, as our work proceeded, should not merely review the tariff but— that adoption in Northern Ireland of a if we are not to have an insidious, long- copy of the GB scheme would result in a term devaluation of established considerable reduction in awards over- levels—commit itself to uprating, from all. And we took on board powerful argu- time to time, to take account of inflation. ments, from legal interests in particular, The move to a tariff basis will cer- for the retention of the common-law tainly influence the quantum of compen- basis. sation which future victims of criminal But, frankly, we did not believe that a violence in Northern Ireland can expect. recommendation for no change would But we are unlikely to see new law in carry much conviction within the wider operation before 2002. political system. What we recommended, therefore, was the retention of the com- owever the quantum of compensa- mon-law basis for the most serious cases, tion is to be calculated, there will with a move to a regionally-calculated H be prior questions about eligibility. tariff for less serious injuries. When I spoke to victims during my ini- I am sorry that the secretary of state tial commission of 1997-98, some very was not, at the end of the day, able to hard cases came to light, which deeply accept this compromise. Instead, he an- influenced my recommendation that nounced last July a decision in principle there should be a comprehensive review. to move to a regionally-based tariff sys- In that review, we were able to exam- tem. Given the inevitable pressures for ine these issues in detail and make

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 75 recommendations for improvement. And This requirement of presence at the the secretary of state has accepted that spot will now be dropped, with claims some changes are needed. entertained from persons with whom a Hitherto, the scheme as operated in ‘close tie of love and affection’ exists. A Northern Ireland has had a ‘once for all’ spouse, a cohabitant for at least two character: a settlement, once made, is fi- years, a parent or a child will be deemed nal. So, if Mr X comes along a year after to have such a close tie; but claims re- an award has been made on certain as- sulting from other relationships can be sumptions about his medical condition, considered on individual bases. bringing conclusive evidence that it has A further very difficult and controver- proved to be much more serious, the an- sial area is the payment of compensation swer has had to be that ‘your case has to persons—or to their relatives on their been decided and cannot be reopened’. death—who have been involved in crimi- We recommended that a case should nal activities. Many such claims do not be eligible for reopening if the victim’s relate to high-profile paramilitary or earning capacity were to deteriorate as other crime, but to affrays outside bars a result of the injury, to such a degree or clubs or other relatively low-level thug- that allowing the award to stand would gery. We might find it difficult to be asked represent an injustice. It has been ac- as taxpayers to dig into our pockets to cepted in principle that cases ought to be compensate someone for injuries sus- reopened on such medical grounds, nor- tained in a fracas in which he had been mally within two years of the original a far from innocent party. What is settlement, although with discretion to more complicated is the question of the extend that in exceptional cases. weight to be given to past activities and Another area of perceived injustice involvements. was in the recognition of psychiatric in- I met a still relatively young woman jury. Under the law up to now, a woman who had lost her husband through a sec- could pop into the village to post a letter tarian murder. He had been a good hus- and return home to the farm to find her band, and she was convinced that husband dead or dying on the doorstep, throughout the marriage he had had no but nevertheless be unable to claim for criminal or paramilitary involvement. any resulting psychiatric condition be- But when she claimed for compensation cause she had not been on the scene when it emerged that, years earlier and as the loved one was killed. a very young man, he had become a

76 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 member of a paramilitary organisation, and compensation was accordingly re- ‘Every official dealing with this problem fused. The secretary of state has the right to remove this bar at his discretion but of hurt ... should ask himself or herself has seldom exercised it. the question: would this be a suitable In accordance with our recommenda- approach if I was dealing with a member tions, there will in future be a more of my own family? Because equitable approach. For criminal convic- tions, including convictions for paramili- bureaucracy, and I was in it myself for tary offences, the principles of the years, can be very insensitive.’ Rehabilitation of Offenders Act will ap- ply, and a ‘penalty points’ system, akin to that in force in Britain, will be adopted. For those with paramilitary links (as dis- ne of the most difficult areas we had tinct from convictions), the current ban to consider was that of compensa- will be replaced by a provision allowing Otion for bereavement. Here there the authorities to take account of char- are questions of both eligibility and acter and way of life in determining retrospection. whether any compensation should be As victims commissioner and as chair paid and, if so, its value. of the review, I heard most harrowing I regret, though, that the secretary of tales from people who, particularly dur- state has not felt able to accept our plea ing the 70s, had lost close relatives, had for a distinction between the activities of expected some reasonable recognition of a claimant and those of a person whose that loss from the state and society, but death or injury gives rise to the claim had found their entitlement to compen- made by another. I can, of course, see the sation limited to a very modest contribu- difficulty in an injury (as distinct from tion towards funeral expenses. The plain fatality) claim: a person both guilty and fact is that the system looked almost injured could benefit indirectly if not di- solely at the economic loss sustained rectly from any compensation paid to the through the death of a close relation. family. But I remain uneasy about the Thus the loss of a child too young, or possibility of innocent children, in par- a husband too ill, to earn represented ‘no ticular, suffering over the very long term economic loss’ for the purposes of the com- as a consequence of parental activity. pensation system. Clearly, many people

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 77 regarded the sum offered in such circum- positively misleading if it can be taken stances as an insult, compounding the to imply a making up for the degree of outrage flowing from the act itself. loss suffered. This situation was improved with the That is why we recommended, and the introduction of ‘bereavement awards’ in secretary of state has accepted, the 1988. Today, in addition to any other en- description of ‘bereavement support pay- titlement, £7,500 is payable to the wife ment’. In our review the task we under- or husband of the deceased or—where the took was to consider ‘whether the State deceased was a minor (under 18) who was has made decent, adequate and timely never married—to his parents (if he was provision, within realistic limits of total legitimate) or to his mother (if he was il- cost, for the recognition of the sufferings legitimate). By the same token, a be- of victims and their ability to enjoy a de- reavement award has not been payable cent standard of life in all the relevant to the child or unmarried partner of a circumstances, and all within an efficient, murder victim, or to the parents of a vic- humane and sensitive legal and admin- tim who was over 18 when he or she was istrative framework’. killed. We argued in our report for a more ur terms of reference asked the re- generous quantum and a redefinition of view team to look both backwards qualifying relationships. The secretary of O and forwards. We were to look at the state has accepted that a new Northern fitness for purpose of the arrangements Ireland scheme should include spouse, for compensation ‘in the light of the ex- cohabitant, parent and child (of whatever periences of victims of terrorist violence’. age). A spouse would receive £10,000 and We were also asked to consider how any other qualifying relatives £5,000, subject shortcomings we identified ‘might be rec- to a maximum of £50,000 in each case tified for the future in any new statutory (as against the current total of £7,500 per framework’. But were we, then, to say to case). those who had been ill-served by the sys- Yet, even with this improvement, rela- tem at the time their claims fell to be con- tives are unlikely to accept as adequate sidered, that ‘the only solace we can offer levels of compensation for the death of a is that others, in time to come, may ben- loved one. I have used the word ‘compen- efit from your distressing experience’? sation’ solely because it is deeply en- Having been a civil servant for almost trenched in law, but sometimes it seems 40 years, I was only too well aware of the

