#truth and reconciliation commissions
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Dealing with the Past: Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in Eastern Europe
by Emancip8 Project
Addressing the legacies of conflict and human rights violations remain a significant challenge for many Eastern European countries. Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) have been established in various global contexts to facilitate healing and promote justice, offering a valuable model for conflict-affected nations. This article will examine the potential role of TRCs in Eastern Europe, highlighting the importance of addressing the past to foster sustainable peace, and the challenges and opportunities associated with this process.
TRCs operate under the premise that revealing the truth about past human rights abuses is essential for reconciliation and social repair (Hayner, 2011). These commissions often conduct public hearings, collect testimonies, and produce comprehensive reports that document historical injustices. They may also recommend reparations, institutional reforms, and other measures to prevent the recurrence of violence (Bloomfield et al., 2003).
Eastern Europe has a complex history of armed conflicts, ethnic tensions, and human rights violations. The establishment of TRCs in the region could provide a crucial platform for addressing these issues, facilitating dialogue, and promoting understanding between divided communities (Minow, 1998). For example, the TRC in South Africa has been widely regarded as a successful model, contributing to a peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy (Gibson, 2004).
However, the implementation of TRCs in Eastern Europe is not without challenges. Establishing a TRC requires political will and commitment from all stakeholders, including governments, civil society, and affected communities (Lederach, 1997). The process must be sensitive to local cultural and historical contexts and should prioritize the needs and expectations of victims and survivors (Laplante & Theidon, 2007).
The role of international actors and the broader international community in supporting TRCs in Eastern Europe is also crucial. External assistance can provide necessary resources, technical expertise, and political support, but must be balanced with local ownership and agency (Brahm, 2007). Collaboration between local and international stakeholders can enhance the effectiveness and legitimacy of TRCs, ensuring that they are tailored to the specific needs and contexts of Eastern European countries.
In conclusion, TRCs hold significant potential as a tool for addressing the past, promoting reconciliation, and fostering sustainable peace in Eastern Europe. While challenges remain, the successful implementation of TRCs in the region will depend on strong local ownership, international support, and a commitment to truth, justice, and healing.
References:
Bloomfield, D., Barnes, T., & Huyse, L. (Eds.). (2003). Reconciliation after violent conflict: A handbook. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
Brahm, E. (2007). Uncovering the truth: Examining truth commission success and impact. International Studies Perspectives, 8(1), 16–35.
Gibson, J. L. (2004). Overcoming apartheid: Can truth reconcile a divided nation? The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 601(1), 201–215.
Hayner, P. B. (2011). Unspeakable truths: Transitional justice and the challenge of truth commissions. Routledge.
Laplante, L. J., & Theidon, K. S. (2007). Truth with Consequences: Justice and reparations in post-truth commission Peru. Human Rights Quarterly, 29(1), 228–250.
Lederach, J. P. (1997). Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.
Minow, M. (1998). Between vengeance and forgiveness: Facing history after genocide and mass violence.
Read more at Emancip8 Project.
#Truth and Reconciliation Commissions#Transitional justice#Emancip8 Project#Post-conflict reconciliation#Eastern Europe conflict resolution#Dealing with the past#Human rights violations Eastern Europe
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Lawyers practicing in Yukon will soon be required to learn about Indigenous history, culture and laws.
The Law Society of Yukon, the regulatory body for the territory's lawyers, says it will develop Indigenous cultural competency training which will be mandatory for all of the society's members.
"Cultural competency training is part of being a competent lawyer in the Yukon," said Meagan Lang, president of the society.
"And as a law society, one of our roles is to ensure that everyone who practices in the Yukon is competent, and that includes creating rules about what standards of competency are required."
The initiative was recommended by the society's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) advisory committee, in response to one of the calls to action included in the TRC's final report. [...]
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Tagging: @politicsofcanada
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bronya: “wtf the guardians were hiding the truth from the public for 700 years... i cant stand for this”
also bronya: *inaugurates her reign with a massive lie bc she thinks the people arent ready for the truth*
girl you are not escaping the cycle!!!
#bronya hsr#honkai star rail#once a politician always a politician i guess#stelle better show up again in 5 years and make sure she's at least got a truth and reconciliation commission established#before some clever journalist starts investigating and picking the official narrative apart. political crisis waiting to happen
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don't respond to people being dicks just block and move on don't respond to people being dicks just block and move on don't respond to people being dicks just block and move on don't respond to people being dicks just block and move on don't respond to people being dicks just block and move on don't respond to people being dicks just block and move on don't respond to people being dicks just block and move on
#personcole#they can't even address you directly they don't deserve your attention#“this poster doesn't know how offensive they're being” having different perspectives on residential schools isn't being offensive asshole#you're pushing a colonial agenda#i'm actually listening to the voices of the truth and reconciliation commission
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“Doctor,” Moon Knight (Vol. 7/2014), #9.
