Post-violence periods present sub-Saharan African countries emerging from violence with the challenges of social reconstruction, the rebuilding of peace and the redressing of legacies of human rights violations. To respond to these challenges, these countries are increasingly utilising truth and reconciliation commissions. To date ten truth commissions have been established in the sub-Saharan African region. With varying mandates, the truth commissions have in their specific contexts provided public spaces to survivors of human rights violations to give voice to their personal narratives, and shed light on the forms of persecution they faced. Often missing from the work of these commissions are stories of refugees living in camps. This is an unfortunate exclusion by a transitional justice process because refugees represent a group adversely affected by rights violations. So far in sub-Saharan Africa only the Kenyan, Liberian and Sierra Leonean commissions have incorporated some of their refugee populations in their proceedings. Driven away from their homes and countries by armed strife and other forms of persecution, the stories of sub-Saharan African refugees continue to bear witness to their human rights plight. Their exclusion in the proceedings of most truth commissions is a glaring omission in the work set to champion human rights and consolidate post-violence peace and justice initiatives. Therefore, working with 33 male and female adult refugees living in Dukwi Refugee Camp in Botswana, this narrative study sought to find answers to this exclusion by exploring avenues of inclusion of refugees’ voices, perspectives and lived human rights experiences in the work of truth commissions. Participants came from sub-Saharan African countries which included DR Congo, Somalia and Zimbabwe. An analysis of the interview narratives revealed several key findings. Among others, these findings included the importance of recognising refugees as co-partners in peacebuilding. They also underscored the importance of having responsible democratic leadership promote a culture of peace and human rights and combat perpetrators impunity in post-violence African countries. The study demonstrated that future truth commissions can create opportunities to incorporate refugees’ human rights narratives and give refugees the space to offer solutions for the redress of rights violations and suggestions for promoting durable peace.

There is a tendency within both literature and practice to conceive of colonialism and decolonization as state-centric structures or events. Such an approach to colonialism and decolonization, however, ignores or overshadows the integral roles played by non-indigenous, non-state actors within both colonial and de-colonial processes. This thesis identifies and explores specifically how non-indigenous Canadian citizens, as settler denizens, contribute to colonialism within the country. Through the exploration of settlement stories (both those provided and those silenced), it is argued that, non-indigenous Canadians can come to understand the roles they play within ongoing process of colonialism within Canada today. It is only after these settler actors have identified and explored these roles and recognized their responsibilities to act in de-colonial ways that decolonization can begin. This thesis is, therefore, concerned with identifying and exploring the first step in the process towards decolonization – identifying the settler denizen within settler colonialism. / Graduate / 0334 / 0615 / deanne.am.leblanc@gmail.com

This study deals with the pastoral counselling of people who became ill as a result of unresolved trauma. Some of the important questions raised in this study, included: Why are certain traumatic events physically harmful to people? 0 What is the relationship between unresolved trauma and the development of disease in the human body? Which additional factors play a role in the development of disease? The basis theoretical research clearly showed that a wounded person can be healed and restored by God; even if the wounding took place a long time ago. The traumatized person can bring his/her pain to God, uninhibitedly, with the expectation that God's healing power can heal. Negative thoughts and emotions, which are harmful to a person, must be brought under the truth of the Word, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit; with the intention to correct these thoughts and emotions. The meta-theoretical research has clearly shown a relationship between unresolved trauma and the development of disease in humans. Unresolved emotions can create certain emotions that work in negatively on a person's body. Unresolved trauma can also lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For the purpose of the empirical study, four cases, of people who experienced trauma, were selected and studied. These people all struggled with new diseases after their traumatic experiences. The results highlighted the importance of considering the unique personal history of each individual; especially with reference to unresolved traumatic experiences in a person's past. The co-operation between the researcher and the medical profession regarding the results of the case studies should be noted. Chapter 6 clearly points out that the point of departure in pastoral counselling is God, the Holy Trinity. Vital dimensions of the Biblical counselling process are the following: Establishing involvement with counselees. Inspiring in them Biblical hope. 0 A thorough inventory and Biblical interpretation of counselees and their problems. Instructing counselees in an accurate and appropriately Biblical way to inspire in them decisive commitment to Biblical obedience and the implementation of Biblical instructions. / Thesis (M.A. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

How could citizens trust a new regime after being oppressed by the previous one? How could citizens forgive their neighbors who yesterday were executioners, used by the previous government, to commit atrocities (Halpern and Weinstein, 2004)? How could people ever feel safe in their own country after being traumatized by civil wars and human rights violations? Is there a political process that could help countries transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one and consolidate that democracy? This thesis argues that reconciliation commissions are the answer to all these questions. It also argues that they could be the middle step between peace and democracy-building. However, there are some necessary and sufficient conditions that need to be satisfied.

