Are forgiveness and a search for the truth a better solution to heal the minds and bodies of the victims of wars than externally imposed tribunals?

Résumé du document

Even after a settlement is reached and a peace agreement is signed, this is by no means the end of the conflict. For a conflict to really end, healing the minds and the bodies of the victims of wars are necessary. Indeed it is the necessary first step to reconciliation to appear and people who have suffered the war need to reconcile in order to prevent the last war to be the cause of the next. Indeed as Whittaker's explains "reconciliation goes beyond resolution to refer not just to the psychological process whereby understanding and tolerance lead to readiness to live together in a new framework of peace and well- being". As one might expect, there are big differences in how various societies have attempted to tackle the problem of 'dealing with the past'. Two categories of solutions can be found: internal reconciliation, such as in Chile and South Africa in 1990's and external reconciliation through the increased use of legal redress in external war crimes tribunal, such as for the former Yugoslavia.

Extraits

[...] In others such as Uganda, hampered by a lack of political will and funds, they have been unable to complete their mission and issue a report. Among the commissions functioning today, the most discussed and--given the degree of reconstruction that will be necessary-- potentially the most significant for a country's future operates in South Africa. Indeed the search for truth was highlighted while the Truth and reconciliation commission in South Africa after the end of Apartheid. In that country, it was set up in terms of the Promotion of National Unity and reconciliation. [...]

[...] Forgiveness helps to break the vicious cycle of bitterness, revenge and so heal the minds and bodies of victims of war. But “Forgiveness alone will not solve the world's problems or bring peace. But without it, it is hard to see how settlements will prevail over time”. But what may be conceivable in personal religious terms is inevitably more difficult in relations between states or people, as states and people do not have a collective conscience. Forgiveness therefore equates with a transformation of the relationship between two previously hostile parties, but it does not allow for too many future lapses. [...]

[...] while uncovering the past and acknowledging the truth can be important constituents of the social healing process, reconciliation requires more than truth - it requires a modicum of justice, not necessarily in terms of the punishment of perpetrators of evil but in the constructive sense of action to reduce socio-economic inequality.' The battle against impunity must be total and International Tribunals have an important role to play. However externally imposed tribunal is not a perfect solution, and some criticism were raised against it. [...]

[...] On the contrary, externally imposed tribunal has a completely different perspective and emerged within the international community. Its use of International Criminal Tribunal has often been termed retribution. Since the end of the Second World War, and the adoption of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the addition of two Protocols in 1977, as well as the adoption of a Convention on Genocide in 1948, the International Community has shown its commitment to end the culture of impunity. It led to the creation of an International Criminal Court, marking a new era in the evolution of International Justice that begun with the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials. [...]

[...] We can even come to the conclusion that they should be complementary. As I said in the first part, forgiveness and search for truth are necessary. Indeed Victims must forgive and forget. Many of the conflicts that continue to wrack the world have their roots deep in memories of ancient and unforgiving wrongs. Let's take the example of Northern Ireland, where the origins of the conflict go all the way back to the original settlement of the Province by Protestants in the seventeenth century. [...]