Political Reconciliation and International Criminal Trials

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511642265.012

11 - Political Reconciliation and International Criminal Trials

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2010

Colleen Murphy

Edited by

Larry May and

Zachary Hoskins

Show author details

Larry May: Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
Zachary Hoskins: Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis

Book contents

Get access

Summary

INTRODUCTION

My focus in this chapter is on the role of the international community, and of international criminal trials specifically, in the promotion of political reconciliation within transitional societies. The concept of reconciliation refers to the process of repairing damaged relationships. Political reconciliation focuses on the characteristically impersonal relations among members of a political society. Transitional societies are those aspiring to democratize or, more minimally, establish peace after a recent period of repressive rule or civil conflict, characterized by systematic human rights abuses. Examples of recent transitional societies include Iraq, Afghanistan, and Rwanda.

An inquiry into the role of international criminal trials in promoting political reconciliation may seem unpromising. The operations of some hybrid and international criminal tribunals are hampered by insufficient financial resources, lack of international personnel familiar with local cultures and languages, hostility to international personnel in certain transitional contexts, and rejection of the legitimacy of such tribunals. Such limitations call into question the ability of international trials to prosecute and successfully convict perpetrators and counter impunity. They also seemingly strengthen skepticism about the ability of such trials to promote reconciliation.

One objective of this chapter is to temper such skepticism. My thesis is that international criminal trials can contribute to political reconciliation by fostering the social conditions required for law's efficacy. This chapter builds on previous work in which I argue that the cultivation of mutual respect for the rule of law is a constitutive part of the process of political reconciliation.

Type: Chapter
Information: International Criminal Law and Philosophy , pp. 224 - 244

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511642265.012 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Roth, John, “Useless Experience: Its Significance for Reconciliation after Auschwitz,” in Patterson, David and Roth, John K. (eds.), After-Words: Post Holocaust Struggles with Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Justice (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004), 86Google Scholar

Philpott, Daniel, “Introduction,” in Philpott, Daniel (ed.), The Politics of Past Evil: Religion, Reconciliation, and the Dilemmas of Transitional Justice (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006), 14Google Scholar

Govier, Trudy and Verwoerd, Wilhelm, “Trust and the Problem of National Reconciliation,” 32(2) Philosophy of the Social Sciences (2002), 178–205CrossRef Google Scholar

“Moral Atrocity and Political Reconciliation: A Preliminary Analysis,” 15(1) International Journal of Applied Philosophy (2001), 123–35CrossRef

“Reconciliation, the Rule of Law, and Genocide,” The European Legacy (forthcoming)

“Reconciliation, the Rule of Law, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder,” in Potter, Nancy Nyquist (ed.), Trauma, Truth, and Reconciliation: Healing Damaged Relationships (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 83–110CrossRef

“Lon Fuller and the Moral Value of the Rule of Law,” 24 Law and Philosophy (2005), 239–62CrossRef

Roht-Arriaza, Naomi, Impunity and Human Rights: International Law Practice (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)Google Scholar

Malamud-Goti, Jaime, “Transitional Governments in the Breach: Why Punish State Criminals?” 12(1) Human Rights Quarterly (1990), 1–16CrossRef Google Scholar

Minow, Martha, Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide and Mass Violence (Boston: Beacon Press, 1998)Google Scholar

Kritz, Neil, Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes (Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1995)Google Scholar

Bassiouni, M. Cherif, “Searching for Peace and Achieving Justice,” 59(4) Law and Contemporary Problems (1996), 9–28CrossRef Google Scholar

Neier, Aryeh, War Crimes: Brutality, Genocide, Terror, and the Struggle for Justice (New York: Crown Publishing Group, 1998)Google Scholar

Guilty Pleas in International Criminal Law (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007)

Teitel, Ruti, “Bringing the Messiah through Law,” in Hesse, Carla and Post, Robert (eds.), Human Rights in Political Transitions: Gettysburg to Bosnia (New York: Zone Books, 1999), 177–93Google Scholar

May, Larry, “Reconciliation, Criminal Trials, and Genocide,” Chapter 13 in his Genocide: A Normative Account (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming)CrossRef

Osiel, Mark, Mass Atrocity, Collective Memory, and the Law (Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1999)Google Scholar

