The Path Towards Reconciliation after Colombia’s War: Understanding the Roles of Victims and Perpetrators

Workshop with Dr. Roddy Brett, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, University of Bristol

"The Path Towards Reconciliation after Colombia’s War: understanding the roles of victims and perpetrators"

Absract:
This paper explores the role of the five delegations of victims that participated in the peace talks in Havana between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) in 2015. The empirical research is based on interviews with the members of the victims’ delegations that presented their testimonies to the negotiating parties during the peace talks between the Santos government and Latin America's oldest guerrilla army; with members of the international community; and with other relevant the parties to the negotiations. Drawing upon transitional justice, peacebuilding and reconciliation scholarship, the paper examines the degree to which this ‘hybrid’ peace-making mechanism shaped the dynamics and content of the peace accord and whether, if at all, it transformed the relationships between victims and perpetrators present in Havana and more broadly within Colombia. The research analyses a series of broader questions relevant to peacebuilding, victimhood and transitional justice, in particular whether the objective of placing victims and victims’ rights at the centre of the peace process - a manifestation of the so-called victims’ turn in transitional justice - was borne out in practice and thus whether the inclusion of historically marginalised actors may shape the practice and discourse of peacebuilding and transitional justice.

For the pre-circulated materials or more information, contact Gary Goertz.