DOCSLIB.ORG

Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: a Handbook

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: a Handbook Reconciliation After Violent Conflict A Handbook H andbook Series Reconciliation After Violent Conflict A Handbook Editors: David Bloomfield, Teresa Barnes and Luc Huyse Contributors: David Bloomfield, Noreen Callaghan, Vannath Chea, Mark Freeman, Brandon Hamber, Priscilla B. Hayner, Luc Huyse, Peter Uvin, Stef Vandeginste, and Ian White. Handbook Series. The International IDEA Handbook Series seeks to present comparative analysis, information and insights on a range of democratic institutions and processes. Handbooks are aimed primarily at policy-makers, politicians, civil society actors and practitioners in the field. They are also of interest to academia, the democracy assistance community and other bodies. International IDEA publications are independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA, its Board or its Council members. © International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2003 Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or any part of this publication should be made to: Information Unit International IDEA SE -103 34 Stockholm Sweden International IDEA encourages dissemination of its work and will promptly respond to requests for permission to reproduce or translate its publications. Graphic design by: Holmberg & Holmberg Design AB, Stockholm, Sweden Front cover photos sourced from: CORBIS/SCANPIX Printed by: Bulls Tryckeri AB Halmstad, Sweden ISBN: 91-89098-91-9 Foreword There is no handy roadmap for reconciliation. There is no short cut or simple prescription for healing the wounds and divisions of a society in the aftermath of sustained violence. Creating trust and understanding between former enemies is a supremely difficult challenge. It is, however, an essential one to address in the process of building a lasting peace. Examining the painful past, acknowledging it and understanding it, and above all transcending it together, is the best way to guarantee that it does not – and cannot – happen again. As our experience in South Africa has taught us, each society must discover its own route to recon- ciliation. Reconciliation cannot be imposed from outside, nor can someone else’s map get us to our destination: it must be our own solution. This involves a very long and painful journey, addressing the pain and suffering of the victims, understanding the motivations of offenders, bringing together estranged communities, trying to find a path to justice, truth and, ultimately, peace. Faced with each new instance of violent conflict, new solutions must be devised that are appropriate to the particular context, history and culture in question. And yet, despite the differences between Cape Town and Kigali, between Belgrade and Belfast, there are also similarities in each situation. The authors of this Handbook are not proposing simple solutions, but they are offering a range of options, built on expertise and experience drawn from around the world. They provide a solid basis for constructing, adapting and adopting ideas and tools – new and old, foreign and domestic, but above all practical and effective – to design a reconciliation process appropriate to a particular set of circumstances. In South Africa we have travelled a long way down the road of reconciliation, but our journey is not yet over. Reconciliation is a long-term process and it must – and will – continue for many years to come. And yet, we have made a good start. For us, truth was at the heart of reconciliation: the need to find out the truth about the horrors of the past, the better to ensure that they never happen again. And that is the central significance of reconciliation. Without it people have no sense of safety, no trust, no confidence in the future. The aim must be, as the Handbook’s authors say, ‘to build a shared future from a divided past’. There is no alternative way to lasting peace. As we continue our own journey towards peace in South Africa, I commend this Handbook to those who struggle for reconciliation in other contexts around the world. I hope that the practical tools and lessons from experience presented here will inspire, assist and support them in their supremely important task. desmond tutu Archbishop Emeritus Preface IDEA’s vocation is to promote sustainable democracy around the world. This includes attention to the specific challenges of democratization after violent conflict. This may involve the reconstruc- tion of politics and society by national actors, or the temporary stewardship of democracy-building by the United Nations or others. In either context, the subject of reconciliation – the process of addressing the legacy of past violence and rebuilding the broken relationships it has caused – is a focus of increasing interest. There is also an urgent demand for better tools to address this most difficult of post-violence issues. This Handbook is a response to such demand. For IDEA, democratic processes and structures are in themselves the most effective means for the peaceful prevention and management of conflict, especially in post-conflict contexts, where the most urgent need is for mechanisms that will, first and foremost, ensure that there will be no return to the violence of the past. More specifically, an appropriate reconciliation process – designed to fit the context, and owned by all stakeholders concerned – is a vital measure in order to address adequately the legacy of the past, to develop working relationships in the present, to build