78 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 great prejudice against retrospective leg- recovery of the bodies. islation and the cool reception which can In our review, we called for some fi- await recommendations by any ap- nancial recognition of the special trauma pointed body straying outside its given experienced by these relatives. I am sorry terms. But we encountered feelings of that the decision of the secretary of state injustice so pronounced that we did not to act in the way we suggested has been feel we could leave matters there. characterised in some quarters as ‘an So we recommended that, however insult’. Of course the sum mentioned is belatedly, some recognition should be not enough; it could never be enough. But given to the hardships of those inad- it is, nevertheless, a recognition and ac- equately compensated in earlier days knowledgement by the state of a very under the law as it stood. I am pleased special and very painful trauma. that government has taken these issues We proceeded on the premise that it on board, and that we can expect an en- is better to do something than to do noth- hancement of the funds so far commit- ing. I do hope that, on reflection, the de- ted to implementation of the Victims cisions of the government can be accepted Commission report, specifically ‘aimed at in that spirit. DD alleviating the financial hardships and other suffering inflicted on many by vio- lence during the Troubles’. I conclude with a word about ‘the dis- appeared’. Ever since I met Margaret Response McKinney in a BBC studio on the day of my appointment as victims commis- sioner, I have done everything in my SandraPeake power to push this issue, this terrible injustice, up the agenda. I included in We great deal of attention has been Will Remember Them a very specific ap- paid—by individuals, community peal for action. I returned to the issue on A activists, victims organisations, aca- many occasions, ultimately drawing a demics and civil servants—to the issue constructive response from Mitchel of compensation. By and large, repara- McLaughlin. And I have most recently tion, whether financial or moral, has been served as one of the two international less to the fore. Sir Kenneth’s paper fo- commissioners seeking to facilitate cuses mainly on compensation, which

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 79 reflects its prominence when considering vis-à-vis persons involved in criminal ac- the needs of those directly affected by the tivities, families whose loved ones have ‘troubles’. paramilitary links and implementation There is no doubt that compensation of new funds such as the Bereavement is one of the most difficult issues facing Support Payment. those bereaved or traumatised. While the While many of these recommenda- focus of the review team was on the pro- tions will bring change, this will not how- posed restructuring of the Criminal In- ever be evident until 2002. It is everyone’s juries scheme, there are undoubtedly hope that by that time the killings and implications for those affected through- maimings will be events of the past. This out the years of the ‘troubles’, whether poses the question of how we deal with at the hands of paramilitary groups, the those affected throughout the previous state or individuals. The team was also years. asked to make recommendations which According to the review, this lies in would affect those exposed to prior com- the hands of organisations committed to pensation legislation. alleviating hardship and suffering, such The terms of reference referred to ‘vic- as the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund tims of terrorist violence’, thereby exclud- (an independent charitable fund that ing those affected by the army or police. seeks to promote peace, reconciliation While many cases involving state vio- and remembrance by providing practical lence may be dealt with by the Ministry help and support). While such initiatives of Defence or the chief constable and not have provided valuable assistance to by the Compensation Unit, the latter will many, they should not have the role of only work with individual cases if the supplementing inadequate compensa- crown does not assume responsibility. tion. Indeed some people may be deterred Some may thus potentially fall between from seeking such charitable assistance. the two agencies and this is an area Additionally, the Memorial Fund where further work is required. schemes tend to be directed towards spe- Sir Kenneth highlighted changes to cific items, which may not meet the needs come: a move to a tariff system similar of individuals as well as direct financial to that in Britain, recognition of psychi- help. atric injury and recognition that the There is no doubt that the review person affected may not have witnessed raised expectations of change. In the re- the incident. He also suggested changes port there was the suggestion of £10,000

80 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 as a top-up award for those affected be- affected its distribution. Could the same fore 1988 and as payment for those who have applied to other areas, such as had not received compensation (such as the opinion provided for the prognosis families whose loved ones had disap- of physical injuries in terms of life peared). The rejection of the top-up pay- expectancy? ment by the government has undoubtedly added to some people’s feelings of worth- he reality is that no money will ever lessness and the opinion that the govern- be enough; nor, in the case of bereave- ment does not think very highly of them. T ment, will it bring back loved ones. This raises difficulties for those who have Many, however, associate compensation never received compensation for what- with justice and questions of ‘worth’. At ever reason—such as lack of information some stage the person may harbour a or vulnerability at the time—as well as belief that compensation or litigation will for those whose compensation was deri- somehow bring justice. They will inevi- sory, those excluded from compensation tably feel let down after an award of com- and those whose injuries have deterio- pensation is made or where a case is rated over time. dismissed. The proposed system accounts for the For some the issue can compound the deterioration of injuries in the short term, sense of outrage following the act itself but loss of earnings, costs of future medi- and it can become entangled with the fate cal and social care and future medical of the perpetrator. Particularly in cases diagnosis involve an element of guess- where no one has been caught, some work. While it may be possible statisti- think the person who has caused their cally to predict a group of cases, it is not trauma will somehow be punished if they possible to predict accurately the course are successful. They often do not realise of a single case over many years or long- that the case is about compensation at term life expectancy. In the past this may law and that the only outcome may be well have led to payments not reflecting receipt of damages from the taxpayer. the true cost for individuals, nor the ef- This ‘outcome’ may not always be fect of a variety of factors on their lives. viewed as a success and the process can Marie Smyth suggests earlier in this vol- leave individuals feeling more powerless ume that relative reluctance to diagnose and, in some cases, vulnerable. It can PTSD in Northern Ireland may have re- also leave some with a feeling that the duced compensation expenditure and traumatic event was not adequately

