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The event combined voices from civil society and religious organizations to offer a full picture of what restorative justice and reconciliation may look like in various contexts.
Prof. Fabian Salvioli, UN special rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth Justice Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, presented the legal context of transitional justice.
“Some governments try to avoid the human rights obligations of transitional justice, and present it more as an issue of political will,” he said. “That is devastating for victims. Truth, justice, reparations, guarantees of non-recurrences, and memorialisation processes are not options but legal obligations clearly established in international human rights law.”
Sandiswa Lerato Kobe, PhD candidate and lecturer at the University of South Africa, reflected that, while victims need to hear the truth, people should also focus on the perpetrators and see how much they want to be part of the community. “In the context of gross human rights violations, the focus is always on the victims, and not enough on the perpetrators to make them accountable,” said Kobe. “Theologies of forgiveness don’t focus enough on the reparation. The encounter between missionaries and Indigenous people was never a peaceful one.”
Rev. Prof. Dr Konrad Raiser (Evangelical Church in Germany), former WCC general secretary, reiterated that the most important task is to rebuild the community by recognising the massive violations perpetrated and at the same time restoring the vital links within the community. “This is an important dimension that faith communities must bring to the process,” he said.
Martha Pedoniquotte, community capacity development coordinator of the Indigenous Ministries and Justice Unit, United Church of Canada, spoke of the lasting and negative impact on Indigenous individuals from tragedies such as the discovery of tens of thousands of unmarked graves of Indigenous children—the result of absolute oppression. “It is a shameful reminder of the systemic racism Indigenous communities have faced and continue to face in this country,” she said. “We need concrete actions that right the wrongs through reparations, which upholds the rule of law.”
Dr Catherine Namakula, chairperson of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, spoke in a video contribution on the issue of reparation.
She took the example of the compensation Germany negotiated for the crimes committed against the Nama-Herero community, and noted that “Germany made an agreement with the Namibian government, but did not include the Nama-Herero community in the discussions.”