a shared vision of the future, and thus to support and sustain nascent democratic structures. We do not offer universal models of reconciliation in this handbook. Rather, we offer general advice and specific options to policy-makers and practitioners, to assist them in designing the most suitable reconciliation process for their particular needs. These options are based on actual experience from post-conflict situations around the world. This book contains accumulated wisdom from acknowledged experts, politicians, civil society leaders, all of whom speak from their own personal experience of tackling the challenges of reconciliation in their own situations. Reconciliation has only recently been recognized as a necessary component of post-violence recon- struction. Evidence and experience are still being accumulated. Consequently, this Handbook does not pretend to be a definitive statement on the subject, but rather a practically-oriented survey of the knowledge to date. Indeed, we invite critical comment and further inputs. We know that reconcilia- tion can never be a quick fix. It requires time and patience, an incremental approach and a capacity to evolve and adapt to challenges and opportunities. The topic is huge, but the need is great since reconciliation is among the most difficult challenges facing new or restored democracies. We hope that the contents can be of practical assistance in stimulating the design and implementation of appropriate reconciliation processes which will, in turn, support and strengthen appropriate democratic structures. This Handbook, which is produced as part of IDEA’s work on democracy building and conflict management, will also be used in trai- ning, discussion and co-operation with colleagues and partner bodies around the world and we invite interested organizations to make contact. We owe a huge debt of thanks to Prof. Luc Huyse, who shouldered the onerous task of lead writer on this project. We could not have chosen a more able, more knowledgeable or more co-operative colleague. We also thank the many experts of world renown who have contributed to the text, including Birgitte Soerensen, our adviser on gender issues. We are very grateful to our member state, the Netherlands and observer country, Switzerland, which contributed towards the cost of the project. Last but not least, credit also goes to our own staff in the Democracy, Dialogue and Conflict Management Programme and the Publications Section, who have seen the Handbook through from start to finish. karen fogg Secretary-General, International IDEA Reconciliation After Violent Conflict A Handbook part i reconciliation: the context 1 RECONCILIATION: AN INTRODUCTION . 10 1.1 Democracy and Reconciliation . .10 1.2 The Process of Reconciliation . .12 1.3 The Necessity of Reconciliation . .14 1.4 No Easy Answers . .16 1.5 How to Use This Handbook . .17 2 THE PROCESS OF RECONCILIATION . 19 2.1 What is Reconciliation? . .19 2.2 Reconciliation: Who is Involved? . .22 2.3 Reconciliation: How? . .23 2.4 Reconciliation: When, in What Order and How Fast? . .27 Case Study: Zimbabwe: Why Reconciliation Failed . .34 3 THE CONTEXT OF RECONCILIATION . 40 3.1 The Legacy of the Past . .40 3.2 The Transition . .42 3.3 The Post-Transition Context . .44 3.4 Concluding Remarks . .47 Case Study: Reconciliation in Cambodia: Politics, Culture and Religion . .49 part ii reconciliation: the people 4 VICTIMS . 54 4.1 The Many Faces of Victims . .54 4.2 The Identification of Victims . .57 4.3 Victim Mobilization . .62 4.4 Victims and Offenders: Interchangeable Roles . .64 4.5 Concluding Remarks . .65 5 OFFENDERS . ..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Power Seeking and Backlash Against Female Politicians
    Article Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin The Price of Power: Power Seeking and 36(7) 923 –936 © 2010 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc Backlash Against Female Politicians Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0146167210371949 http://pspb.sagepub.com Tyler G. Okimoto1 and Victoria L. Brescoll1 Abstract Two experimental studies examined the effect of power-seeking intentions on backlash toward women in political office. It was hypothesized that a female politician’s career progress may be hindered by the belief that she seeks power, as this desire may violate prescribed communal expectations for women and thereby elicit interpersonal penalties. Results suggested that voting preferences for female candidates were negatively influenced by her power-seeking intentions (actual or perceived) but that preferences for male candidates were unaffected by power-seeking intentions. These differential reactions were partly explained by the perceived lack of communality implied by women’s power-seeking intentions, resulting in lower perceived competence and feelings of moral outrage. The presence of moral-emotional reactions suggests that backlash arises from the violation of communal prescriptions rather than normative deviations more generally. These findings illuminate one potential source of gender bias in politics. Keywords gender stereotypes, backlash, power, politics, intention, moral outrage Received June 5, 2009; revision accepted December 2, 2009 Many voters see Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as coldly politicians and that these penalties may be reflected in voting ambitious, a perception that could ultimately doom her presi- preferences. dential campaign. Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times, 2007 Power-Relevant Stereotypes Power seeking may be incongruent with traditional female In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was elected to the Montana seat in gender stereotypes but not male gender stereotypes for a the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Leftist Case for War in Iraq •fi William Shawcross, Allies
