Reconciliation: I Know It When I see It¹

[1] The author would like to thank Kieran McEvoy (Queens University, Belfast) for reviewing and commenting on drafts; Ramani Muttettuwegama for the suggestion of the title and the support of the Sri Lanka Transitional Justice Working Group; the International Centre for Ethnic Studies; the Transitional Justice Institute at the University of Ulster; the Henigson Fellowship at the Harvard Human Rights Program, and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa. The views of the author do not claim to represent the positions of any of the aforementioned organizations and all mistakes remain the author’s own.

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• Conflict
• Human Rights
• Law
• Peace
• Reconciliation
• Transitional Justice

Notes

[1] The author would like to thank Kieran McEvoy (Queens University, Belfast) for reviewing and commenting on drafts; Ramani Muttettuwegama for the suggestion of the title and the support of the Sri Lanka Transitional Justice Working Group; the International Centre for Ethnic Studies; the Transitional Justice Institute at the University of Ulster; the Henigson Fellowship at the Harvard Human Rights Program, and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa. The views of the author do not claim to represent the positions of any of the aforementioned organizations and all mistakes remain the author’s own.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lorna McGregor

Lorna McGregor is a Programme Lawyer at the International Bar Association and former Researcher at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies. The views and positions advanced in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the position of either organisation.