Amnesty After Atrocity?: Healing Nations After Genocide and War Crimes

by Cobban,Helena

• ISBN13: 9781594513169
• ISBN10: 1594513163
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781317263692
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-10-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In Amnesty after Atrocity?veteran journalist Helena Cobban examines the effectiveness of different ways of dealing with the aftermath of genocide and violence committed during deep intergroup conflicts. She traveled to Rwanda, Mozambique, and South Africa to assess the various ways those nations tried to come to grips with their violent past: from war crimes trials to truth commissions to outright amnesties for perpetrators. She discovered that in terms of both moving these societies forward and satisfying the needs of survivors, war crimes trials are not the most effective path. This work provides strategic historical context and includes interviews with a cross-section of the panoply of humanity that makes up any post-atrocity society: community leaders, victims, policymakers, teachers, rights activists, and even some former abusers. These first-person accounts create a rich, readable text, and Cobban's overall conclusions will surprise many readers in the West.

Table of Contents

List of Acronyms	vii
Preface	ix
1. Atrocities, Conflicts, and Peacemaking	1	(24)
Dealing with the Aftermath of Atrocity	3	(5)
South Africa	8	(4)
Mozambique	12	(6)
Rwanda	18	(4)
What Are the Policy Meta-Tasks?	22	(3)
2. Rwanda: Court Processes After Mass Violence	25	(55)
Atrocities, War, and War Termination	25	(17)
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda	42	(16)
Justice and Rebuilding Inside Rwanda	58	(16)
Politics, Society, and Reconciliation	74	(6)
3. South Africa: Amnesties, Truth-Seeking-and Reconciliation?	80	(56)
From Conflict to Peacemaking	80	(18)
How the TRC Worked	98	(16)
South Africans Look Back at the TRC	114	(22)
4. Mozambique: Heal and Rebuild	136	(47)
Atrocities, War, and Peace	136	(25)
Mozambique, 1992-2005	161	(22)
5. Comparing Postconflict Justice in Rwanda, South Africa, and Mozambique	183	(15)
Comparing the Burdens of Conflict and Atrocity	183	(2)
Ending the Conflicts	185	(3)
The Postconflict Era	188	(5)
Outcomes	193	(1)
Conclusion	194	(4)
6. Restoring Peacemaking, Revaluing History	198	(45)
Restoring Peacemaking	198	(5)
Negotiations Versus the Temptations of Victory	203	(4)
Prosecutions, Opportunity Costs, and Peacebuilding	207	(4)
Notions of Accountability and Punishment	211	(5)
Accountability, Individualism, and Manichaeism	216	(5)
Remorse, Culture, Memory, and Peacebuilding	221	(7)
Peacebuilding as a Process over Time	228	(4)
Revaluing the Role of Religion	232	(3)
Lessons from Mozambique	235	(3)
Peacebuilding and Atrocity Prevention in the Twenty-First Century	238	(5)
Notes	243	(25)
Name Index	268	(6)
Subject Index	274