    Fordham International Law Journal Volume 27, Issue 6 2003 Article 6 Vengeance And Empire: The Leftist Case for War in Iraq – William Shawcross, Allies: The U.S., Britain, Europe, and the War in Iraq Hal Blanchard∗ ∗ Copyright c 2003 by the authors. Fordham International Law Journal is produced by The Berke- ley Electronic Press (bepress). http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj Vengeance And Empire: The Leftist Case for War in Iraq – William Shawcross, Allies: The U.S., Britain, Europe, and the War in Iraq Hal Blanchard Abstract Shawcross is superbly equipped to assess the impact of rogue States and terrorist organizations on global security. He is also well placed to comment on the risks of preemptive invasion for existing alliances and the future prospects for the international rule of law. An analysis of the ways in which the international community has “confronted evil,” Shawcross’ brief polemic argues that U.S. President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were right to go to war without UN clearance, and that the hypocrisy of Jacques Chirac was largely responsible for the collapse of international consensus over the war. His curious identification with Bush and his neoconservative allies as the most qualified to implement this humanitarian agenda, however, fails to recognize essential differences between the leftist case for war and the hard-line justification for regime change in Iraq. BOOK REVIEW VENGEANCE AND EMPIRE: THE LEFTIST CASE FOR WAR IN IRAQ WILLIAM SHAWCROSS, ALLIES: THE U.S., BRITAIN, EUROPE, AND THE WAR IN IRAQ* Hal Blanchard** INTRODUCTION In early 2002, as the war in Afghanistan came to an end and a new interim government took power in Kabul,1 Vice President Richard Cheney was discussing with President George W.
    [Show full text]
  • Charley Boorman Captured the World's Imagination Last Year When He and Ewan Mcgregor Rode Their Motorbikes from John O'groat
    PEOPLE CHARLEY BOORMAN captured the world’s imagination last year when he and Ewan McGregor rode their motorbikes from John o’Groats to Cape Town. But, as we found out, this adventurer’s journey is only just beginning… WORDS DAN SAVERY PICTURES GETTY, REX harley Boorman picks up the terrain. Their bikes took them 15,000 miles “It’s an amazing country. It was like going phone. “Can I call you back in half across two continents, a journey punctuated back 300 years,” says Charley. an hour?” he asks. “I’m just having by several wheelies by Charley – much to the And these weren’t the only high points. a coffee with my dad and we don’t delight of the children they passed. “There were lots of drop-dead, slap-in-the-face get the chance very often.” He says fondly, “I’ve always loved wheelies. moments. I remember being in Tanzania – Charley’s dad is film director John The guy who got me into motorbikes when that’s real Africa, the Africa you imagine in Boorman, of Deliverance (1972), Excalibur I was nine years old used to do stonking your head. It was nearly sunset, and I stopped (1981) and The Emerald Forest (1985) fame. wheelies across the fields. I thought, ‘That’s at the top of a hill, and Ewan pulled up beside With movies in his blood, going into the film what I want to do! I don’t want to learn how to me. The sky was starting to go orange, and in business was a natural step for Charley, and he read, I don’t want to learn how to write, I just the distance we could see some zebra.
    [Show full text]
  • ON DOCTORS and BOMBS Supermarkets Being Brought in to Colonise ESSAY As We Take a Step Back from the Events of the Primary Care
    BaTHcE k Pages Contents Viewpoint 840 ON DOCTORS AND BOMBS supermarkets being brought in to colonise ESSAY As we take a step back from the events of the primary care. Management speak dominates The 21st century GP: summer, perhaps now it is possible to look the discourse, divide-and-rule is the modus physician and priest? Jim Pink, Lionel Jacobson rationally at the effects of the alleged terrorist operandi and drug company research rules and Mike Pritchard attacks in Glasgow and London on the the roost. League tables and other punitive medical profession in this country. measures are manifestations of the 842 Firstly, we need to recognise that the issues pathological culture of bullying and EDO Michael Lasserson are those of criminality and global politics and intimidation that defines transnational are in no way medico-legal or related to capitalist structures. Many diseases of 843 overseas recruitment procedures. We must affluence are actually diseases of ESSAY not succumb to the blind panic that overtook corporatism. From a non-patient’s perspective government and regulatory bodies following A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine in Peter Tomson the Shipman revelations. As a consequence Glasgow was stabbed in the middle of her of this ethos, a lawyer specialising in medical morning surgery. Are we now going to 844 negligence was put in charge of the suspect all patients and install CCTV in our REPORTAGE investigation and with stunning intellectual waiting and consulting-rooms? No, of course The 61st Edinburgh International Film Festival laziness, promptly succeeded in conflating not. Bad eggs do bad things, whether they David Watson criminality with competence issues.
