Darfur, Uganda Victims' Needs Focus of ICAR Prof's Lecture

Eight evenings of thought-provoking discussion. Eight minds grappling with the important. That is the promo for the Vision Series lectures for Academic Year 2007-08 at George Mason University. On Monday, March 17, 2008, one of those eight voices was our own Dr. Susan F. Hirsch, Associate Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Program at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Bravo to Susan for her outstanding lecture on Satisfying Victims and Healing Society—the Promise of Justice after Extreme Violence.

Dr. Hirsch spoke not just from her academic, anthropological research on human responses to extreme violence—murder, rape, genocide—but also from her personal experience as a victim and survivor of a terror attack on the United States Embassy on August 7, 1998, in Tanzania. She carefully crafted a story that told of the complexity and nuances of trying to satisfy victims, who rightfully deserve social justice, with the needs for healing and moving on within their local communities. She presented evidence of a steady move towards global justice, including ad hoc criminal tribunals, hybrid or special courts, and most recently the International Criminal Court.

They have their problems and critics—too remote to victims, too "Western" in style, too likely to erode the particularity of local legal systems—but they do promise a global platform for victims to stand up against their perpetrators without recrimination. Seeking global justice, victims do tell their stories of violence to counselors for the whole world to hear.

Dr. Hirsch provoked the audience with a series of questions as she reflected on whether or not, after the trials, victims "feel" better. They might be only mildly satisfied, as victims' needs vary. Do community members "feel" better? What is the healing process beyond the trials? As images of Darfur and Uganda were in the backdrop, she challenged us to consider ways to reknit the social fabric of broken societies in the aftermath of extreme violence. Beyond truth and reconciliation, reparation and rehabilitation, this might require old or new healing rituals grounded in local communities and culturally informed. It seems we must find ways for local, national and international systems to work together to satisfy victims and heal societies.

Dr. Hirsch left us pondering, too, the responsibility of the broader global community. Implicitly, the world community becomes implicated as soon as victims report their experiences. We have a shared moral and legal obligation to bring justice in the broadest and best sense.  Clearly we have work to do.