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 81 presented, and that it was their fault. identity is not known. O’Brien (1998) suggests that while the Pursuing financial reparation via a end of litigation may mean an end to go- civil action may be pointless given the ing over events with various strangers, circumstances of the perpetrator. The it is unlikely to leave the patient happy ‘man of straw’ legal term, implying that and satisfied. Major issues here, regard- the person is not worthy of being sued, ing the sensitive and respectful treat- has prevailed in many cases during the ment of individuals, need to be addressed ‘troubles’. by the medical, legal and judicial As to moral reparation, acknowledg- systems. ment of wrongdoing and hurt caused is Sir Kenneth refers to how the word important for the victim’s inner healing. ‘compensation’ is deeply entrenched in Such sought-after acknowledgment has law but can be positively misleading. The often focused on state violence. The bulk change in terminology and practice with of cases involving paramilitaries are un- the Bereavement Support Payment is likely to lead to acknowledgment of very important. People do have a right wrongdoing: such actions are deemed by to decent, adequate and timely provision, their perpetrators as having been ‘legiti- albeit within realistic limits of total cost. mate’ with, to some degree, victims The Human Rights Act will highlight viewed simply as casualties of ‘war’. rights issues more clearly, giving indi- Reparation requires that: viduals a greater awareness of their • what has happened can be acknowl- entitlements. edged, • unquestionable apology can be given, hile compensation seeks from an- • wrongdoing can be recognised, other agency recognition of loss • the truth can be established, and W endured, reparation addresses di- • (if applicable) financial reparation can rectly the individual or organisation that be given. wronged the victim. While some may fo- The jury is still out on the applicabil- cus on financial reparation, for many ity of the Truth and Reconciliation Com- there is a need for moral reparation, the mission to Northern Ireland. One of the acknowledging of wrongful action. prerequisites of reparation is a safe Often, however, reparation is sought and secure environment and, as Sir to no avail. The person responsible Kenneth argues, all the ‘principal inter- first has to be identified, yet often this ests’ should believe it to be useful before

82 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 any commission or tribunal would be es- government is sufficient to address the tablished. Whatever model is developed inadequacies of the past. must be in keeping with the particular While no amount of money will be political, social and cultural dimensions enough, compensation is a running sore of this conflict. that must not be used for political gain. Peace is founded on justice, truth and All those affected must be recognised and charity. In the absence of truth, trauma treated with respect and sensitivity, and will be passed on to the next generation the issue must be maintained as a prior- and the one after that; and truth is inte- ity by all involved in the building of a new gral to the healing process (Murray, future. DD 1998). But, for some, truth might well be unbearable. A variety of support mecha- Bibliography nisms are required before any truth-find- Murray, R (1998), State Violence: Northern ing initiative can be contemplated. Ireland 1969-1997, Dublin: Mercier Press The concept of reparation should be O’Brien, S (1998), Traumatic Events and Mental Health, Psychiatry and Health, explored further, with the recognition Cambridge Press: London that for many the identity of the perpe- trator is unknown. The questions we need to ask are: • what is required for reparation to happen? • what practical measures could be taken to promote it? and • how can we move forward?

oth compensation and reparation are of concern to those directly af- B fected by the ‘troubles’. In looking forward to a new system of compensation, it is important to acknowledge those af- fected by the pre-1988 legislation as well as current law. It is vital that the needs of all those affected are addressed and that the enhancement of funds by

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 83 Future policies for the past

BrandonHamber DorteKulle RobinWilson

rying to carve out a future policy for dealing with the past in Northern T Ireland is a sensitive and complex endeavour. To simplify matters, the issue needs to be dealt with at two levels. The first is that of the individual who was victimised and who, over the years, has faced the huge difficulties involved in trying to understand, and come to terms with, what has happened to them. These experiences are not reducible to concrete or specific outcomes: the hurts of the past for victims are generally multiple and immeasurable. Further- more, and only apparently ironically, for some their difficulties have become greater since the ‘peace process’ began. That process, despite all the associated political progress, has confronted victims with the atrocities of

84 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 the past through prisoner releases; this assume responsibility for creating a mi- is compounded by the reluctance of the lieu in which victims feel they are taken state to probe further abrogations of seriously, no matter what their political human rights too closely, for fear of orientation. rocking the paramilitary boat. Moreover, These few paragraphs demonstrate the recent focus on victims has, that dealing with the past is hugely perversely, put pressure on individuals difficult, in terms of both the human who are not ready to reconcile themselves sensitivities involved and the policy and with previous atrocities to do so. And it political issues. In Northern Ireland has created a competitive discourse of there is an expression ‘History isn’t ‘victimhood’, where different perspectives merely the past: it isn’t even over yet’. are fighting for the moral high ground— Flippant though it is, the foregoing in turn, a source of further distress for chapters suggest that for both individual the victimised. victims and the wider society the The second level is this wider socio- comment is a valid one. Past conflicts political context. Even though we have continue to play themselves out—if, the Belfast agreement, conflict is far from thankfully, not as violently as before— a thing of the past. The two main com- while the old fissures hold firm. munities remain polarised—indeed, more polarised than ever—and a visceral n the level of the individual, several issue is who is a victim and who is not, important issues raised earlier in who is deemed ‘innocent’ and who author O this report are worth reiterating. of their own fate. This debate, notwith- First, for those victimised by the violence standing its manipulation by ethno- of the last 30 years, and even today, nationalist entrepreneurs, is an inchoate ‘compensation’ for their loss, however reflection of the fact that victims from all vital, is inevitably inadequate. It fails to sides feel unheard by society at large. recognise the long-term nature of repair Somewhere, within the social fabric and restoration, and finance is inherently of Northern Ireland, victims’ pain is not incommensurate with loss of life. being acknowledged, making them feel Services for, support to and treatment they need to compete with each other for of the individual victim are at least as social space, public recognition and at- important—probably more so—and these tention, and financial support. This is need to be evidence-based. This requires most undesirable: society as a whole must a new relationship between victims and