    [Show full text]
  • Searching for a Common Idiom Among African
    Journal of Interdisciplinary History, xxxiv:4 (Spring, 2004), 595–599. AFRICAN TEXTS Robert I. Rotberg Searching for a Common Idiom among African Texts President Robert Gabriel Mugabe is remarkable for hav- ing transformed a well-managed, thriving, promising southern African country into a failed state—all within the last six years. In 2003, inºation in once wealthy Zimbabwe was racing along at 500 percent; staples and fuel were in short supply; unemployment reached 80 percent; hospitals barely functioned; and schools were without textbooks and teachers. Mugabe, a latter-day despot, had rigged a re-election in 2002, attacked civil society, killed and maimed opponents, suspended the rule of law, and thumbed his nose at President Bush and other foreign and local critics. In 2003, Mugabe had been a dominating prime minister and president for twenty-three years. Yet, before Zimbabwe’s inde- pendence in 1980, Mugabe had not always been the key ªgure in his people’s struggle against white-settler rule. Indeed, had one of his better-known competitors taken power, Zimbabweans could have avoided the home-grown tyranny under which they now chafe. First came Joshua Nkomo, but his easy-going and compro- mising ways led to a fratricidal battle; Ndabaningi Sithole, Herbert Wiltshire Chitepo, and Mugabe emerged from it as the leaders of a Shona-speaking nationalist movement called the Zimbabwe Af- rican National Union (zanu). Nkomo thereafter (from 1963) led the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (zapu). zanu was backed by China and zapu by the Soviet Union. Sithole and Mugabe were jailed for almost ten years, to late 1974, by the internationally illegal white-settler government of Rhodesia, which usurped power in 1965.
    [Show full text]
  • Divide and Conquer
    ISSN 1936-5349 (print) ISSN 1936-5357 (online) HARVARD JOHN M. OLIN CENTER FOR LAW, ECONOMICS, AND BUSINESS DIVIDE AND CONQUER Eric A. Posner, Kathryn Spier, & Adrian Vermeule Discussion Paper No. 639 5/2009 Harvard Law School Cambridge, MA 02138 This paper can be downloaded without charge from: The Harvard John M. Olin Discussion Paper Series: http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/ The Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1349971 Divide and Conquer Eric A. Posner,* Kathryn Spier,** & Adrian Vermeule*** Abstract: The maxim “divide and conquer” (divide et impera) is invoked frequently in law, history, and politics, but often in a loose or undertheorized way. We suggest that the maxim is a placeholder for a complex of ideas related by a family resemblance, but differing in their details, mechanisms and implications. We provide an analytic taxonomy of divide and conquer mechanisms in the settings of a Stag Hunt Game and an indefinitely-repeated Prisoners’ Dilemma. A number of applications are considered, including labor law, bankruptcy, constitutional design and the separation of powers, imperialism and race relations, international law, litigation and settlement, and antitrust law. Conditions under which divide and conquer strategies reduce or enhance social welfare, and techniques that policy makers can use to combat divide and conquer tactics, are also discussed. JEL: K0 * University of Chicago Law School. ** Harvard Law School. *** Harvard Law School. Thanks to Adam Badawi, Anu Bradford, Jim Dana, Mary Anne Franks, Aziz Huq, Claudia Landeo, Jonathan Masur, Madhavi Sunder, Lior Strahilevitz, and an audience at the University of Chicago Law School for valuable comments, and Paul Mysliwiec and Colleen Roh for helpful research assistance.
