Books by Friederike Mieth
This publication describes the practical implementation of the German compensation program for Na... more This publication describes the practical implementation of the German compensation program for Nazi-era forced labor. The program was the result of international negotiations between German companies, the governments of the US, Germany, and Central and Eastern European countries, and victims’ representatives. It was set up in the year 2000 with a 5.2 billion Euro fund and administered by the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” and seven partner organizations. The program distributed individual compensation payments to 1.66 million beneficiaries in 89 countries.
Written by authors who were directly involved in the implementation of the program, the publication provides an insider’s perspective of the compensation program for forced labor. It examines in detail the different stages of the program, such as deciding on eligibility criteria, setting up organizational structures, outreach, processing and verifying claims, establishing audit and controls processes, as well as the necessary steps to complete such a massive program. By illustrating why and how decisions were taken and how these affected later phases of the program, the authors hope to provide insights, knowledge, and inspiration for those involved in setting up or implementing reparations programs in the future.
Finally, the publication describes the current work of the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future,” illustrating a unique way of combining compensation for past injustice with continuing work for the future.
by Susanne Buckley-Zistel, Friederike Mieth, Marjana Papa, Dafina Buçaj, Godfrey M Musila, Ana Ljubojevic, Valentyna Polunina, Kimsan Soy, Alexandra Engelsdorfer, Gjylbehare Bella Murati, Timothy Williams, and Jan Koehler Full publication http://www.nurembergacademy.org/resources/acceptance-online-platform/publication... more Full publication http://www.nurembergacademy.org/resources/acceptance-online-platform/publications/online-edited-volume/
This edited volume is the result of first interdisciplinary research project which took from 2015-2017 at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy aiming at developing a comprehensive research tool for assessing acceptance in different situation countries. It contributes and sheds light on understanding ‘how international criminal justice is accepted by relevant actors in situation countries?’ and provides consolidated findings to practitioners and academics.
The project reflects one of the main goals of the Nuremberg Academy, namely to contribute to the promotion of the legitimacy, lawfulness and acceptance of international criminal justice. It also reflects the Academy’s concept of interdisciplinary research, understood as an opening up the collaboration with universities and research institutions in countries with critical situations and to engage with professionals and practitioners in the field of peace and justice research. For that reason, at the core of the project lies a fellowship program for young academics from situation countries.
The project started with a preparatory phase in 2015, during which the project team conducted literature research and developed a methodology for studying ‘acceptance’. Experts from Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya and Lebanon were consulted in writing reports on the acceptance of international criminal justice in their respective countries. This was in addition to fieldwork contributions from young scholars from Cambodia, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, DR Congo, Kenya, Kosovo, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Serbia, Uganda and Ukraine.
The acceptance online platform is a repository of educational and research tools, openly published and addressed to a wide audience of academics and practitioners interested in understanding, researching and influencing the acceptance of international criminal justice at regional, national or international level.
This platform is a hub designed by the acceptance team to share the outcomes but also the lessons learned through the different stages of the project. Since its inception in early 2015, the acceptance team tried to bring on board a diversity of views, backgrounds, interests and experiences amongst the team, fellows, contributing experts and the audience.
Transitional Justice Theories is the first volume to approach the politically sensitive subject o... more Transitional Justice Theories is the first volume to approach the politically sensitive subject of post-conflict or post-authoritarian justice from a theoretical perspective. It combines contributions from distinguished scholars and practitioners as well as from emerging academics from different disciplines and provides an overview of conceptual approaches to the field. The volume seeks to refine our understanding of transitional justice by exploring often unarticulated assumptions that guide discourse and practice. To this end, it offers a wide selection of approaches from various theoretical traditions ranging from normative theory to critical theory. In their individual chapters, the authors explore the concept of transitional justice itself and its foundations, such as reconciliation, memory, and truth, as well as intersections, such as reparations, peace building, and norm compliance.
