The term 'local reconciliation' may seem benign, but recent research amongst Tamils in the north of the country highlights the damaging silence hanging over the survivors of the conflict, and a determination to reach justice through transparency over past and present wrongs.
There is nothing objectionable in arguing for greater and more meaningful participation of youth in the political process, so long as this is not a substitute for a proper post-war constitutional settlement.
International calls for justice in Sri Lanka which are insensitive to domestic public opinion further alienate a youth population suspicious of Western intervention and determined to develop their country.
The role of the media in Bangladesh will not be improved by inaccurate and partisan critiques of the ICT
The idea of making offenders face their victims and acknowledge the harm they have done has wide public support. The British Government says it is in favour. So why were restorative solutions ignored following last summer’s riots, asks Stephen Moffat
Phone tapping, court orders and vitriolic condemnations of the accused point to a disconcerting unity between the regime, the press and the ICT
The arrest of a leading opposition figure in Bangladesh is a stark reminder that without due legal process, examining the wrongs of the past can quickly become an opportunity for political leverage in the present.
Ultimately, an emphasis on the rule of law in peacebuilding interventions reflects a preoccupation with the effects, rather than the causes, of conflict. But calls for a more expansive notion of justice – which gives greater attention to distributive justice – may be gaining momentum.
Far from being reconciliatory, the government's International War Crimes Tribunal is tantamount to a witch hunt of the opposition.
Sri Lanka's Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission has no mention of gender in its mandate and no dedicated expertise related to women; it has just one female commissioner out of eight. For Tamil women, the LLRC simply reaffirms bad old habits.
The effect of the international tribunal where those accused of crimes during the Balkan wars face trial is to reinforce divisions in the region. It’s time to consider other justice mechanisms that could address this problem, say Katharine Engelhart & Ozren Jungic.
The forthcoming trial in The Hague of the arrested Serb warlord is an occasion to assess the achievements of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, says Benjamin Ward.
