Memories of Violence: Micro and Macro History and the Challenges to Peacebuilding in Colombia and Northern Ireland

†. An earlier version of the paper was given as a talk in NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam University, September 2015.

Abstract

Historical memory of mass violence and war crimes plays a central role in a nation or an ethnic group's cultural identity, but is not given adequate attention in the politics of conflict resolution. The article argues that it is wrong and counterproductive to treat history as exclusively belonging to the past or as too complicated, and therefore to ignore it politically. Northern Ireland invested heavily in various transitional justice and conflict resolution mechanisms, but resolutely avoided efforts to bridge sectarian histories. This experience is juxtaposed to Colombia, where during the peace negotiations a historical commission was established to explore narrowing the sectarian disagreements through legitimizing their historical memories. What can the field of conflict resolution learn from the Colombian experience? Do historical commissions provide an additional tool for transitional justice and conflict resolution?

Keywords:

• History
• conflict resolution
• historical commissions
• transitional justice
• Northern Ireland
• Colombia

Acknowledgements

I would like to thanks Valerie D Comenencia Ortiz for her help with the research for this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

†. An earlier version of the paper was given as a talk in NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam University, September 2015.

1. In 2010, Healing Through Remembering solicited a study from Deloitte of the cost of ‘Dealing with the Past’. The paper examined just the cost of investigations, not other reconciliation programmes. It found the cost of four commissions, including the Bloody Sunday Commission, to be in the range of BP 300 million. I have not found a general estimate of the cost of social and government reconciliation programmes, but one can glean the extent, for example, from the EU support through its 2002 (multiyear) PEACE II programme, which included 995 million euro of which 609 million euro were to come from the EU. See Duncan Morrow, Reconciliation, p. 11. Over the years, many other programmes were funded.

2. Some even see this as a model for other conflicts. See White (2014); Cochrane (2013).

3. Irish Times, 8 April 2014. Quoted in Arkiv blog.

4. The ‘constructive ambiguity' of the peace process avoided dealing with the past. See Lundy (2009).

5. Other legal institutions include the Coroner''s Office, which opened a large number of inquests into state killings, some initiated by the Attorney General. These investigations resulted in a few prosecutions. In 2005, the MoD set up the Historical Inquiries Team (HIT) staffed by Royal Military Police (RMP), which later changed its name to the Historical Information Team (HIT/RMP) to more accurately reflect their role. HIT/RMP is a dedicated unit set up to provide information on any incident involving army personnel during the period under review (1969–1998). Lundy, ibid.

6. The Healing through Remembering submission to Consultative Group on the Past (January 2008).

7. The Healing through Remembering submission to Consultative Group on the Past (January 2008). The proposal included Storytelling and oral history; Memorials; Museums, exhibitions and art; Public and collective commemorations; Truth recovery processes; Other forms of legal processes; Community and intercommunity interactions; Support for individuals and victims; Research and social policy development; Centre for remembrance; A financial response; Education and training; Supporting current remembering processes; Self-examination of institutions and apologies.

8. ‘The HET is the Police contribution to dealing with the past.' Chief Inspector of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Sir Hugh Orde, (2005) quoted in Lundy (2009). There are different estimates of the number of dead attributed to violence during the Trouble.

9. Lundy: ‘A fundamental weakness identified in the work of the HET is the over-reliance on RUC corporate memory and the absence of “competing memories” and “alternative voices.'”

10. Justice Minister David Ford has welcomed the publication of the report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) on the work of the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) http://www.dojni.gov.uk/justice-minister-responds-to-review-report-on-historical-enquiries-team.

11. Report From Prison to Peace http://www.niacro.co.uk/filestore/documents/hate_crime_papers/From_PRISON_to_PEACE-_CFNI.pdf.

12. Emerson, p. 10.

13. See Davies (2004).

14. See Karn (2015); Pettai (2014).

15. https://arkivni.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/after-the-haass-osullivan-talks-a-brief-assessment-and-a-recommendation/.

16. Other civil society organisations that document victimisation include the ‘Database of Human Rights and Political Violence' (1996) which issues regular reports.

17. Study Commission on Violence (1987); Commission on Ways to Overcome Violence (1991);

18. Discussion while on visit to Bogota, March 2015.

19. AFP, ‘Comisión De Académicos Señalan Que EE.UU. ‘Ha Alimentado’ El Conflicto Armado Colombiano,' El Espectador, 10 February 2015, http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/paz/comision-de-academicos-senalan-eeuu-ha-alimentado-el-co-articulo-543289 (accessed 1 June 2015).

20. FARC-EPD, ‘Historical Commission Presents Conclusions in Havana,' press release, 10 February 2015, http://farc-epeace.org/index.php/blogs/guests/item/663-historical-commission-presents-conclusions-in-havana.html (accessed on 5 July 2015).

21. Jaime Arocha critique focused on lack of Afro-Colombian, while Yolanda Reyes regretted the scarcity of women's perspectives. Ortiz Cassiani criticised the overly academic nature of the commission. El Tiempo, the largest circulated newspaper presented a mostly positive reception, emphasising the complexity of the conflict and its analysis. El Espectador presented both critics and praise for the commission. The critique focused on the report as unwieldy, not as wrongheaded.

22. Conversations with Gonzalo Sanchez, Director of the National Center for Historic Memory (NCHM); and Maria Emma Willis, member of the Historical Commission (CHCV).