Papers by Friederike Mieth
Swisspeace Working Paper, 2018
This paper explores the linkages between transitional justice and social transformation by drawin... more This paper explores the linkages between transitional justice and social transformation by drawing on the analysis of two case studies, Sierra Leone and South Africa. The paper is structured in two parts. The first part traces the links between historical injustice, the transitional justice process, and current challenges in the two countries. In the second part, I suggest two ways in which transitional justice can contribute to social transformation. On the one hand, I argue for a future-oriented practice of transitional justice in the sense that more attention should be paid to defining context-specific goals and being more flexible in the choice of methods to reach these goals. On the other hand, I examine the role of two aspects—sincerity and inspiration—in enhancing the transformative potential of transitional justice mechanisms. The research is based on field visits to Sierra Leone and South Africa in 2016 and 2017 and draws mainly on interviews with civil society actors.
This literature review explores a range of aspects that are related to the study of the acceptanc... more This literature review explores a range of aspects that are related to the study of the acceptance of international criminal justice, in order to provide an overview of the existing literature and encourage further research in this area. It first elaborates on four aspects of the concept of acceptance of international criminal justice - who accepts, what is accepted, when acceptance occurs, and what acceptance entails - in order to explore the complexity of the subject. Then, it reviews the main debates in transitional justice and international criminal justice discourses that touch on the issue of acceptance, focusing on four areas of debate.
First, it looks at fundamental critiques of international criminal justice, such as different understandings of ‘justice’ in various socio-cultural contexts and the question whether affected populations prefer alternative mechanisms to criminal justice, such as amnesties or truth commissions.
Second, it investigates the range of reactions to the performance of international courts and tribunals. Particularly when courts appear to only address selective aspects of crimes, such as crimes committed during a particular time span, a limited number of perpetrators are indicted, or when perpetrators are charged with selected crimes only, then international courts may be criticized.
Third, the paper discusses the role of politics and politicization in mediating the acceptance of international criminal justice.
Fourth, meaningful communication, including outreach also relates to increased acceptance of international courts. Finally, the review discusses the dynamics of acceptance and calls for a more long-term and multi-method research on acceptance.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up in 2002 to try those who bear the greatest responsi... more The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up in 2002 to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities perpetrated during decade-long civil war in the country. This would, according to Court officials and observers, bring justice to the victims of the war and contribute to peace. Based on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork in Sierra Leone between 2010 and 2012, this article challenges those assumptions by exploring the viewpoint of ordinary Sierra Leoneans. The impact of the Special Court on the lives of ordinary people is rather small, first and foremost because they have a different understanding of what justice constitutes and who is able to provide it. This resulted in low expectations of the Court from the beginning. Moreover, the relevance of transitional justice fades in the context of daily challenges and remaining injustices. While the Special Court is viewed more positively as contributing to the peace, transitional justice institutions should engage more critically with the local context they operate in.
When conducting research on how Sierra Leoneans dealt with the past of a civil war in their every... more When conducting research on how Sierra Leoneans dealt with the past of a civil war in their everyday lives, I often observed that my informants felt that talking about the war was no longer necessary, especially in public situations. Moreover, many told me that it was better to ‘forget’ and move on. Speaking about such attitudes at conferences or workshops in Europe, I often received sceptical comments, suggesting that Sierra Leoneans seem ‘not yet ready’ to deal with their violent past and that this could not be healthy in the long term. Inspired by these reactions, I ask whether ‘not talking’ about experiences of violence is unhealthy. To answer this question, I draw on psychological studies on resilience that examine the factors that help individuals cope successfully with adversity. I find that the role of ‘talking’ may be of lesser relevance for the well-being of those who have experienced mass violence. Rather, various individual, social, and cultural factors contribute to resilience. The reflections in this article are intended to encourage further research on the different ways in which people cope with adversity.
As part of an interdisciplinary research project, the International Nuremberg Principles Academy ... more As part of an interdisciplinary research project, the International Nuremberg Principles Academy has developed a methodology to critically assess the multiple dimensions of acceptance of international criminal justice in different situation countries. After a mapping of relevant literature on recent and current situation countries, the project has devised a research design for the analysis of pertinent levels and factors that can have an effect on actors’ acceptance (and non-acceptance) of institutions, mechanisms and outcomes of international criminal justice processes. The methodological approach described may be a useful guide for similar research projects.
