June 25-27, 2007 | Nuremberg
Image

Trailblazing conference


At the international conference "Building a Future on Peace and Justice" held from 25-27 June 2007 in Nuremberg representatives of governments and international organizations discussed with practitioners, academics and members of civil society from all over the world issues of conflict management, reconciliation and reconstruction. Some 450 officials and experts from over 80 countries came together to share their experience of peace and reconciliation processes. They explored key issues such as the impact of the International Criminal Court and other justice mechanisms on conflict dynamics, how far amnesties are acceptable, the importance of truth seeking and social justice, the role of peace negotiators and the linkage between local and international approaches as well as the importance of building rule-of-law structures. The situation in countries such as Afghanistan, Uganda, Colombia and Iraq shows just how topical such issues are.

The conference was convened by Germany, Finland and Jordan in conjunction with the International Center for Transitional Justice (New York) and the Crisis Management Initiative (Helsinki). Other partners were the Robert Bosch Foundation (Stuttgart), the Dräger Foundation (Lübeck), the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Berlin), the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (Johannesburg), swisspeace (Berne), Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and the Working Group on Development and Peace (FriEnt, Bonn).


Opening ceremony of the conference in Nuremberg's Higher Regional Court
Front row (f.l.t.r.): Prinz Stefan von und zu Liechtenstein, Frau Maliha Zulfacar, Ammar Husseini, Frances Johnson Morris, John Ohiorhenuan, Alphonse Hitiyaremye, Sadako Ogata, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Yasmin Sooka, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Märta Elisabeth Rehn, Sonia Picado, Jean-Damascène Habimana, Lakhdar Brahimi
Back row (f.l.t.r.): Mohammad Tarawneh, Günter Gloser, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Álvaro de Soto, Luis Moreno Ocampo, Sharif Al-Zu’bi, René Blattmann, Jan Egeland, Juan Méndez, Ian Martin, Gareth Evans, Lord Bonomy

The conference was opened jointly by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Sonia Picado, former President of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights and personal representative of the President of Costa Rica, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and Sharif Al-Zu'bi, Minister of Justice of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The ceremony itself was held in a truly historic venue, the courtroom where sixty years ago the Nuremburg trials took place in what is now the Higher Regional Court building.

The aim of the conference was to show how, building on practical experience from many parts of the world, the tensions that may arise at least temporarily between peace and justice can be addressed in a constructive way. Conflicts between the goals of peace and justice may arise, for example, if the parties to a conflict insist on a general amnesty as their price for making peace, or if reconstruction efforts suffer from the competition for resources between the security, justice and other development sectors. The conference programme began with four panel discussions featuring eminent practitioners, followed by ten workshops devoted to particular aspects of the overall theme and building on preparatory studies.

The results of the conference, which were presented by Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein on the final day, will form the basis of a "Nuremberg Declaration on Peace and Justice". This project put forward by the conference convenors met with the approval of participants. According to plans announced by former Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, a group of experts working under the guidance of Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace laureate Oscar Arias will prepare a draft text by mid-2008, after consultations with relevant organizations. The intention is to set out principles and make concrete recommendations that can feed into the work of institutions and individuals concerned with peace negotiations as well as peace, reconciliation and reconstruction processes and transitional justice mechanisms in post-conflict situations.

Conference venue Nuremberg

The conference took place in Nuremberg, a city synonymous with the realization that peacebuilding and reconciliation in post-conflict situations are unthinkable unless accompanied by strenuous efforts to deal with a legacy of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Günter Gloser, Minister of State for Europe, stated "For the first time, an international conference dealt with the complex and extremely topical issue of the conflict of interests which arises between the objectives of peace and justice in the resolution of armed conflicts. We are delighted that this important event took place in Nuremberg."