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Peace against justice?

From the former Yugoslavia to Sudan, from the Middle East to Cambodia, the question of the intervention of international justice now arises. each conflict, inevitably giving rise to virulent controversies. Two theses clash. Some see in this justice only a weapon used or abandoned by governments according to their interests of the moment. Others, on the contrary, consider the fight against impunity? as the bedrock of a rule of law and a society? democratic. Is justice an obstacle or a condition a? the peace ? Is it essential for rebuilding societies and re-establishing lasting peace? These are some of the questions that Pierre Hazan attempts to answer. The former correspondent for Libe?ration and Le Temps de Gene?ve has written a book that is simple and understandable to everyone. Using examples, duly explained, he analyzes questions as vital as policies of amnesty, punishment and forgiveness.

In the former Yugoslavia, if the Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was set up very quickly, during the war, the Dayton Accords were concluded with a president prosecuted for crimes for humanity and the main officer who ordered the massacres, Mladic, is still at large today.

In South Africa, an internal technique of forgiveness versus amnesty has been used to pacify a society fractured by years of apartheid.

In Chile, the pursuit of General Pinochet and the main leaders of the junta only took place after many years and at the cost of multiple procedures.

In Liberia, the international prosecutor David Crane deliberately chooses to torpedo the ongoing peace process (one more he believes) by issuing a warrant against Charles Taylor. Despite a few months of delay, he will finally be right since a peace agreement will be signed and Charles Taylor arrested...

Other examples are mentioned such as those of Sudan, Lebanon, Aghanistan... In the end, the author thus concludes that he " there is not one model, but a variety of historical situations which each, according to a plurality of parameters, has developed a specific articulation between the search for justice and that for peace. »

A book to put in all hands, especially at the end of the year...

• “Peace against justice? How to Rebuild a State with War Criminals”, Pierre Hazan, E?d. GRIP/Andre? Versailles, Brussels September 2010, 128 p. €9,90.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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