Writer: Brian Wood; Penciler and Inker: Greg Smallwood; Colorist: Jordie Bellaire; Letterer: Travis Lanham
#Marvel#Marvel comics#Marvel 616#Moon Knight vol. 7#Moon Knight 2014#Moon Knight comics#Moon Knight#Marc Spector#Mr. Knight#I love how Mr. Smallwood uses panel breaks to cycle through Marc’s identities in this liminal mental space#it’s very visually satisfying#and ah yes the age old question of bringing old war crimes to justice#especially those which for better or worse led to the founding of a nation#Do you go public and far-reaching (but does it ever reach far enough?) like the Nuremberg Trial example?#Move towards reconciliation like South Africa’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission?#or just burn all the papers and start afresh like when the DDR and FRG reunified?#but yeah there are no direct answers but it’s fitting to bring up such questions in a Moon Knight comic#seeing as he’s about justice/vengeance#and perhaps for his own time spent destabilizing nations and committing work crimes
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Is our gospel the same as that which Jesus and the 12-Apostles taught?
COMMENT (in response to an article teaching that there is more than one gospel):
Readers, please take a few minutes to read Galatians 1:6-12. It plainly says that there is one Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Any time more than one Gospel is taught in scripture or by any teacher, by Biblical teachings, it is a different or false interpretation of scripture. Please read Acts 8:36-38,…
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Day for Truth and Reconciliation, pixel art. I ordered it from roxas_1 on fiverr.
Day for Truth and Reconciliation [Art] - MiaQc - Original Work [Archive of Our Own]
🪶🧡🪶
Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation, image en pixels. Je l'ai commandé de roxas_1 sur fiverr.
Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation [Art] - MiaQc - Original Work [Archive of Our Own]
#roxas_1#pixel art#pixels#commissioned art#feather#Day for Truth and Reconciliation#Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation#ao3#archive of our own#dessin en pixels#plume#orange#Journée de la vérité et de la réconciliation#artists on fiverr#bilingual#langue francaise#pixel aesthetic#artist support#support artists#support small artists
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This article is from 2022, but it came up in the context of Palestine:
Here are some striking passages, relevant to all colonial aftermaths but certainly also to the forms we see Zionist reaction taking at the moment:
Over the decade I lived in South Africa, I became fascinated by this white minority [i.e. the whole white population post-apartheid as a minority in the country], particularly its members who considered themselves progressive. They reminded me of my liberal peers in America, who had an apparently self-assured enthusiasm about the coming of a so-called majority-minority nation. As with white South Africans who had celebrated the end of apartheid, their enthusiasm often belied, just beneath the surface, a striking degree of fear, bewilderment, disillusionment, and dread.
[...]
Yet these progressives’ response to the end of apartheid was ambivalent. Contemplating South Africa after apartheid, an Economist correspondent observed that “the lives of many whites exude sadness.” The phenomenon perplexed him. In so many ways, white life remained more or less untouched, or had even improved. Despite apartheid’s horrors—and the regime’s violence against those who worked to dismantle it—the ANC encouraged an attitude of forgiveness. It left statues of Afrikaner heroes standing and helped institute the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which granted amnesty to some perpetrators of apartheid-era political crimes.
But as time wore on, even wealthy white South Africans began to radiate a degree of fear and frustration that did not match any simple economic analysis of their situation. A startling number of formerly anti-apartheid white people began to voice bitter criticisms of post-apartheid society. An Afrikaner poet who did prison time under apartheid for aiding the Black-liberation cause wrote an essay denouncing the new Black-led country as “a sewer of betrayed expectations and thievery, fear and unbridled greed.”
What accounted for this disillusionment? Many white South Africans told me that Black forgiveness felt like a slap on the face. By not acting toward you as you acted toward us, we’re showing you up, white South Africans seemed to hear. You’ll owe us a debt of gratitude forever.
The article goes on to discuss:
"Mau Mau anxiety," or the fear among whites of violent repercussions, and how this shows up in reported vs confirmed crime stats - possibly to the point of false memories of home invasion
A sense of irrelevance and alienation among this white population, leading to another anxiety: "do we still belong here?"
The sublimation of this anxiety into self-identification as a marginalized minority group, featuring such incredible statements as "I wanted to fight for Afrikaners, but I came to think of myself as a ‘liberal internationalist,’ not a white racist...I found such inspiration from the struggles of the Catalonians and the Basques. Even Tibet" and "[Martin Luther] King [Jr.] also fought for a people without much political representation … That’s why I consider him one of my most important forebears and heroes,” from a self-declared liberal environmentalist who also thinks Afrikaaners should take back government control because they are "naturally good" at governance
Some discussion of the dynamics underlying these reactions, particularly the fact that "admitting past sins seem[ed] to become harder even as they receded into history," and US parallels
And finally, in closing:
The Afrikaner journalist Rian Malan, who opposed apartheid, has written that, by most measures, its aftermath went better than almost any white person could have imagined. But, as with most white progressives, his experience of post-1994 South Africa has been complicated. [...]
