Post-Conflict Justice and Reconciliation

Catalog description

This course engages questions of how war-torn societies should respond to crimes of war and gross human rights violations. It investigates how the pursuit of justice in such cases is related to goals of reconciliation between adversary groups. Building on the legacy of the war crimes tribunals established at the end of WWII, the United Nations has carried out trials of individuals deemed responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. A European Union court has prosecuted a former president of Chile for human rights violations. And several countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe have established "truth and reconciliation commissions" in the process of moving toward democracy. We will compare experiences of post-conflict justice, as well as reconciliation projects in several countries.