Reconciliation: I Know It When I See It

States emerging from conflict increasingly seek ways in which to address the violence and human rights abuses of the past in order to move forward into a more peaceful future. The initial responses to mass atrocities were based in legal processes focused on the punishment of the person responsible for the harm. The inadequacy of such an approach resulted in the introduction of a variety of new goals in the transitional period, including the abstract notion of reconciliation which is increasingly advanced as the central goal in dealing with the legacy of the past. This article argues that the failure to examine the relationship between a discourse originally based on human rights and legal approaches and the introduction of reconciliation has only added new challenges rather than resolved existing ones and therefore must be re?examined. The article also argues that no single approach should take prominence in addressing mass atrocities. Rather a range of options should be available to victims, in particular given the relative youth and inexperience of approaches to violent conflict

Building National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace in the Solomon Islands: The Missing Link

This chapter contends that the local cultural dynamics of reconciliation were not featured in the design of the Solomon Islands TRC. Community reconciliation processes were therefore not utilised, and consequently the ambitious goal of the TRC to promote reconciliation was not realised. Discussions in this chapter consider the following questions: • How did the Truth and Reconciliation Commission define reconciliation, and what has it reconciled? • What is the nature of the ‘truth’ that has surfaced? What purpose has this served in terms of reconciliation? • How did the Truth and Reconciliation Commission engage with local conceptions of reconciliation and adapt to the Solomon Islands context? This chapter draws from the authors’ experiences living and working in the Solomon Islands. Jack Maebuta is a Solomon Islander, educator and peace researcher. Louise Vella worked for the Solomon Islands TRC for one year, and has subsequently conducted doctoral research into the experiences of the commission and its potential as a means of peacebuilding in Melanesia. Interview material for this chapter draws from her research with TRC staff and stakeholders in Honiara in 2012