He just couldn’t forgive Black people for forgiving him. Paradoxically, being left undisturbed served as an ever-present reminder of his guilt, of how wrongly he had treated his maid and other Black people under apartheid. “The Bible was right about a thing or two,” he wrote. “It is infinitely worse to receive than to give, especially if … the gift is mercy.”
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Born on this day in 1999, Jordan River Anderson spent the first two years of his life in a hospital. When doctors cleared Jordan to live in a family home, the federal and provincial governments could not resolve who was financially responsible for the necessary home care. For over two years, the Government of Canada, and the Manitoba provincial government continued to argue while Jordan remained in the hospital. In 2005, at the age of five, Jordan died in the hospital; he never had the opportunity to live in a family home.
#Jordan River Anderson#Jordan's Principle#Indigenous#Colonialism#Canada#Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission#United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
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When they became overwhelmed, Tutu would interrupt their testimony and lead the entire audience in prayer, song, and dance until the witnesses could contain their sobbing and halt their physical collapse.
"The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, brain and body in the transformation of trauma" - Bessel van der Kolk
#book quote#the body keeps the score#bessel van der kolk#nonfiction#desmond tutu#archbishop#truth and reconciliation commission#south africa#1990s#90s#20th century#prayer#singing#dancing#testimony#witness
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Gambian Toufah Jallow tells of surviving rape by dictator - MyNorthwest.com
Toufah Jallow’s name resonates deeply in Gambia as one of the few women who has taken a public stand against sexual assault in the small West African state.
She gained fame at the age of 18 when she won a university scholarship in a national talent competition for young women. But in 2015 she fled Gambia, fearing for her life, after dictator Yahya Jammeh allegedly drugged and raped her, angry that she had turned down his marriage proposal.
She lived quietly in Canada, worried that Jammeh would persecute family members in Gambia. After Jammeh fell from power she later found the strength to go public with her story, despite Gambia’s culture of silence over sexual assault, she told The Associated Press.
The nation was riveted when she held a press conference to share her account via social media and in a human rights report in June 2019. She also testified months later to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Now, Jallow is telling her story in detail in a newly released memoir: “Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement.”
“In June 2015, Yahya Jammeh, then the president of The Gambia, raped me. He has never been charged. Never convicted … He thought he would get away with it, tried to erase me. I thought I would never speak of it, that I would remain invisible. We were both wrong, because I am here, shining like the sunrise of the melanated coast,” she writes. “I am Toufah Jallow. This is my story.”
In the book, co-written with journalist Kim Pattaway, Jallow describes her journey from the daughter and granddaughter of women who in their own way pushed against the country’s patriarchy to the evening of her alleged rape and her tense escape and the resulting traumas and challenges.
Jallow said she wants to be a role model for others who have experienced sexual assault and to help them deal with it.
“I wanted to make my life as relatable to young girls as possible so (they see) that what I did is achievable (and) is not seen as a miracle,” she said. “It takes an ordinary girl who grew up in a village somewhere in The Gambia with a mother and with 20 siblings in a polygamous home.”
Coming from a humble background, Jallow was swept into a high-profile role because of her scholarship, attending many public events with then-president Jammeh. After receiving gifts from Jammeh, who was already married, and rejecting his proposal to become one of his wives, Jallow was lured to the president’s private quarters, where she says he drugged and raped her.
Jammeh hasn’t reacted, but his party has denied everything.
Jallow didn’t tell a soul in Gambia, fearing the worst for herself and her family. She knew there were hundreds of people who had been arrested for daring to question Jammeh.
Terrified, Jallow fled Gambia. She hid her identity by wearing a niqab (head-to-toe veil) so that state agents wouldn’t recognize her. She went to Senegal and with the help of trusted allies made it to Canada where she now lives.
For years, no one in Gambia knew what had happened to Jallow. She lived as a refugee in Canada, working odd jobs to support her classes.
“For the longest time … I would always shove it aside,” she said of her trauma. But seeing statistics for sexual assault with so few being held accountable bothered her. “I have never felt more invisible,” she said of that period.
Speaking about sex and sexuality, “it’s just not done,” in Gambia, she said. There is not even a word for rape in her native Fula language, she explained to AP. Instead people use phrases like “Somebody fell on me.”
Jammeh lost elections and fled the country in 2017. Gambia then opened a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the reports of abuses and killings during his 22-year rule.