    [Show full text]
  • CHASING the JETSTREAM Press Release
    CHASING THE JETSTREAM Press Release “We can power the whole world with energy from high-altitude winds.” says the first man to have jumped into the jet stream. New eye-opening documentary on the infinite clean power in the sky: CHASING THE JET STREAM. Swiss entrepreneur and skydiver Marc Hauser jumped as the first man ever into the jet stream in June 2018, from a height of 7400 m (24,300 ft.). His goal is to underline the potential of high-altitude winds as a worldwide energy source. The documentary “CHASING THE JET STREAM”, filmed and produced by world acclaimed filmmaker Claudio von Planta gives an astonishing insight to this pioneering and daring project. It will be airing on BBC World News on 1st, 8th and 15th of December 2018. Zürich, 27.11.2018. Swiss entrepreneur Marc Hauser and world acclaimed filmmaker Claudio von Planta have followed high altitude winds in the last 2 years, in particular the jet stream (jet stream = >100kph, 62mph., > 6,000m, 20,000ft.). The result is a gripping and eye-opening documentary on the challenges of the worldwide first jump into the jet stream. Highlighting a brand-new market for sustainable energy production. The documentary presents visionary airborne wind energy projects, which are using different approaches to harvest high- altitude winds but still are looking for investors to prepare for a market entry. First person to jump into powerful jet stream Marc Hauser, a passionate skydiver and world record holder in horizontal forward speed at 304 kph, is the first man who has jumped from a height of 7,400m (24,300ft) in -40°C/°F into a 140 kph, 87mph jet stream on 30th of June 2018.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Go and Sin No More': Christian Mercy Vs. Tabloid Vengeance Stuart Dew Describes Some Biblical Examples of Forgiveness Towards Wrongdoers
    'Go and Sin No More': Christian mercy vs. tabloid vengeance Stuart Dew describes some biblical examples of forgiveness towards wrongdoers. s I often do when talking in public on behalf and other high profile offenders as evil is comforting, of the Churches' Criminal Justice Forum for, if they are the personification of evil, the rest of A (CCJF), I asked the group of local us are okay. We are normal; we are the good guys. To churchgoers what Christian values they linked with consider that we are all capable of doing both right criminal justice. The first respondent folded his arms and wrong requires us to share ownership for dealing across his chest and said firmly "Punishment for sin". with criminal behaviour. That is a message that It wasn't one of the values at the forefront of my Churches' Criminal Justice Forum tries to put across. mind, and I wondered if this might be a more One of my favourite Bible stories is where a group challenging evening than some. However, it proved of men bring to Christ a woman caught in adultery. to be a good starting point for discussion, and Leaving aside the fact that a man may also have had encouraged others present to think more deeply about some complicity in this offence (for that was the the issues, which is one of our aims. culture of the age), stoning is suggested by the group / asked the group of local churchgoers what Christian values they linked with criminal justice. The first respondent folded his arms across his chest and said firmly "Punishment for sin".
    [Show full text]
  • MEDIA ADVISORY: Thursday, August 11, 2011**
    **MEDIA ADVISORY: Thursday, August 11, 2011** WWE SummerSlam Cranks Up the Heat at Participating Cineplex Entertainment Theatres Live, in High-Definition on Sunday, August 14, 2011 WHAT: Three championship titles are up for grabs, one will unify the prestigious WWE Championship this Sunday. Cineplex Entertainment, via our Front Row Centre Events, is pleased to announce WWE SummerSlam will be broadcast live at participating Cineplex theatres across Canada on Sunday, August 14, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. EDT, 7:00 p.m. CDT, 6:00 p.m. MDT and 5:00 p.m. PDT live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. Matches WWE Champion John Cena vs. WWE Champion CM Punk in an Undisputed WWE Championship Match World Heavyweight Champion Christian vs. Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred Match WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix WHEN: Sunday, August 14, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. EDT, 7:00 p.m. CDT, 6:00 p.m. MDT and 5:00 p.m. PDT WHERE: Advance tickets are now available at participating theatre box offices, through the Cineplex Mobile Apps and online at www.cineplex.com/events or our mobile site m.cineplex.com. A special rate is available for larger groups of 20 or more. Please contact Cineplex corporate sales at 1-800-313-4461 or via email at [email protected]. The following 2011 WWE events will be shown live at select Cineplex Entertainment theatres: WWE Night of Champions September 18, 2011 WWE Hell in the Cell October 2, 2011 WWE Vengeance (formerly Bragging Rights) October 23, 2011 WWE Survivor Series November 20, 2011 WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs December 18, 2011 -30- For more information, photos or interviews, please contact: Pat Marshall, Vice President, Communications and Investor Relations, Cineplex Entertainment, 416-323- 6648, [email protected] Kyle Moffatt, Director, Communications, Cineplex Entertainment, 416-323-6728, [email protected] .
