Beyond Trials and Truth Commissions: Responding to Violence in Africa
Thursday, November 5
Thursday, November 5
POSTPONED
West Duke Building
Renowned genocide scholar Mahmood Mamdani will participate in a panel on November 5th, “Beyond Trials and Truth Commissions: Responding to Violence in Africa.” The event will explore the benefits and limits of current models of transnational justice in the wake of atrocities. How should we define responsibility for mass violence? What should be the meanings of ‘truth’ and ‘justice’ for societies confronting civil war and mass atrocities? The human rights movement has long celebrated prosecutions and truth commissions as crucial institutions for helping countries confront, and move beyond, their violent pasts. Focusing on conflicts in Africa, this panel will explore the limits of current human rights’ approaches to confronting mass atrocities, as well as the promise of alternative models. Panelists include Professor Mahmood Mamdani (Columbia, Anthropology and Political Science), Professor Matiangai Sirleaf (University of Pittsburgh School of Law), and is moderated by Professor Michael Struett (NC State University, Political Science). Co-sponsored by The Duke Human Rights Center at The Kenan Institute for Ethics, International Human Rights Clinic and the Center for International and Comparative Law.
Please RSVP to Daniel Baroff by Monday, November 2. Reception to follow.