This thesis explores the relationship between international war crimes tribunals and peacebuilding in post-conflict societies. The aim of the present study was to examine how the role and function of international tribunals has changed since the establishment of the Nuremberg tribunal in the early years after World War II. Due to the evolving nature of international law and the international criminal legal system, international tribunals have become increasingly recognized as an integral component of peacebuilding processes in the aftermath of conflict. As the first international tribunal mandated to restore international peace and security, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) set a new precedent for international tribunals. Beginning with its establishment, there appeared to be a new trend of using international judicial mechanisms to promote peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict. One important element of change was the increased tendency of international tribunals to engage in public outreach and help build the capacity of national justice sector institutions. As the first international tribunal to succeed the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals and the first UN tribunal of its kind, the ICTY has shown the extent to which international tribunals facilitate societal reconciliation is, and will be, understood within the context of the legacies they leave behind. Institutions such as the ICTY will not be judged solely on the merits of the ideals on which they were established, but instead on their concrete successes in the domestic arena and their ability to fortify domestic judicial capacity.

This thesis examines the long term effects of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Building on existing critique of the TRC’s narrow mandate and sociologist Melissa Steyn’s argument that apartheid was predicated on an ignorance contract amongst South African citizenry, this thesis asks if the mandate of a truth commission can actually serve to entrench ignorances and divisions. More specifically, this thesis asks in what ways can the ignorance contract be seen in South African society now? It identifies key discourses that represent ongoing ignorances in South Africa: non-acknowledgement, denial, misrecognition and truth and ignorance. Looking at the performance of memory and the areas of immigration, emigration, and gender, this thesis finds that the TRC’s mandate has led to ongoing ignorance about apartheid in South Africa. / Graduate / 0615 / 0331 / alisonj@uvic.ca

There is a tendency within both literature and practice to conceive of colonialism and decolonization as state-centric structures or events. Such an approach to colonialism and decolonization, however, ignores or overshadows the integral roles played by non-indigenous, non-state actors within both colonial and de-colonial processes. This thesis identifies and explores specifically how non-indigenous Canadian citizens, as settler denizens, contribute to colonialism within the country. Through the exploration of settlement stories (both those provided and those silenced), it is argued that, non-indigenous Canadians can come to understand the roles they play within ongoing process of colonialism within Canada today. It is only after these settler actors have identified and explored these roles and recognized their responsibilities to act in de-colonial ways that decolonization can begin. This thesis is, therefore, concerned with identifying and exploring the first step in the process towards decolonization – identifying the settler denizen within settler colonialism. / Graduate / 0334 / 0615 / deanne.am.leblanc@gmail.com

This thesis considers the limitations of redress measures for injustices against Indigenous peoples in Canada and seeks to provide an alternative account of reconciliation that aims towards addressing these limitations. Current reconciliation and treaty processes designed to address Indigenous claims have resulted in a disconnect between material and symbolic or affective harms and are insufficiently reciprocal and receptive to the multiplicity of conflicting accounts of history to meaningfully effect a transformation of Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations. Furthermore, current processes aim towards closure with respect to past injustices instead of establishing lasting political relationships through grappling with diverse perspectives on those injustices. This thesis engages with these challenges by exploring Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations in Canada through the lens of Hannah Arendt’s relational, non-instrumental account of politics and recent literature on agonistic reconciliation in order to propose an alternative account of living in reconciliation through treaty relations. / Graduate

Since Antiquity, the granting of amnesty to past atrocities has played a prominent role in political transitions. However, the moralized discourse of human rights that has emerged after the end of the Second World War has called for prosecutions in such cases. This study shows that granting individual amnesties to those responsible for past atrocities, as opposed to their prosecution, is a critical element in paving the way towards homonoia---harmony or concord---in a community that has been affected by civil strife. After having explored the origins of amnesty in Ancient Athens and its similarities with the amnesties granted by early modern European peace treaties and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the author argues that individual amnesty constitutes the only way of uncovering the truth about past atrocities. This is turn facilitates the forgiving of perpetrators and thus the achievement of homonoia. Moreover, individual amnesty, as mainly a political act, can nevertheless encompass considerations of justice, when the notion is not restricted merely to its punitive aspect.

The study suggests that two domestic conditions are critical to foster opportunities for sustainable peace between formerly conflicting societies. The conditions are defined as social capital and political integration. These are explored in the context of Israeli and Palestinian societies following the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993 and through 1999, just one year prior to the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada. / Social capital refers to networks of association. Strong networks of relationship are important because they are positively associated with a community and/or society's ability to foster social cohesion, to problem-solve and cope with growing uncertainty such as that exemplifying the period of transition from conflict to peace. / Income inequality is inversely related to social capital. Communities and societies characterized by growing income inequality are typified by diminishing social capital, hence receding capacity to weather the impact of major societal change. / The term political integration refers to the relationship between a government and its citizens. In politically integrated societies citizens share a sense that government is concerned with their welfare and hence their loyalty is expressed through support of the government, its programs and policies. Growing political fragmentation, a lack of abidance, and the breakdown of relationships between civil society and government mark politically disintegrated societies. Political integration is particularly relevant in the aftermath of the signing of a peace agreement when domestic sectarian divides threaten to undermine the national entity that must maintain the delicate balance attained by formerly conflicting societies. / Social capital and political integration are the outcome of greater or lesser human rights: social and economic, civil and political. The persistence of inequality, social and economic, civil and political, wears down the relationships between members of a society and between citizens and their government. / Analysis of standard social and economic indicators in Palestinian and Israeli societies suggests that despite the promised peace dividend social and economic inequality persisted and in some instances worsened between 1993 and 1999. Analysis of civil and political conditions in both societies suggests that political disintegration as opposed to growing integration characterized the six-year period.