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Reconciling
The Past: The Role of Truth Commissions
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Media reports of state
sponsored torture, mass graves being found by Kurds and other disappearances
in Iraq, leads one to re-examine how states cleanse their past, in order
to protect the peace of their future.
In the U.K., The Stevens 3 Inquiry
is a reminder of how some regions require special investigative
powers in order to clear the air of previous regimes and state sponsored
crimes, following allegations of "collusion" between British Military
Intelligence officers and Provisional paramilitaries to kill Catholics
in Northern Ireland. The Force Research Unit
The Scottish military intelligence officer who controlled an ultra A second tribunal into the results of "Bloody Sunday" in
which 13 peace campaigners were killed by security forces is still ongoing,
and it is hoped, will demonstrate that justice has been dealt with adequately
enough to allow the province to continue down the peace road.
Bloody Sunday Inquiry
State sponsored terrorism during the apartheid era in South
Africa required a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was based on the Promotion of National Unity
and Reconciliation Act, No 34 of 1995 Its
reason for being was;
"...a commission is a necessary exercise to enable South Africans to come to terms with their past on a morally accepted basis and to advance the cause of reconciliation..."
Mr Dullah Omar, former
Minister of Justice,
It is hoped that the oppressive years can be dealt with by the Commission
in dealing with the "apartness" and security issues which surrounded the
South African apartheid regime. South Africa's Apartheid Era and the
Transition to Multiracial Democracy
Chile too has had consistent problems in the search for answers
to the State sponsored regime under General Augusto Pinochet, where murder,
torture and disappearances were widespread Guardian
| Chile under Pinochet - a chronology and
in which the enquiries of Judge Guzman have tried to eradicate, in order
to promote future Chilean reconciliation. Less success has been found
here because of the Pinochet's Amnesty laws, the retained rights of Pinochet's
appointees to the judiciary and difficulties of obtaining evidence from
supporting nations Pinochet Arrest Hailed (Human
Rights Watch Press release,December 1, 2000)
The development of the Chilean Judicial Reform Law in 2003 is anticipated
to change things, but not by much according to the cynics.
1997
Human Rights Report - Chile In addition,
the complication of French, Spanish and British legal involvement in Pinochet
has led to awkward and embarrassing questions. Indeed the former U.S.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger could have faced an extradition request
to Chile, because of the incriminating evidence surrounding the murder
of the former Chilean ambassador Letelier and Operation Condor Guardian
Unlimited | Special reports | Kissinger may face extradition to Chile in yet another external thread to the Chilean difficulty.
What is fundamentally clear from any brutal regime change is the need
to clarify what has happened, where and when. Determine who was responsible
for the events and why, and distinguish what will be done with the perpetrators
accused. From Europe (Northern Ireland) to South Africa and South America's
(Chile) the need is the same, regardless of the society, to resolve state
crimes accordingly.
As a consequence many old scores can be settled within an informal tribunal
type system (as in the South African model) serving to dilute the sectarian,
political and religious grievances / divides which have lain dormant during
the Saddam Hussein Ba'ath party regime, and which threaten not only the
future peace of Iraq, but potentially the entire Middle East.
Memories of murder, torture and the disappeared runs through generations,
generating a breeding ground from the aggrieved for an injustice which
will seem to be an overwhelming obstacle in order to "continue to look
for them and for answers as to what happened to them and why" Project Disappeared: Chile
to enable them to bury the past, which many of the Commissions
and Inquiries will be trying to secure on the road to reconciliation.
Project Disappeared
- Argentina
The reactivation of the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland reflects
how a virtual dormant force after the 1916 Easter Rising became a prominent
force in the paramilitary forces of Northern Ireland from around 1969,
and a global threat to peace following the break up of the former U.S.S.R.
and capacity to obtain or sabotage a nuclear arsenal potential between
1989-91.
In Iraq, the Kurds, Shia, Sunni and a multiple range of groups will find
just cause for grievance against the Saddam Hussein regime, and seek redress
in the future which should be addressed with honesty and contrition in
order to mean something to the aggrieved.
Further Truth Commissions and Inquiries will also be needed in Palestine,
Israel and Colombia after decades of conflict in order to put an end to
the "blame-game" and provide a supporting basis for the rebuilding of
many shattered lives. PPG
: Policy Solutions | Israel-Palestine PPG | Policy Issues
| Colombia
Copyright
S Coleman 2003 18 April 2003
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