The Routledge Handbook of International Crime and Justice Studies, 2013
Since the end of the civil war in 2002, Sierra Leoneans have experienced a relatively stable peac... more Since the end of the civil war in 2002, Sierra Leoneans have experienced a relatively stable peace and it can be considered common knowledge that civilians and former combatants are living in coexistence. During my fieldwork in the country I was however surprised just how positively some people spoke about the post-conflict situation. We have long forgotten about the war, some told me; others said they were asked to ‘forgive and forget’ and claimed they already did so. On the other hand, I met individuals who struggled with negative feelings towards former combatants but still argued that coexistence was without alternatives. In addition, while I noticed how former combatants had integrated successfully into several locations, the label ‘ex-combatant’ still had a particularly negative connotation. Intrigued by these ambiguities I explore in this article the different aspects of coexistence in Sierra Leone more in detail. Based on ethnographic data collected during eight months of fieldwork, the article describes three practices of coexistence in rural and urban locations. The focus on coexistence, unlike more normative terms like reconciliation and reintegration commonly used in the literature about post-conflict contexts, invites to reflect about these practices, rather than evaluate the different arrangements of living together.
The apparent decline of East African pastoralism has been of interest to a large number of schola... more The apparent decline of East African pastoralism has been of interest to a large number of scholars and researchers from various disciplines. A phenomenon that has been discussed extensively during the past ten to fifteen years is the impact of automatic weapons on the livelihoods of pastoralists. The militarization of these societies has, so it is argued, contributed to an escalation of violence in the entire region, to power shifts within the societies in favour of young men, and to the commercialisation of cattle raiding. But while there exists a great amount of literature on such recent changes of these societies, there is little information available about how the pastoralists think about this themselves. This chapter presents such local views and explanations, for the case of the Pokot agri-pastoralists of Northwestern Kenya, it scrutinises local perceptions of and attitudes towards external interventions of states and NGOs. It will be demonstrated that local perceptions differ significantly from those of outside actors, which is mainly rooted in a different understanding of violence and conflict. The findings presented here will not only contribute to a greater understanding of the situation the pastoralists see themselves in, but they also help to explain why external interventionsand especially peace building activitieshave so little success. The empirical data used in this chapter has been collected during a fieldwork period of three months, which I have spent in a small Pokot community in the border region of Kenya and Uganda in early 2006. 9 Kakariakech is not a specific generation name; it means 'younger generation'.
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Books by Friederike Mieth
Written by authors who were directly involved in the implementation of the program, the publication provides an insider’s perspective of the compensation program for forced labor. It examines in detail the different stages of the program, such as deciding on eligibility criteria, setting up organizational structures, outreach, processing and verifying claims, establishing audit and controls processes, as well as the necessary steps to complete such a massive program. By illustrating why and how decisions were taken and how these affected later phases of the program, the authors hope to provide insights, knowledge, and inspiration for those involved in setting up or implementing reparations programs in the future.
Finally, the publication describes the current work of the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future,” illustrating a unique way of combining compensation for past injustice with continuing work for the future.
This edited volume is the result of first interdisciplinary research project which took from 2015-2017 at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy aiming at developing a comprehensive research tool for assessing acceptance in different situation countries. It contributes and sheds light on understanding ‘how international criminal justice is accepted by relevant actors in situation countries?’ and provides consolidated findings to practitioners and academics.
The project reflects one of the main goals of the Nuremberg Academy, namely to contribute to the promotion of the legitimacy, lawfulness and acceptance of international criminal justice. It also reflects the Academy’s concept of interdisciplinary research, understood as an opening up the collaboration with universities and research institutions in countries with critical situations and to engage with professionals and practitioners in the field of peace and justice research. For that reason, at the core of the project lies a fellowship program for young academics from situation countries.
The project started with a preparatory phase in 2015, during which the project team conducted literature research and developed a methodology for studying ‘acceptance’. Experts from Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya and Lebanon were consulted in writing reports on the acceptance of international criminal justice in their respective countries. This was in addition to fieldwork contributions from young scholars from Cambodia, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, DR Congo, Kenya, Kosovo, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Serbia, Uganda and Ukraine.