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 85 service providers—particularly statutory It is, of course, far easier to argue for providers who, for the most part, have ‘joined-up government’ than to actualise failed to engage sufficiently with the it, though the location of victims policy impact of the conflict. in OFMDFM is a good start. For that reason, At the same time, the role of the there needs to be an effective voice for voluntary sector and lay workers, as victims in playing a watchdog role over experienced and sensitive providers, also government. needs recognition, albeit with proper Apart from victims groups coming monitoring and evaluation. Additional together in a more coherent way to this services that focus on trauma and its effect—and there are obvious difficulties effects, as well as a wide range of in achieving that, given the mistrust and ancillary supports—dealing with dis- fragmentation—an ombudsperson or abilities, children’s needs, alcoholism and commissioner should thus be put in place. so on—may also need to be put in place. Indeed, among other things, this person Equally, it is important that holistic could seek to broker better relationships approaches are adopted, and adapted to between victims groups and encourage the individual victim. This needs to start networks in which all victims feel able to from the recognition of the injustice done participate. to them and their various and multi- He or she could be mandated faceted needs—extending, as these do, continually to challenge government, over time. across the span of agencies and at all In policy terms, this seems to imply levels, to deal effectively with victims- the need for a minister, perhaps a junior related issues. The postholder would minister, in government under the need to ensure that the debate about how devolved arrangements. Here, victims Northern Ireland is to come to terms with responsibility lies with the Office of the a legacy of violence is put squarely on the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. table. Such a minister should not, as in the continuing Northern Ireland Office t the broader societal level, solutions arrangements, simultaneously be a also need to be sought. Here, minister for security. A practical answers can be more He or she would need to be supported difficult to find than providing victims by an effective, cross-departmental, with adequate support and social space integrated approach to assisting victims. to deal with their pain. One suggestion—

86 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 although it is one that not all in Northern Ireland would subscribe to—is that the ‘Can we get to a position of shared search for truth and justice needs to continue. history and shared memory? ... I just In terms of truth, it seems unlikely at don’t think that is an obtainable goal, this point that there is going to be one because we have, each of us, our own event, such as a comprehensive truth shared histories within our own commission, that will deliver all the truth about the past. We may all have to accept community or across communities, and that there will be a series of events or our own memory.’ episodes—trials, commissions of inquiry, investigative journalism, story-telling by victims and so on—that will bring out some dimensions of the truth for some The introduction to this conclusion people. has already demonstrated, if demon- There simply is not the willingness on stration were needed, that policy and the part of all protagonists to tell the political initiatives in this area may human truth of what they did. Much is perversely do more harm than good if not buried in the inaccessible files of the very carefully thought through—indeed, ‘security services’; much more is buried if not very sensitively discussed with under the protective langue du bois of victims’ representatives. A truth com- paramilitary ideology. It is no coincidence mission which purported to tell the whole that the ‘3Rs’ of this report—repentance, truth, and nothing but, yet was widely reparation and reconciliation—have been seen as telling only some truth, and that so absent from public discourse in this shrouded in much ideology, could add area. All are about ‘living in truth’—to insult to grievous injury. borrow a phrase from the Czech president Whatever the means of truth recovery, and former dissident, Vaclav Havel, however, the surfacing of truth will be where the implicit contrast is with ‘living painful for all concerned: victims, in ideology’. The strongly implied under- perpetrators, witnesses and bystanders. pinning of the Northern Ireland ‘peace This is clearly evidenced by the events process’ has been that, in the name of and revelations of the Bloody Sunday Realpolitik, an excess of truth would be Tribunal, although the pain that comes highly undesirable. with the truth is a necessary step on the

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 87 road to healing. Few victims would say the commissioners in their final report— they would not want to know the extent was that it failed to deal with this of what had happened to a loved one. horizontal violence, manifest in the Given the tenuous nature of the peace conflict between the African National in Northern Ireland, the best approach Congress and the Inkatha Freedom may not be the adversarial style of the Party, which claimed more than 14,000 British or Irish courtroom. The focus on lives between 1990 and 1994. Current restoration or repair might favour the levels of violence, including criminal and continental legal model of exploration domestic violence, in South Africa and investigation. This is particularly suggest moreover that the social fabric true in a society where the violence has has not been repaired, despite the been largely (although certainly not commission’s successes at the national exclusively) ‘horizontal’ in nature— level. within and between communities, rather It is thus erroneous to think that there than solely between the state and its can be only one solution to addressing the citizens. past. It seems that when the conflict is This type of violence demands a primarily between an authoritarian mainly horizontal solution, which focuses régime and its people one solution—per- on rebuilding relationships and address- haps a truth commission or several com- ing the damage done to the social fabric missions of inquiry—may be needed. It by the violence of the past. Pursuing such needs to be recognised that such a matters exclusively through courts will commission(s) or tribunal aims to render not repair the trust—as well as com- the state as a whole accountable for its munity life and interaction—destroyed in responsibility in substituting coercion for this way. Nor indeed will it be able to rule by democratic consent. Hence truth elicit all the truth, often tacit and commissions have hitherto taken place informal, about the nature and extent of in societies emerging from dictatorship, such violence. that in South Africa following on from that in Chile. he South African Truth and Recon- In this scenario, a truth commission— ciliation Commission uncovered, at or a commission of inquiry like the Bloody T least to some degree, the atrocities of Sunday Tribunal—makes sense where the apartheid state. But one of its the primary actor in an atrocity or atroci- weaknesses—a weakness identified by ties involves the state. When the conflict

