Press Releases:

June 27, 2007

Building a Future on Peace and Justice, Conference Concludes

Contact
Suzana Grego
Director of Communications
TEL +1 917 703 1106
E-MAIL sgrego@ictj.org

delivered by the organizers of the international conference
"Building a Future on Peace and Justice"

Finland, Germany, Jordan
The International Center for Transitional Justice, New York
The Crisis Management Initiative, Helsinki

at the conclusion of the Conference

The topics of "peace" and "justice" were at the heart of discussions between high-level dignitaries and over 300 practitioners from over 80 countries, meeting in Nuremberg from 25-27 June at the conference "Building a Future on Peace and Justice". In peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation processes, the goals of "peace" and "justice" sometimes appear in conflict.

The conference concluded that peace and justice are not contradictory forces. Rather, if properly pursued, they promote and sustain one another. The question should never be whether to pursue justice and accountability, but rather when and how. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier cautioned that there is no miracle solution for the management of tensions between peace and justice and for a society's recovery from violence and injustice. But he added: "By comparing experiences around the world, the conference will allow all stakeholders-mediators, national actors, international and regional organisations, and international justice mechanisms-to deal with the difficult decisions about peace and justice, of which there will be more in the future, in a more informed and creative manner."

The Jordanian Minister of Justice, Sharif Al-Zu'bi, said "The conference has reminded us that although the pursuit of peace and justice occasionally results in a moral dilemma, those deciding do not act in a moral or normative vacuum. The fight against impunity, culminating in the Rome Statute of the ICC, has changed the parameters for the pursuit of peace."

Former Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said that the organizers were pleased that conference participants had backed a plan to summarize the conference results in a set of political recommendations ("Nuremberg Declaration on Peace and Justice"). This Declaration is meant to ensure that the conference will have a political impact beyond the day. Tuomioja said: "We thank the President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, for having accepted to supervise an international team of experts in producing a first draft. We hope to present the draft, after broad consultations, by the first half of 2008."

The conference organizers gratefully acknowledged the funding received from the Robert-Bosch-Stiftung and the Draeger Foundation. They thanked their partner organizations: the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (Johannesburg), swisspeace, the Working Group Peace and Development (Bonn) and the University of Göttingen. They also thank the distinguished guests at the conference, including Martti Ahtisaari, Afghani Foreign Minister Spanta, Liberian Minister of Justice Johnson and ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo, as well as the many grassroots participants from current or former conflict regions all around the world. All of them have greatly contributed to the high standards, the realism and the authenticity of the conference.

Nuremberg, 27 June 2007

To read the speech delivered at Nuremberg by the ICTJ's President, Juan Mendez, click here.