African Dignitaries Discuss Benefits Of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions by Michael Coleman Truth and reconciliationóthese powerful words, when applied in real life, can help to heal the deep collective wounds of the psyche and soul that linger among groups of people subjected to human rights violations. On March 21, the Library of Congress invited more than a dozen African dignitaries, including several Washington diplomats, to discuss truth and reconciliation and the lessons their countries have learned from it. The concept of truth and reconciliation, popularized in the aftermath of Apartheid in South Africa, is to employ communicationóin the form of often painful honestyóto get to the bottom of circumstances surrounding human rights violations. During the 20th century, an estimated 200 million people lost their lives as a result of manmade crises such as war, genocide or famine. By the late 1990s, about 22 million people were internally displaced in 20 countries, half of them in Africa. In addition, during the last two decades of the 20th century, 28 sub-Saharan African countries were engaged in violent conflict, according to the Institute of Development Stu dies. But in the midst of every major conflict were individuals such as former South African Presidents Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk, who tried to reconcile warring factions. Their work, and the work of other peace advocates like them, has led to the creation of at least 20 separate truth and reconciliation commissions around the world since 1974. The Africa panel assembled at the John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress offered a highly informative overview of the issues related to truth and reconciliation, sprinkled with real-life examples of its implementation. ìThe aggrieved and the aggressor need to talk if there is going to be reconciliation,î said Edith Ssempala, Ugandaís ambassador to the United States. The International Criminal Court is investigating atrocities in Uganda, including the slaughter of more than 200 people in the Barlonyo displaced persons camp in northern Uganda in February 2004. Ssempala said reconciliation is difficult because there is no sense of state for people on opposing sides to come together around one nation. ìWe are really still going through state transformation,î she said. ìWe are just tribes put together. A nation is one which has a common vision and is working toward the same goals. We have not been fully reconciled in Ugandaówe have a long way to go. ìIt requires leaders and for our people to start thinking and doing things differently,î she added. Ssempala urged Western leaders who monitor the politics of Uganda and other African nations with frustration to consider its challenges. ìIt requires patience, and we need our partners in the West to appreciate that.î She said that although Ugandans themselves must keep working to heal their wounds, they must also pray for assistance from a higher power. ìThe scars are deep, so it will take God,î Ssempala said. ìIf it has been done in Rwanda, I have confidence the same God can do it again.î In South Africa, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in the mid-1990s. Many of its hearings were broadcast on national and international television. The TRC was a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa and, despite some flaws, is generally regarded as very successful. The commission summoned witnesses who testified about secret and immoral acts committed by the African National Congress, the Apartheid government, and other forces for violence. Many observers contend that these revelations would never have happened without the creation of the commission. Other countries have instituted similar commissions, although not all are open to the lodging of charges against people currently in power. Paul Simo, a native of Cameroon and Africa program director for the group Global Rights, has worked in the Central African region to help indigenous groups monitor, challenge and advocate against human rights abuses. Simo told the audience that a truth and reconciliation process should explore the relationship between the competition for economic privilege and conflict. He also noted that is important for women and minority groups to have a seat at the table. Simo said some ìwell-meaning friends of Africaî have recently suggested that internal strife is innate to Africans and that truth and reconciliation might not ever achieve the desired results. ìIf you look at the trends across the continent of victims of violence, there is increasingly a practice of political reconciliation,î Simo said. ìVictims of human rights abuses are increasingly asking for accountability.î Facts ascertained during the truth and reconciliation process must be made public, especially those that can help families repatriate the bodies of dead loved ones, several panelists said. The sense of permanent loss that families experience when there is no body to bury can be a significant hurdle to forgiveness. ìLet the people see it and discuss it as the truth,î said Lt. Col. Joseph Nzabamwita, defense attachÈ at the Rwandan Embassy. ìEstablish the truth and the truth will lead to reconciliation.î Derrick Moyo, deputy chief of mission at the South African Embassy, suggested that reconciliation and forgiveness canít be imposedóboth sides must want to try to achieve those goals. ìIt is not a one-day event, and it will go beyond the truth commission,î he advised. Moyo said his country is being called upon to help mediate conflicts in Burundi, the Congo and CÙte díIvoire. He also pointed out that the notion of amnesty is misunderstood in the South African process. ìWe are not going to give general amnesty,î he said. ìWe have appointed a commission to grant amnesty.î The truth and reconciliation conference was sponsored by the Library of Congress in collaboration with the African Presidential Archives and Research Center of Boston University, the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the Nigerian Peoplesí Forum, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. Michael Coleman is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.