RECONCILIATION
Two big goals for CAV RECONCILIATION agenda:
- Healing of souls (Spirituality)
- Healing of wounds (Community)
What is reconciliation?
Reconciliation is a process which consists to unite and restore relations between two persons or groups who have been separated by conflict
What is Conflict?
It is the real opposition between two persons or groups who are related, with the perception that the resources they share are not sufficient to fulfill their purpose . Reconciliation is an answer to rooted conflicts .
Reconciliation viruses
Sometimes we misunderstand what reconciliation is and give the following meaning to Reconciliation :
- That impunity or amnesty equals reconciliation
- Reconciliation by force or acts of legislation
- Reconciliation used to escape the consequence of the problem/conflict
- Reconciliation is dependent on the third party, an outside “ conciliator”
- Reconciliation happens when we become “ better moral “ people .
The International Community plays two roles to make Reconciliation succeed:
- The implementation
- Peace and security of people who are involved to help
Path of Reconciliation
The international Alert organization suggests that there are at least four essential building blocks to any effort to engage in reconciliation and reconstruction in the aftermath of violent conflict
- Reconstruction: A journey of healing the losses and division suffered by families , communities and other sectors of society.
- Political and Economic Transformation: An undertaking to repair the damage caused by warfare but also making political and economic changes, which address the issues from which the destructive conflict arose .
- Restitution: A process where wrongs are corrected , including a fair trial of those guilty but in the spirit of honesty and forgiveness rather than revenge, and compensation for victims.
- Acknowledgement: This vehicle includes conflict-parties and others (including “bystanders”) each taking responsibility for their contribution to what happened, and acknowledgement of the losses suffered.
We can not say that there is reconciliation until new structures are established. The leadership under which conflict took place must be transformed and changed to make sure that the problems which destroyed the country will not repeat and that the agreement will be respected .
What to Omit in order to succeed in the real reconciliation:
- Emotions
- Vengeance and retribution
- Key players being the government body in the country without involving the local people
What to strive for to succeed in reconciliation
- To be more independent of influence of special groups
- Grassroots movement to be involved to avoid the criticism of the TRC in South Africa. It was done by high-level ranking people without the involvement of regular people.
- Reconciliation is a healing of a nation and a uniting force
- Successful reconciliation includes a modern government, economic stability, development, and a government of no fear.
THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP IN RECONCILIATION
In every community where the process of reconciliation is the matter to deal with, leadership plays an important role . When there is poor leadership , there can not be success to the process of reconciliation . Even if there are agreements, poor leadership is not able to make it achieved.
Good leadership, as preoccupied by the interest of the whole community , is required to lead the process of reconciliation . When there is good leadership, conflict rarely destroys the community and even if it happens that conflict comes as far as conflict is normal and natural , the community profits from it.
Central Africa vision began reconciliation on June 23, 1997 in Rwanda to bring together Tutsis and Hutus after the 1994 genocide. It was the first test of someone like me, Mutima, who is a USA Citizen originally from Banyamulenge Tutsi tribe of Eastern Democratic republic of the Congo. I understood the pain my Tutsis underwent and of the sympathizer Hutus who stood with their friends and relative moderate Hutus. It did not take too long before CAV crossed over to DR Congo in particular in Bukavu where I was born and grew in a military base of Bagira, and the following year went in to Burundi.
Why in those three countries of great lakes region of Central Africa?
I believed and still believe that “there will never be a successful development without a successful sustainable peace and reconciliation”. There was no way I could have stayed in one country without approaching the other two. These countries are like a triangle, what affects one country will automatically affect the others. For some reasons, after the divisions of the land of Africa, many brothers were separated from their relatives. DR Congo is surrounded by 9 countries and each one of the people at the border has either a cousin, an aunt, stepmother or a relative over on the other side. The issue of Tutsis known as Banyamulenge ( Nilotic descendent) were the first target because they look different from other Congolese of Bantu origin.
The Congolese of bantu descent welcomed Hutus who fled after the genocide as brothers and sisters. They forgot that they were only there temporarily as refugees. They turned against Banyamulenge Tutsis who in turn sought support from Rwandan government. There is a proverb in Kinyamulenge that says: If you need to broker a durable peace among brothers and sisters, you need to look up, to forget your relationship with both sides to solve the crisis. DR Congo has the obligation to work hard on reconciliation from the grassroots.
Rwanda and Burundi have similar tribes and almost similar culture, but each one of these twin countries have differences. They have tried their best to unite their country through reconciliation. It became hard because when you do reconciliation, you cannot at the same time pursue justice and impunity.