88 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 is within and between communities, how- name—is not the basis of a human-rights ever, other solutions may be required— culture. On the contrary, each commu- solutions which address the micro-social nity from which perpetrators are drawn impact of the conflict on everyday life. can otherwise be declared ‘responsible’ by This is not to say that the distinction the ‘other side’ via the construction of between what is state violence (and a vio- enemy images—enemy images so easily, lent response to it) and what is and mutually, perpetuated. Every citizen intercommunal violence is easy to make: is not a victim—but they can be deemed it is not as, inevitably, the state inter- to be affected, if not damaged, in some venes in the latter and is itself a proxy way. target for it. In a recent Balkan Crisis Report (In- Nonetheless, there is a clear pattern stitute for War and Peace Reporting, to contemporary conflict which, ironically, 2000: 3), the notions of collective and in- makes Northern Ireland somewhat more dividual responsibility were teased out modern and typical than its clichéd by the Serb journalist Miroslav Filipovic, representation as a unique 17th-century imprisoned by the Milosevic régime for hangover suggested. In today’s globalised publishing stories about atrocities by environment, inter-state wars over Serbian forces in Kosovo. Filipovic draws interests are increasingly rare, intra- a clear distinction between the responsi- state conflicts over identity increasingly bility of the state and the responsibility common (Kaldor, 1999). In such ‘new of the population for the atrocities in wars’—notably in ex-Yugoslavia in the Kosovo. In terms of the former, he claims 90s—the perpetrators of violence are less that if wrongdoing has taken place soldiers, more paramilitaries; tragically, with the sanction of the state this needs too, the victims are less combatants, more to be investigated and, preferably, result civilians. in a trial; he sees such trials as necess- Where the responsible actors are pri- arily targeted at individuals directly marily non-state, it is critical to bring responsible: citizens as a whole into the process of I do believe that the actions of Serbian addressing what has happened. Inaction citizens in the wars on the territory of the is often deemed ‘innocence’ in Northern former Yugoslavia, including Kosovo, will Ireland. Yet such inaction—or, worse, one day lead to public trials, within Serbia covert support for ethnic protagonists or at The Hague tribunal. The whole point claiming to act in the community’s of my articles, in fact, is that no crimes were

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 89 committed by the Serbian nation or the Yu- of ‘politicians’ who stirred young men to goslav Army as a whole, but by individuals sectarian murder. And for those who de- through individual acts. fend state violence, the collective behav- Filipovic’s arguments highlight the iour of paramilitaries allows individual importance of bringing the individual soldiers and police officers to ignore with perpetrator into the picture. He clearly impunity the human-rights conventions does not feel that the state is responsible by which (unlike paramilitaries) they are, alone, without the collusion of indi- under the rule of law, bound. viduals. The denial of any individual The debate about dealing with the responsibility by perpetrators displaces past in Northern Ireland will only move the fundamental question as to why forward once individual, as well as col- particular individuals reacted in the lective, responsibility for acts of omission violent way they did when the majority or commission—by the state and its serv- in their community did not. This poses ices, as well as by paramilitaries—is some interesting questions for Northern openly acknowledged. The starting point Ireland, where there is much collective should not merely be to blame, but rather blaming on the one hand and diffusion to identify how those responsible can of individual responsibility on the other. demonstrate genuine accountability for From one ideological perspective, the consequences of their actions. Acts of paramilitary violence is an automatic remorse and restitution—another two reaction to the existence of ‘conditions ‘Rs’—whether financial or symbolic, also of conflict’ (O’Doherty, 1998: 157); from need to be undertaken towards those in- the opposite paramilitary pole, it is a jured or bereaved. displaced individual responsibility—that Where international human-rights conventions, such as the Convention on Torture, or international humanitarian law, such as the Geneva Conventions, ‘If we’re going to move forward together have been violated, the law should, ide- and if we’re going to share our stories, ally, follow its course. It may as well be then we have to give each other the recognised, however, that the Realpolitik referred to above will constrain such de- right to be confused. And we need each velopments. A senior Northern Ireland other to try to find answers.’ human-rights lawyer, surveying the legislation to ratify UK support for the

90 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 International Criminal Court, asked only commission argued that most in society, half in jest under which provisions on war especially the (largely white) middle crimes and crimes against humanity two classes, were responsible because they leading IRA figures with public political had not tried to change the situation in roles might be arraigned before it. which human-rights violations (from all Continuing his reflections on Kosovo, sides) took place. Filipovic writes: The debate in Northern Ireland needs Ultimately, I hope this will also involve a fleshing out on two dimensions. First, regional process of truth and reconciliation, can the truth behind ‘vertical conflict’ through which people from all territories (between state and communities) only be of the former Yugoslavia will reflect on the revealed if it is extracted—through truth wars of the past decade and be brave commissions, tribunals or inquiries? Sec- enough to confess their mistakes, miscon- ondly, can the truth about ‘horizontal con- ceptions, and unlawful actions. flict’ (between communities and within In Northern Ireland, a typical—admit- communities) only be revealed if it is tedly, in some cases, stereotypical—re- admitted? sponse from middle-class (particularly If the answers are yes, then, in terms Protestant middle-class) citizens is to of the former, we need to ask what are assert that ‘others’ have been at fault: I, the trust-building mechanisms (or who had nothing to do with the conflict, coercions) necessary to ensure the state am not responsible in any way. Filipovic and those who fought with it reveal the challenges us to see things differently: a truth. A truth commission, or a similar cornerstone of reconciliation is that all body, could compel state witnesses to at- citizens reflect on and confess their mis- tend and subpoena documents from offi- takes, misconceptions and, in extreme cialdom—but the prior political will to cases, unlawful actions. set up such a structure would remain a The South African TRC tried to address prerequisite. both the broader social and individual Sub-state actors involved in ‘vertical responsibilities. Perpetrators had to conflict’ could also be difficult to draw in, come before it as individuals, though as they can not be subjected to the same the commission reserved the right to pressures or sanctions as officials. So far, hold the state and political parties paramilitaries have only been willing to responsible (and it did) for the express ‘regret’ for their actions, except actions of subordinates. At the time, the the reference to ‘abject remorse’ in the

