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Audio files of Keynote Sessions now available on the Speakers Page. Copies of Papers and Presentations given in Parallel Sessions now available for download on the Program Page.
About Pathways to Reconciliation and Global Human Rights, Sarajevo 2005
Pathways to Reconciliation and Global Human Rights brought
together practitioners and thinkers from around the world to reflect
upon, evaluate and advance the global human-rights agenda. The fourth
in the Pathways to Reconciliation series, the four-day conference
(16-19 August, 2005) was also an opportunity to engage the specific
locale of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a global context. The conference was held in the beautiful and cosmopolitan city of Sarajevo, known before the war in the mid-1990's as the most oriental city in Europe.
Developing and assessing processes of reconciliation has been a central concern of human-rights institutions and organisations. However, their impact and role continue to be weak in a world convulsed by warfare and terrorism and division remains over how best to secure and prioritise fundamental human rights.
Consideration of how international institutions, the state and non-government organisations can co-ordinate their efforts to develop structures that favour human rights is a crucial step in the advancement of existing and future processes of reconciliation.
At this moment in time particularly, it is vital to empower those who have experienced conflict and to enable others who have sought to move societies forward from a history of the same.
The conference drew on shared experiences and unique insights in the common pursuit of pathways to reconciliation and the attainment of global human rights though an exploration of the following themes:
Reconciliation and Human Rights Discourse
- New paths to reconciliation
- The legacy of past reconciliation efforts
- Human rights as a discourse for reconciliation
- Universal human rights vs cultural and religious rights
- The impact of globalization on reconciliation and human rights
- Overcoming psychological barriers to reconciliation
- Truth commissions and punishment: the human rights implications
- Women and reconciliation
- Youth and reconciliation
- Reconciliation: majority vs minority and indigenous rights
The Context and Strategy for Reconciliation
- Economic development strategies for reconciliation
- Democratization as a path to reconciliation
- Violence as a means to obstruct reconciliation efforts
- Can humanitarian interventions promote reconciliation
- Reconciliation within divided societies
- The experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- The experience of Afghanistan
- Reconciliation: Iraq?
- Reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians
- Reconciliation, religions and human rights
- Reconciliation, Islam and human rights
Tools for Reconciliation: International Institutions, Networks and Law
- The role of the UN
- The role of criminal courts and courts of justice
- The role of conventions on war and violence
- International law and the protection of stateless people
- International law and the rights of states
- International law and the rights of people
- The current and future roles of NGOs
- Global civil society activism as a platform for reconciliation
Participation
The conference benefited from the contribution made by practitioners and academics in the fields of globalization, international relations, conflict resolution, human rights, ethnic and religious minorities and indigenous peoples. It was attended by:
- Representatives of Human Rights Groups/Organisations
- Representatives of Non-Government Organisations and Community Groups
- Civil Servants
- Members of national Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
- Members of multi-lateral bodies such as The International Criminal Court and the United Nations
- Members of the national media in Bosnia and Herzegovina and representatives of the international press
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