Feher, Michel, “Terms of Reconciliation,” in Hesse, Carla and Post, Robert (eds.), Human Rights in Political Transitions: Gettysburg to Bosnia (New York: Zone Books, 1999), 325–339Google Scholar

Mertus, Julie, “Only a War Crimes Tribunal: Triumph of the International Community, Pain of the Survivors,” in Cooper, Belinda (ed.), War Crimes: The Legacy of Nuremberg (New York: TV Books, 1999)Google Scholar

Fletcher, Laurel and Weinstein, Harvey, “Violence and Social Repair: Rethinking the Contribution of Justice to Reconciliation,” 24 Human Rights Quarterly (2002), 573–639CrossRef Google Scholar

Postema, Gerald, “Implicit Law,” 13 Law and Philosophy (1994), 361–87CrossRef Google Scholar

Fuller, Lon, The Morality of Law, rev. ed. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1969)Google Scholar

Fuller, Lon, Anatomy of the Law (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1968)Google Scholar

Fuller, Lon, “Human Interaction and the Law,” in Winston, Kenneth (ed.), The Principles of Social Order: Selected Essays of Lon F. Fuller, rev. ed. (Portland, OR: Hart Publishing, 2001), 231–66Google Scholar

The Principles of Social Order: Selected Essays of Lon F. Fuller, rev. ed. (Portland: Hart Publishing, 2001)

Zyl, Paul, “Justice Without Punishment: Guaranteeing Human Rights in Transitional Societies,” in Villa-Vicencio, Charles and Verwoerd, Wilhelm (eds.), Looking Back, Reaching Forward: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press, 2000), 42–57Google Scholar

Zyl, Paul, “Dilemmas of Transitional Justice: The Case of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” 52(2) Journal of Interational Affairs (Spring 1999), 647–7Google Scholar

Roht-Arriaza, Naomi, “State Responsibility to Investigate and Prosecute Grave Human Rights Violations in International Law,” 78 California Law Review (1990), 451–13CrossRef Google Scholar

,Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, Volume 4: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report (London: MacMillan Reference Limited, 1999).Google Scholar

Nino, Carlos, Radical Evil on Trial (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996), 47–8Google Scholar

Zyl, Paul, “Dilemmas of Transitional Justice: The Case of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” 52(2) Journal of International Affairs (Spring 1999), 647–67Google Scholar

McGarry, John and O'Leary, Brendan, Policing Northern Ireland: Proposals for a New Start (Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1999)Google Scholar

McGarry, John and O'Leary, Brendan, “Stabilising Northern Ireland's Agreement,” The Political Quarterly (2004), 213–25, on 217CrossRef Google Scholar

Aolain, Fionnuala Ni, The Politics of Force: Conflict Management and State Violence in Northern Ireland (Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 2000)Google Scholar

Brewer, John, Guelke, Adrian, Hume, Ian, et al., The Police, Public Order, and the State: Policing in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, the United States, Israel, South Africa, China (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988), 12Google Scholar

Brewer, John, Inside the RUC; Routine Policing in a Divided Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), 250Google Scholar

Schabas, William, “A Synergistic Relationship: The Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court for Sierra Leone,” 15 Criminal Law Forum (2004), 3–54CrossRef Google Scholar

Combs, Nancy, Factfinding in International Criminal Law: The Appearance, The Reality and The Future (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2009)Google Scholar

Fletcher, Laurel E. and Weinstein, Harvey M., “A World Unto Itself? The Application of International Justice in the Former Yugoslavia,” in Stover, Eric and Weinstein, Harvey (eds.), The Former Yugoslavia, My Neighbor, My Enemy: Justice and Community in the Aftermath of Mass Atrocities (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 29–48CrossRef Google Scholar

Murphy, Colleen and Gardoni, Paolo, “The Acceptability and the Tolerability of Societal Risks: A Capabilities-based Approach,” 14(1) Science and Engineering Ethics (2008), 77–92CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

“Determining Public Policy and Resource Allocation Priorities for Mitigating Natural Hazards: A Capabilities-based Approach,” 13(4) Science and Engineering Ethics (2007), 489–504CrossRef

Book contents

11 - Political Reconciliation and International Criminal Trials

Summary

Access options

References

Save book to Kindle

Save book to Dropbox

Save book to Google Drive