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 91 loyalist ceasefire statement of 1994—and however—as the African National Con- that proffered only to ‘innocent’ victims. gress proved when it undertook its own Aside from the Bloody Sunday Tribu- investigation into atrocities committed by nal—and that took decades of campaign- its troops in training camps—such an ap- ing by relatives—the state has also proach might challenge one’s opponents proved highly reluctant to engage in an to begin also to come clean. It would, holistic process or admit to any wrong- moreover, represent a hugely important doing. One of the authors was once on signal, in the positive sense of the term, the receiving end of blatant misinforma- that a line was genuinely being drawn tion by an army press officer about the under the past—as against the ‘that was slaying of three young thieves by under- then, this is now’ stock response of today’s cover soldiers in west Belfast. Here, as paramilitary-linked politicians. in several other instances, the require- But how can those who engaged in ment in the European Convention on conflict—or those who still claim the con- Human Rights that security personnel flict was not about them—be convinced exercise force ‘which is no more than ab- that it is in their interests to admit to solutely necessary’ was clearly trans- past complicity, omissions, commissions, gressed—albeit not on such an egregious misperceptions and denials? This takes scale as at Bloody Sunday. Thus, the com- enormous inward reflection. Acts of civic mission of inquiry and legal trial routes and political leadership can provide a may be ways of forcing further truth to model. When, for example, a senior cleric come out. was asked by the Opsahl Commission on Again, however, the vast majority of ways forward for Northern Ireland atrocities were not committed by the whether the Protestant churches should army (still less the police). To get a larger apologise for the discrimination experi- truth-recovery process under way to deal enced by the Catholic community under with vertical violence, one of the parties the unionist ancien régime, he fumbled engaged in ‘armed struggle’ in the past in replying. A Scottish journalist whose is going to have to break the deadlock by family background was in the Commu- beginning a process of self-reflection or nist Party, mimicking the latter’s weasel making the truth about past operations words about Stalinism, commented ironi- more public. This could be risky as its cally: ‘Mistakes were made.’ political enemies could use this in- Such reflection on the past can also formation against it. At the same time, be discomfiting, contextualising as it does

92 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 the individual responsibility rightly dis- cussed above. It can result in an entire ‘It is brilliant that everybody around this revision of simple lines demarcating ‘good’ from ‘evil’, the sheep from the goats, table would aim to move forward but the an unease which can even entail iden- politicians do not seem to want to know tity crises. Yet shaking up old bounda- and they do not seem to want to move ries in Northern Ireland is not only forward. Until we find some arena where necessary: it also allows of a way in which all may believe they have something to they feel comfortable enough to sit and gain from a society characterised by listen and put their political agenda peace and a solidarity that stretches be- aside for just one day I think we’re yond roots. The agreement says that a peaceful and just society would be the stuck.’ true memorial to victims; all the more corrosive, therefore, that its protracted implementation has been against a back- drop of polarisation and continued, albeit Amongst republicans, there is unease lower-level, violence. about the failure of the state to come clean about the past, as well as the fail- t the time of writing, the agreement ure of the conservative middle class— appeared more fragile than at any John Hewitt’s ‘coasters’—to acknowledge A time since its promulgation. On the its complicity in the perpetuation of so- surface, this was about decommissioning, cial division. For those who claim the con- policing, security ‘normalisation’ and so flict was not about them—and for some on. But, as we explore the need for truth victims anxious to cling to a cause for and justice in Northern Ireland, it be- comfort—there is a fear that revisiting comes clear that what has eaten away at (mis)perceptions of the past may the credibility of the agreement is the destabilise moral and social universes; issue of responsibility. many feel they have lost values that char- Among unionists, there is an under- acterised their society and that govern- lying sense of moral unease about the ments have compromised under pressure failure of certain paramilitaries to take from ‘terrorists’ who are not held to responsibility for the hurt they have account. For theological nationalists, inflicted (and continue to inflict). meanwhile, the agreement is seen as

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 93 legitimising an executive that has no le- groups or more structured forums. gitimacy unless sovereignty lies in Dub- In terms of the issues of forgiveness lin. and reconciliation—fraught terms, as we These attitudes will always tend to have seen—new relationships need to be lead people to point the finger of blame— built in the present if we are effectively a focus on the antagonistic ‘other’ which to address the past. In fact, it may well consumes the spirit of the agreement: be a misnomer to talk of reconciliation in tolerance and dialogue. If the focus is some locales in Northern Ireland. The exclusively introverted and based on own word reconciliation implies that there needs and wants—those of an individual was conciliation at some point and that or of an imagined community—it will be it was ruptured and needs to be repaired. very difficult to make a transition But in some communities forging towards a relatively peaceful society. relationships with the other has yet to Tolerance requires the reconstruction of take place, let alone being reconciled one the individual victim’s and victimised with another. Cross-community involve- communities’ feelings of personal safety, ment and the enhancement of trust need and overcoming the fear that violent acts to be the foundation upon which any might recur. And dialogue—listening, not policy for dealing with the past is built. just what Damian Gorman has called But if reconciliation is a process, it can ‘waiting your turn’—is only possible start even from bleak beginnings. What when people see each other as fellow does need to be avoided is avoidance citizens, not adversaries. itself. Euphemistic phrases like ‘com- Clearly, therefore, there needs to be munity development’ and ‘peace- more emphasis on the long-term process building’, however well-intentioned, can of reconciliation rather than a short-term mask the real challenges—often dis- truth-seeking event or institution. comfiting, as indicated above—of cross- Fundamental distrusts, half-truths and sectarian dialogue on controversial accusations across communities continue questions. to seethe below the surface. These need The lack of shared understanding of to be voiced and addressed in structured where we are going, where we have come ways in safe places. Voluntary organ- from and how we got here has created a isations, as well as government, have a situation of moral hazard. This is typified responsibility to create such avenues and by the question: is nobody guilty, or are places, be they through community we all guilty? The questions of guilt and

94 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 responsibility—from the person who onfusion, according to one of Brian pulled the trigger through to those who Friel’s characters, is not an ignoble sanctioned such actions through C condition. Or, as ‘Belfast citizen’ commission or failing vigorously to wrote to the Times at the outset of the oppose—have been pushed to the side as ‘troubles’, ‘Anyone who isn’t confused society in Northern Ireland has struggled here doesn’t really understand what’s to cope with the here-and-now and going on.’ This, strange as it sounds, is a prevent further loss of life. healthy psychological state. It is healthy The difficulty of being in a state of to avoid the certitudes that led us into transition—where the old social rules no battle in the past—healthy to abjure the longer apply and new ones are being fundamentalism of a single identity that forged—is that it is no longer helpful to can only be defined in antagonistic terms look at the past in absolute terms. against another. It is healthy to under- Clearly, everybody has had a respons- mine the conviction and clarity of those ibility for what happened, and what will who think it virtuous to argue over who happen, but we have to face the fact that is a victim and who is not, whilst those some may have had, and may have, more victimised do not have adequate support. responsibility than others. And we need It is only when our static views of the past to continue the quest for truth on a are challenged that we will be able to go number of levels. beyond the enemy images that have Similarly, while it is true that in some justified atrocities. sense all of us have suffered over the last This does not, however, mean that one 30 years, it is an injustice to those who can responsibly urge that ‘confusion’ have been individually victimised not to simply be manifest and run unchecked. recognise that they have suffered a great There is a need for strategic political deal more. That means reconciliation is leadership. This is not to say that all the a complex process of trying to arrive at wrongs in Northern Ireland were the empathy and understanding, forgiveness fault of politicians, or to displace all and repentance on many different levels. responsibility for change on to them, but Complex and morally fraught as this is, political leadership is a precondition of it is an inescapable process that all the healing the wounds of the past. people of Northern Ireland will have to South Africa’s process of reconciliation undertake if we are adequately to come may have been flawed in many ways, but to terms with the violence of the past. it was the leadership of President