    [Show full text]
  • Human Rights Violations in Ethiopia
    / w / %w '* v *')( /)( )% +6/& $FOUFSGPS*OUFSOBUJPOBM)VNBO3JHIUT-BX"EWPDBDZ 6OJWFSTJUZPG8ZPNJOH$PMMFHFPG-BX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was prepared by University of Wyoming College of Law students participating in the Fall 2017 Human Rights Practicum: Jennie Boulerice, Catherine Di Santo, Emily Madden, Brie Richardson, and Gabriela Sala. The students were supervised and the report was edited by Professor Noah Novogrodsky, Carl M. Williams Professor of Law and Ethics and Director the Center for Human Rights Law & Advocacy (CIHRLA), and Adam Severson, Robert J. Golten Fellow of International Human Rights. The team gives special thanks to Julia Brower and Mark Clifford of Covington & Burling LLP for drafting the section of the report addressing LGBT rights, and for their valuable comments and edits to other sections. We also thank human rights experts from Human Rights Watch, the United States Department of State, and the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office for sharing their time and expertise. Finally, we are grateful to Ethiopian human rights advocates inside and outside Ethiopia for sharing their knowledge and experience, and for the courage with which they continue to document and challenge human rights abuses in Ethiopia. 1 DIVIDE, DEVELOP, AND RULE: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN ETHIOPIA CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW & ADVOCACY UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING COLLEGE OF LAW 1. PURPOSE, SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 3 2. INTRODUCTION 3 3. POLITICAL DISSENTERS 7 3.1. CIVIC AND POLITICAL SPACE 7 3.1.1. Elections 8 3.1.2. Laws Targeting Dissent 14 3.1.2.1. Charities and Society Proclamation 14 3.1.2.2. Anti-Terrorism Proclamation 17 3.1.2.3.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rwandan Genocide: Combating Stereotypes And
    The Rwandan Genocide: Combating Stereotypes and Understanding the Origins Nicola Skakel Senior Honors Thesis Department of History April 9th 2018 Defense Committee: Dr. Susan K. Kent, Department of History, Primary Advisor Dr. Matthew Gerber, Department of History, Honors Council Representative Dr. Paul Shankman, Department of Anthropology, Advisor 1 Introduction On the 7th of April 1994, the small east African country of Rwanda erupted into one of the most deadly and intimate genocides the modern world had ever witnessed. Whilst the western world stood by and watched in just 100 days over 800,000 Rwandans out of a total population of 7 million, were systematically murdered in the most brutal and violent of ways. Those who were targeted made up the country’s minority ethnic group the Tutsis, and moderates from the majority group, the Hutus. For many, the legacy of Rwanda is a monstrous example of extreme pent up ethnic tensions that has its roots in European colonialism. In contrast, I will argue that the events not just of 1994 but also the unrest that proceeded it, arose from a highly complex culmination of long-standing historical tensions between ethnic groups that long pre-dated colonialism. In conjunction, a set of short-term triggers including foreign intervention, civil war, famine, state terrorism and ultimately the assassination of President Habyarimana also contributed to the outburst of genocide in 1994. Whilst it would be easy to place sole responsibility on European colonists for implementing a policy of divide and rule and therefore exacerbating ethnic tensions, it seems to me that genocide is never that cut and dried: it can never be explained by one factor.
    [Show full text]
  • September 11 Backlash Employment Discrimination
    September 11 Backlash Employment Discrimination by Bryan P. Cavanaugh1 Complaints of national origin-related employment discrimination have risen since September 11, 2001. The federal government is particularly concerned and has fostered an environment that employers should heed. It has sued employers around the country for September 11 backlash discrimination. Employers should forbid national origin discrimination, guard against it, and eradicate it as soon as they discover it. Otherwise, they could face expensive lawsuits. I. Introduction The events and images of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks affected everyone in the United States. The ghastly images of the attacks on our country by Muslim extremists are indelible in this country's collective memory. As President Bush addressed the nation on the night of September 11, 2001, he vowed, "None of us will ever forget this day."2 While September 11's precise effect upon the U.S. economy is unclear, it cannot be reasonably disputed that the attacks harmed it. Indeed, this country continues to feel the effects of the September 11 attacks. Naturally, the effects have reached the U.S. workplace. The attacks have affected the U.S. workforce as a whole and on a more personal level. Anecdotes abound of post-September 11 animosity and downright hatred of Arab-Americans and Muslims. This tension has increased allegations of unlawful employment discrimination throughout the U.S., including in Missouri. Since almost immediately after September 11, 2001, the federal government has expressed its heightened concern and special commitment to shed light on and to eradicate employment discrimination based on national origin.
    [Show full text]