When Jallow came forward in 2019 about her assault, it unleashed a movement. More than 50,000 people were glued to social media when she first spoke. Women then marched holding banners saying “#IAmToufah” and there was an outpouring of others’ stories of rape.
Jallow speaking out was a “wind of change” in Gambia, said Marion Volkmann-Brandau, a women’s rights activist who helped guide Jallow and led the human rights investigation into sexual assault in Gambia that saw her come forward.
“There was this moment of support … women coming out generally about rape and having a story to share showed they weren’t invisible anymore,” she said. “Gambians realized too how widespread the issue was.”
That hope, however, has unfortunately dwindled, Volkmann-Brandau said, as the legal system must be reformed in order to take sexual assault seriously.
But the groundwork has been laid and Jallow has started the Toufah Foundation, set up to help support of survivors of sexual assault in Gambia. Her goal is to have Gambia’s first fully functioning women’s shelter.
Her name is now used to discuss rape in communities once unable to talk about it.
She travels to Gambia often, while studying in Canada to be a counselor for women and children victims, and is also working on a documentary that follows survivors of sexual violence.
And if Jammeh returns to Gambia, Jallow says she will fly there to confront him.
“I feel like I am too visible to be invisible anymore,” she said. “I have faced the worst fear … I have survived him physically.”
#Toufah Jallow#Gambia rape victims#“Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African#MeToo Movement.#Truth and Reconciliation Commission#rape#reporting rape#speaking out about rape#IAmToufah
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Despite positive measures taken by Canada, Indigenous people continue to face obstacles to fully enjoying their individual and collective human rights in this country, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples says.
José Francisco Calí Tzay delivered his preliminary findings Friday in Ottawa following a five-province, 10-day trip to Canada, concluding his first official visit since his 2020 appointment.
In a 30-minute speech to reporters, the UN expert decried what he called the appalling legacy of residential schools, disturbing reports of residential school denialism and alarming testimony of violence against Indigenous women and girls.
He expressed particular concern about reports of forced and coerced sterilization of Indigenous women, the militarization of Indigenous lands, the criminalization of Indigenous human rights defenders, and the over-incarceration of Indigenous offenders across the country. [...]
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Tagging: @politicsofcanada
#cdnpoli#residential schools#genocide tw#Indigenous persecution#colonization#Truth and Reconciliation Commission
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The ANC's use of the death penalty!
The ANC’s use of the death penalty!
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Former Truth and Reconciliation Commission judge fails pope's apology
Former Truth and Reconciliation Commission judge fails pope’s apology
Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission into historic abuse of Indigenous people demanded apologies.
Pope Francis apologised on Monday. Not everyone thinks it was enough.
Some regard Francis’s words as a “historic” moment of reckoning for the 150,000 Indigenous students forced to attend residential schools.
But a former judge and senator who chaired the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation…
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#2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission#Canadian First Nations People#Canadian residential schools#Pope Francis
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june 21 is national indigenous peoples day up here in canada; a day focused on celebrating the arts and cultures of our indigenous neighbours and communities.
if you’re looking for ways to support, or generally further your education on indigenous history, here are a bunch of links to help you get started! please go further and look up events hosted by your local community specifically, as some may not be listed on the sites below.
remember that if you cannot attend events or monetarily support businesses - you can always boost indigenous artists and voices online too.
indigenous tourism; lists businesses, events, and other indigenous-owned / led programs for the respective province or territory
indigenous tourism canada [generalized resources, event listings etc]
yukon
northwest territories
nunavut
british columbia
alberta
saskatchewan
manitoba
ontario
quebec
newfoundland and labrador
new brunswick
nova scotia
prince edward island
art
bill reid gallery of the northwest coast
lattimer art gallery
native northwest [while NNW itself is not indigenous-owned, it is a good way to discover artists and purchase their work. some artists sell on other sites too, so look around]
strong nations [sells books by indigenous authors]
education and resources
two-spirited people of manitoba
alberta indigenous history timeline [pdf]
alberta indigenous history resources
british columba history timeline
list of first nations peoples [wikipedia; could be incomplete / inaccurate]
cbc indigenous [indigenous-focused news]
missing and murdered indigenous women and girls
national centre for truth and reconciliation
native land interactive map
orange shirt day
qikiqtani truth commission
lil’ red dress project
whose land interactive map
charities / support / donations
clan mothers healing billage & knowledge centre
first nations health authority
indian residential schools survivor society
indigenous peoples resilience fund
qajuqturvik food bank
niqinik nuatsivik nunavut food bank
nunavut food security coalition
reconciliation canada
urban native youth association
additional links are always appreciated
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If Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, why were the 12-apostles also told to go to all nations?
If Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, why were the 12-apostles also told to go to all nations?
Mat.28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
It is true that the…
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