Individuals, families and communities in Northern Sri Lanka have undergone three decades of war trauma, multiple displacements, and loss of family, kin, friends, homes, employment and other valued resources. The objective of the study was understanding common psychosocial problems faced by families and communities, and the associated risk and protective factors, so that practical and effective community based interventions can be recommended to rebuild strengths, adaptation, coping strategies and resilience. This qualitative, ecological study is a psychosocial ethnography in post-war Northern Sri Lanka obtained through participant observation; case studies; key- informant interviews; and focus groups discussions with mental health and psychosocial community workers as well as literature survey of media and organizational reports. Qualitative analysis of the data used ethnography, case studies, phenomenology, grounded theory, hermeneutics and symbolic interactionism techniques. Quantitative data on suicide was collected for Jaffna and Killinochchi districts. Complex mental health and psychosocial problems at the individual, family and community levels in a post-war context were found to impair recovery. These included unresolved grief; individual and collective trauma; insecurity, self-harm and suicides; poverty and unemployment; teenage and unwanted pregnancies; alcoholism; child abuse and neglect; gender based violence and vulnerability including domestic violence, widows and female headed-household, family conflict and separation; physical injuries and handicap; problems specific for children and elderly; abuse and/or neglect of elderly and disabled; anti-social and socially irresponsible behaviour; distrust, hopelessness, and powerlessness. Protective factors included families; female leadership and engagement; cultural and traditional beliefs, practices and rituals; and creative potential in narratives, drama and other arts. Risk factors that were impeding community rehabilitation and recovery included continuing military governance, depletion of social capital particularly lack of trust, hope and socio-economic opportunity structures for development that would engender a sense of collective efficacy. In view of the widespread trauma at the individual, family and collective levels, community based programmes to increase local awareness, knowledge and skills to deal with common mental health and psychosocial issues; and training of community level workers and others in basic mental health and psychosocial problem solving are recommended to rebuild family and community agency and resilience. The use of cultural practices and school based programmes would rekindle community processes.

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Rebuilding community resilience in a post-war context: developing insight and recommendations - a qualitative study in Northern Sri Lanka

International criminal law has witnessed a rapid rise after the end of the Cold War. The United Nations refers to the birth of a new 'age of accountability', but certain historical objections, such as selectivity or victor's justice, have never fully gone away, and many of the justice dimensions of international criminal law remain unexplored. Various critiques have emerged in socio-legal scholarship or globalization discourse, revealing that there is a stark discrepancy between reality and expectation. Linking discussion of legal theories, case-law and practice to scholarship and opinion, A Critical Introduction to International Criminal Law explores these critiques through five main themes at the heart of contemporary dilemmas:The shifting contours of criminality and international crimesThe tension between individual and collective responsibilityThe challenges of domestic, international, hybrid and regional justice institutionsThe foundations of justice proceduresApproaches towards punishment and reparationSuitable for students, academics and professionals from multiple fields wishing to understand contemporary theories, practices and critiques of international criminal law. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

A Critical Introduction to International Criminal Law

Complex situations following war and natural disasters have a psychosocial impact not only on the individual, but also their family, community and the larger society. Fundamental changes in the functioning of the family and community can be observed as a result of these impacts. At the family level, the dynamics of single parent families, lack of trust amongmembers, changes in signi¢cant relationships and child rearing practices are seen. Communities tend to be more dependent, passive, silent, without leadership, mistrustful and suspicious. Additional adverse eiects include the breakdown of traditional structures, institutions and familiar ways of life, and deterioration in social norms, ethics and loss of social capital. Collective trauma canbe studied using sophisticated multilevel statistical analysis, with social capital as a marker. A variety of community level interventions have been tried, though a scienti¢cally robust evidence base for their eiectiveness has yet to be established.This article advocates that post disaster relief, rehabilitation and development programmes need to address the problem of collective trauma, particularly using integrated holistic approaches.