The acceptance online platform is a repository of educational and research tools, openly published and addressed to a wide audience of academics and practitioners interested in understanding, researching and influencing the acceptance of international criminal justice at regional, national or international level.
This platform is a hub designed by the acceptance team to share the outcomes but also the lessons learned through the different stages of the project. Since its inception in early 2015, the acceptance team tried to bring on board a diversity of views, backgrounds, interests and experiences amongst the team, fellows, contributing experts and the audience.
Papers by Friederike Mieth
First, it looks at fundamental critiques of international criminal justice, such as different understandings of ‘justice’ in various socio-cultural contexts and the question whether affected populations prefer alternative mechanisms to criminal justice, such as amnesties or truth commissions.
Second, it investigates the range of reactions to the performance of international courts and tribunals. Particularly when courts appear to only address selective aspects of crimes, such as crimes committed during a particular time span, a limited number of perpetrators are indicted, or when perpetrators are charged with selected crimes only, then international courts may be criticized.
Third, the paper discusses the role of politics and politicization in mediating the acceptance of international criminal justice.
Fourth, meaningful communication, including outreach also relates to increased acceptance of international courts. Finally, the review discusses the dynamics of acceptance and calls for a more long-term and multi-method research on acceptance.
Written by authors who were directly involved in the implementation of the program, the publication provides an insider’s perspective of the compensation program for forced labor. It examines in detail the different stages of the program, such as deciding on eligibility criteria, setting up organizational structures, outreach, processing and verifying claims, establishing audit and controls processes, as well as the necessary steps to complete such a massive program. By illustrating why and how decisions were taken and how these affected later phases of the program, the authors hope to provide insights, knowledge, and inspiration for those involved in setting up or implementing reparations programs in the future.
Finally, the publication describes the current work of the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future,” illustrating a unique way of combining compensation for past injustice with continuing work for the future.
This edited volume is the result of first interdisciplinary research project which took from 2015-2017 at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy aiming at developing a comprehensive research tool for assessing acceptance in different situation countries. It contributes and sheds light on understanding ‘how international criminal justice is accepted by relevant actors in situation countries?’ and provides consolidated findings to practitioners and academics.
The project reflects one of the main goals of the Nuremberg Academy, namely to contribute to the promotion of the legitimacy, lawfulness and acceptance of international criminal justice. It also reflects the Academy’s concept of interdisciplinary research, understood as an opening up the collaboration with universities and research institutions in countries with critical situations and to engage with professionals and practitioners in the field of peace and justice research. For that reason, at the core of the project lies a fellowship program for young academics from situation countries.
The project started with a preparatory phase in 2015, during which the project team conducted literature research and developed a methodology for studying ‘acceptance’. Experts from Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya and Lebanon were consulted in writing reports on the acceptance of international criminal justice in their respective countries. This was in addition to fieldwork contributions from young scholars from Cambodia, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, DR Congo, Kenya, Kosovo, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, Serbia, Uganda and Ukraine.
The acceptance online platform is a repository of educational and research tools, openly published and addressed to a wide audience of academics and practitioners interested in understanding, researching and influencing the acceptance of international criminal justice at regional, national or international level.
This platform is a hub designed by the acceptance team to share the outcomes but also the lessons learned through the different stages of the project. Since its inception in early 2015, the acceptance team tried to bring on board a diversity of views, backgrounds, interests and experiences amongst the team, fellows, contributing experts and the audience.
First, it looks at fundamental critiques of international criminal justice, such as different understandings of ‘justice’ in various socio-cultural contexts and the question whether affected populations prefer alternative mechanisms to criminal justice, such as amnesties or truth commissions.
Second, it investigates the range of reactions to the performance of international courts and tribunals. Particularly when courts appear to only address selective aspects of crimes, such as crimes committed during a particular time span, a limited number of perpetrators are indicted, or when perpetrators are charged with selected crimes only, then international courts may be criticized.
Third, the paper discusses the role of politics and politicization in mediating the acceptance of international criminal justice.
Fourth, meaningful communication, including outreach also relates to increased acceptance of international courts. Finally, the review discusses the dynamics of acceptance and calls for a more long-term and multi-method research on acceptance.