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 95 Mandela, F W de Klerk and others like At times, many politicians appear to Archbishop Desmond Tutu that gave the think that peace and functional govern- South African people hope and direction mental structures—obviously vital—will when the future seemed grim. At times, be sufficient to take the society forward. in Northern Ireland there seems to be the On the contrary, lessons from elsewhere opposite tendency, continually to paint in the world, where there has been the future as dark and compromise as protracted violence linked to the political surrender—rather than a strategic choice context, teach us that every effort needs made in the public interest. to be made continually to address the Thus, politicians need to be legacies of distrust, as well as the pain of challenged to take a greater respons- victims. ibility in thinking about how the past can If politicians need to show greater be addressed, both at the social and leadership, they also need to begin to individual levels. And civil society needs admit to their own failures in the past, to play a more constructive (and united) without fear of the ‘peace process’ being advocacy role in challenging political completely derailed. Such acknow- leadership. ledgment can provide a good example for communities struggling to understand their own role in past conflicts. The idea of politicians, or some collection of people ‘The normal thing about justice is there in this society, leading us towards a symbolic day of reconciliation, acknow- is collective innocence and individual ledgment and apology is one worth guilt. I don’t believe that’s the case in exploring. The symbolic value of such Northern Ireland. I fear that we have events cannot be overestimated. Similarly, voluntary organisations replaced it with refusing to accept any need to take a more active interest in responsibility and, now that the developing mechanisms to address past paramilitaries have joined us ... we have conflicts. This should happen within and collective innocence and individual between communities and help begin the process of reflection about all our mis- innocence, which is catastrophic for the perceptions of the ‘other’ over the years. people who have suffered.’ Politicians, and society at large, may also need to prepare themselves for the

96 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 fact that the past will continue to raise gives an opportunity for both per- its head. The recent attempts to petrators and victims to move on with the prosecute Gen Augusto Pinochet, decades acceptance of committed atrocities, while after his actions, the issue of reparations at the same time not trying to silence for acts during World War Two by them. Germans against Jews, and the conflict This more humanitarian approach over the genocide of the aboriginal people does not compel individuals to under- of Australia are cases in point. On a less stand or sympathise with the perceived dramatic scale, in countries such as ‘other’, but to tolerate and respect Brazil, Argentina and South Africa, diversity. In the current fashion for victims’ needs have still not gone away, identity politics it is often forgotten that even when many years have passed. for diversity to flourish there has to be a It would thus be naïve to think that common denominator of tolerance—in the needs of the 3,500 or so families who the light of the current public blame- lost a loved one and the thousands of game, aided by iconised enemy-images, people injured in Northern Ireland could this is all the more important. It is an miraculously—or even with the max- ambitious project, but some people imum resources and the best of services— working with victims and perpetrators in disappear in the short term. Like other Northern Ireland who may once have felt countries wracked by political violence, there was a time for ‘an eye for an eye’ Northern Ireland is in for the long haul might now be minded to ‘turn the other in dealing with the impact of past cheek’ and accept a different truth. This violence. approach stems from a commitment to In the agreement there is a call for humanity—and an acceptance that finding common denominators, and many inhumanity is an inseparable part of it. have recognised the apparent sym- Can there be forgiveness without metries in experience of suffering during acknowledgment of the inhumanity of the ‘troubles’. Some, however, still see all oneself and of one’s own side? Is it not violent acts simply as an offence against necessary to admit to the ability to cause humanity. This view may stop people pain and to focus on the common committing such acts, but it may also inhumanity of people, along with their dehumanise those who have. A more common humanity? From this point of inclusive perspective accepts inhumane view there would be less blaming, passing acts as a foregone part of the conflict and judgment and fighting for the moral high

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 97 ground, and more focus on the political even be the struggle for recognition of circumstances and the back-grounds of victimhood: the moral high ground is a individuals, in order better to recognise powerful position, once secured, and what might have led them to conduct leaves no justifiable room for others to inhumane acts. criticise. This is not meant to justify violence, The layer upon layer of unfulfilled but rather to acknowledge that violence truth and justice, unexplored forgiveness has been an integral part of the history and reconciliation, and much needed of Northern Ireland and that, sooner or commemoration and remembering in later, it has to be dealt with in a Northern Ireland represents a long-term constructive way. A way of bringing in challenge, the outcome of which will collective responsibility, along with the never be certain. Many times we may find personal responsibility of the perpetrator, that we roll backwards. Yet without is to stress the importance of empathy. If looking backwards we will not be able to everybody could recognise that they go forward. themselves or someone close to them Moreover, there is an underlying would be capable of conducting so-called message of hope as well as humanity in inhumane acts—and could explore the these conclusions, sober though they are. differences in perception of when a threat It is that we do not need to wait for becomes serious enough for some to feel Northern Ireland’s political class to a pressure or responsibility to defend agree—still less, for London, Dublin and their ‘own side’ or retaliate for previous Washington to agree for them—on an all- violations—then perhaps Northern singing, all-dancing truth commission Ireland could become a less ‘troubled’ before we can make progress towards a society. future more reconciled to its past. In the This would allow for public rituals to end, such progress will largely be the take place where the different sides could product of a multitude of small, mutually- accept moral responsibility for their part reinforcing acts, acts to which we all and initiate processes of forgiveness. already have the capacity—indeed Over time, this might even lead to responsibility—as citizens to contribute. reconciliation. This is a long process and The papers presented in this report many struggles will have to give way for and the discussion they stimulated a new society where people can co-exist. represent one of those small acts. The hardest struggle to give up might Hopefully, they will open up more debate.

