ICTJ in the News

March 10, 2008

New AUB minor treats part of hangover from Civil War

The Daily Star

By Samar Ghanem
Special to The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Fourteen students gather around an oval table for a class on transitional justice as part of what is being billed as the world's first minor in Human Rights and Transitional Justice, launched at the American University of Beirut (AUB). The program, which took a year and a half to finalize, was initiated and made possible by Sari Hanafi, associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at AUB.

"Being in an area of turmoil, I realized after two years of being here how much there is total amnesia concerning the civil war and how much the civil war is hidden in the conscience of the Lebanese," said Hanafi. "Transitional justice is perfect for dealing with the legacies of mass violations of human rights in conflict-ridden areas, as there is not only a legal response to these legacies but also nonlegal, dealing with healing."

By introducing the program into the university, it's a step forward in raising awareness and opening these issues to the public, he added.

Hanafi worked closely with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) to finalize the program and to find useful course material, specifically for the seminar in transitional justice.

The idea of transitional justive refers to responses of society following protracted times of violence and violations of human rights. These responses aim to alleviate the suffering wrought by such violence by establishing a narative of the past and determine accountability.

Though there are courses offered in human rights and transitional justice respectively, Hanafai said there is no minor as such anywhere. The importance of having a minor is that it brings together courses from different departments, such as Philosophy and Political Science, and it is made available to all students, regardless what their major is.

A minor in Human Rights and Transitional Justice is especially useful to students in the social sciences, but also is valuable for others. Students can go on to pursue a career in human rights, working with non-governmental organizations (NGO) and international organizations such as the UN, among others.

Ranim Baasiri, one of the six students registered in the minor, says she signed up for it as soon as it was launched in the 2008 spring semester. "The minor is exactly what I have been interested in as a career," she said.

Baasiri described it as an evolving discipline especially important for post-conflict societies such as Lebanon, where "we can't pretend that everything is good and working."

That the program is taking place in Lebanon is extremely significant, according to Hanafi.

"Historically, Lebanon has been the vanguard of arts, sciences, pluralism, and freedom of expression," said Hanafi, adding that this makes it logical that such a program would begin in Lebanon.

"One of the major factors of havoc is that the Civil War legacy is not yet settled," added Hanafi. "Contrary to many other conflict-ridden areas, warlords in Lebanon are still there, without accountability, without acknowledgment or even apology, transitional justice helps to address this through different approaches ranging from memorialization, truth telling, to purges and prosecution."

It is still too early to see the effects of the minor specifically and transitional justice in general, and it success depends in part on the faculty members, coordinating NGOs such as Ummam and the ICTJ.

ICTJ official Marieke Wierda said it is very important that the center be well established in the country so that it can be taken seriously.

"It is very significant in Lebanon, and getting young people to think about these issues is very important," Wierda said. "The projects that seek to get the young people to think seriously about these issues maybe the most important ones because in many ways young people will determine the future direction of the country."