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Addressing collective trauma: conceptualisations and interventions

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The Limits of Liberal Peacebuilding and Pitfalls of Local Involvement: Cambodia, Kosovo, and Timor-Leste in retrospect

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was created by an agreement between the Cambodian government and the United Nations with a mandate to put Khmer Rouge leaders on trial for crimes committed during their 1970s regime. Judicial responses, such as the ECCC, to periods of mass violence have been termed transitional justice since the 1990s. Although the definitions of transitional justice are very broad, the explanations and analyses offered by the literature contain implicit assumptions that transitional justice is being implemented as part of a transition towards liberal democracy. In this thesis I use the case of Cambodia to challenge these assumptions and propose a new category of illiberal transitional justice. Before the creation of the ECCC began, the Cambodian government had spent nearly two decades shaping the narrative of the Khmer Rouge period to suit its political interests. When the United Nations became involved in discussions for a Khmer Rouge tribunal the government was concerned to protect itself and this narrative. The negotiations took place over six years where both sides competed for control over the mechanism. This competition for control was then transferred to the national and international sides of the court once the ECCC became operational. Although all actors involved in the ECCC frequently invoked the language of procedure, in practice procedures were easily dismissed if they were inconvenient. Given this discussion of the ECCC’s establishment and operation, I consider the court in light of the expectations of the transitional justice literature. The ECCC was not adhering to the assumed outcomes regarding ending impunity, building the rule of law, or strengthening democracy, and instead these changes were being actively impeded by the Cambodian government. Rather than pursuing these expected goals the Cambodian government was using the ECCC to enhance its international legitimacy and to strengthen its domestic political control. I argue that the ECCC should be considered an archetypal example of illiberal transitional justice. Cases of illiberal transitional justice sit on a spectrum between liberal transitional justice, which currently dominates the literature, and cases of transitional justice employed by repressive regimes, which are largely ignored in the literature. The ECCC, as a case of illiberal transitional justice, sits on the boundary between legitimacy

Illiberal Transitional Justice and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

Evans presents a clear and detailed overview of the rights of victims of armed conflict to receive reparation, and her book recommended to any reader who wishes to study this evolving area of law 

The Right to Reparation in International Law for Victims of Armed Conflict

This chapter considers how the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, known formally as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), has shaped victimhood in Cambodia. Firstly, it examines the failure of the ECCC to meet victims’ expectations, which led to victims mobilising and working together to publicly voice their protest. It shows that victims were far from a unified group on a number of issues. The non-judicial projects implemented by the Victims Support Section divided victims with differing opinions on appropriate memorialisation. Similarly, victims were also in disagreement on the types of acceptable reparations. With the ECCC unable to provide an adequate forum for the expression of victimhood, the second part of the chapter looks beyond the ECCC. It examines the stories of three different survivors and how they claimed their victimhood without participating as civil parties at the ECCC. It finally explores the work of NGOs and the problem of representing victimhood in the country and how local commemoration and grassroots projects by NGOs provide a community alternative for victims.

Uncooked Rice: Justice and Victimhood at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and Beyond

Victims of the Khmer Rouge play a unique role at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) since they have broad participatory rights. However, as the initial trial progressed, a number of changes were made to the framework of victim participation to deal with emerging problems. Although these amendments seemed to curtail some rights, they were also meant to strengthen victim participation and ensure a more efficient trial process. This led to the introduction of restorative justice measures, a lead co-lawyer system and a single submission for reparations. The reasons they were introduced and how they have been implemented so far in the first year of the second trial are the focus here. Subsequently, the impact of the lack of resources and attention given to victim support at the ECCC, from its inception, and the crucial contribution of civil society organizations in filling this gap and carrying out myriad activities at all stages of the participation process are examined. With the well...

Johanna Herman

Papers

The Right to Reparation in International Law for Victims of Armed Conflict

Uncooked Rice: Justice and Victimhood at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and Beyond

Realities of Victim Participation: The civil party system in practice at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)