98 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Coupled with reflection, that is itself one way that we begin to share ideas as we endeavour to find a workable way to deal with the past. DD

Bibliography Institute for War and Peace Reporting (2000), Balkan Crisis Report 185, October 13th, www.iwpr.net Kaldor, M (1999), New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era, Cambridge: Polity Press O’Doherty, M (1998), The Trouble With Guns: Republican Strategy and the Provisional IRA, Belfast: Blackstaff Press

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 99 Contributors

Sir Kenneth Bloomfield is a former head of the Northern Ireland civil service and author of two relevant reports for government, on the needs of victims in general and the issue of compensation in particular Karola Dillenburger is a chartered psychologist and social worker lecturing in the School of Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast Brandon Hamber is a clinical psychologist and programme manager at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg, South Africa Dorte Kulle is a research associate of Democratic Dialogue and is associated with the Department of Ethnography and Social Anthropology at the University of Aarhus, Denmark Avila Kilmurray is director of the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust Brian Lennon is director (acting) of Community Dialogue Duncan Morrow lectures in politics at the University of Ulster Sandra Peake is director of WAVE Trauma Centre Bill Rolston is a professor of sociology at the University of Ulster Marie Smyth is on the academic staff of the University of Ulster and has published widely on aspects of violent social division, including research ethics and methodologies Dave Wall was director of the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders and is now head of the Voluntary Activity Unit at Stormont Robin Wilson is director of Democratic Dialogue

100 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Publications

Reports are £7.50stg each for individuals, £10 for institutions, £4 for unwaged/ students; please add 10 per cent p&p. Discussion papers are £2 each, plus p&p. Briefing papers are free. Orders can be by letter, phone, fax or e-mail; cheques are payable to Democratic Dialogue.

Reports

Report 1: New Thinking for New Times Report of DD’s launch conference in Belfast in 1995, including keynote address on ‘the new context of politics’ by Prof Anthony Giddens (June 1995)*

Report 2: Social Exclusion, Social Inclusion An international review of strategies to combat social exclusion, followed by concrete policy proposals to achieve a cohesive society in Northern Ireland (November 1995)

Report 3: Reconstituting Politics Radical new approaches to constitutional possibilities for Northern Ireland, citizen involvement in policy-making and the reinvention of politics itself (March 1996)*

Report 4: Power, Politics, Positionings—Women in Northern Ireland An assessment of where women stand in the political parties, the voluntary sector and the media, and how their participation in public life can be enhanced (October 1996)

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 101 Report 5: Continentally Challenged—Securing Northern Ireland’s Place in the European Union How Northern Ireland can reposition itself regionally in Europe, and articulate a more cohesive voice, against a backdrop of change across the continent (February 1997)

Report 6: Politics—The Next Generation A survey of the attitudes of young people, based on questionnaires and focus groups, backing a case for political education and local youth representation (April 1997)

Report 7: With All Due Respect—Pluralism and Parity of Esteem Northern Ireland’s nationalism debate set in the context of identity politics, indicating how ‘parity of esteem’ can promote pluralism rather than polarisation (June 1997)

Report 8: Politics in Public—Freedom of Assembly and the Right to Protest A comparative study demonstrating how the ‘right to march’ is qualified in diverse jurisdictions, pointing to a resolution of the parades controversy (March 1998)*

Report 9: New Order—International Models of Peace and Reconciliation An assessment of the Belfast agreement in the light of the evolving architecture for security and human rights in Europe (May 1998)

Report 10: Hard Choices—Policy Autonomy and Priority-setting in Public Expenditure An exploration with the Eastern Health and Social Services Board and the Northern Ireland Economic Council of fiscal constraints post-devolution (January 1999)

Report 11: No Frontiers—North-South Integration in Ireland A partnership with Co-operation Ireland, UCD Business School and Combat Poverty, charting how to maximise relations between the two parts of the island (June 1999)

Report 12: Independent Intervention—Monitoring the Police, Parades and Public Order A look, with the Community Development Centre, at the role civil society has played at disputed parades, including international comparisons (September 1999)

102 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 Discussion papers

Media and Intrastate Conflict in Northern Ireland A paper commissioned by the European Institute for the Media (July 1997)

Making ‘consent’ mutual An exploration of the ‘consent principle’ in Northern Ireland (October 1997)

Making democracy work A paper commissioned by the NI Council for Voluntary Action (February 1998)

Economic governance—international experiences: a new direction for Northern Ireland A paper commissioned by the Confederation of British Industry NI (March 1998)

Two-tier policing—a middle way for Northern Ireland? An international model offering a way beyond a polarised debate (March 1998)

Elections in Northern Ireland—systems for stability and success A look at options for elections to the Assembly to assist a gender balance (April 1998)

Irish nationalisms in perspective Torkel Opsahl memorial lecture by Prof Fred Halliday of LSE (May 1998)

The Civic Forum—a consultation document from New Agenda A discussion, derived from civil society, of the role of the Civic Forum (August 1998)

Reinventing government—a once-only opportunity Proposals for holistic government and a departmental shake-up (August 1998)

Scotland’s parliament—lessons for Northern Ireland A cautionary story of the devolution debate in Scotland (September 1998)

DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13 103 The Civic Forum and Negotiated Governance The Civic Forum’s potential contribution to the culture of politics (September 1999)

Beyond either-or—the politics of ‘and’ in ethno-nationalist conflicts An attempt to set out a paradigm for the new millennium (September 1999)

Making a Difference: preparing the Programme for Government The devolved executive’s programme and how it might emerge (June 2000)

Flagging Concern: the controversy over flags and emblems (July 2000) A proposal for new symbolism to represent a new Northern Ireland

Order on Policing: resolving the impasse over the Patten report (October 2000) A three-way compromise proposal to allow of an accommodation

Briefing papers

Structurally Unsound: the Northern Ireland bids for further EU monies (March 2000)

The Criminal Justice Review: a response (October 2000)

The Future of Selection: verdict of a ‘young citizens’ jury’ on the 11+ (November 2000)

The Northern Ireland Assembly and Women: assessing the gender deficit (Dec 2000)

* Out of print: photocopies can be supplied or the text downloaded from the DD web site.

104 DEMOCRATIC DIALOGUE NO 13