AIM

Societies that have gone through genocide and war face considerable challenges related to justice, memorialization and reconciliation. This project has drawn attention to and analyzed the fact that such processes - of transitional justice (TJ) - also take place outside of the country where the mass-atrocities occurred. Victims, perpetrators and activists have, through migration, been spread around the globe. This means that the concerns and contestations that arise in TJ processes also play out in the diaspora. Earlier research has showed how migrants can influence the developments in their former home countries. However, less has been known about the role of diasporas in seeking justice, memorialization and reconciliation after large-scale violence.

Hence, the aim of the project has been to study how individuals and groups in the diaspora engage with transitional justice processes in two cases: Rwanda and Sri Lanka. The project has focused on three research questions:
1) In what ways do diaspora actors initiate and participate in transitional justice processes?
2) To what extent and how do diaspora actors influence the outcomes and processes of transitional justice?
3) How does engagement in transitional justice shape diaspora identities?

IMPLEMENTATION

These three research questions have guided the project throughout its duration and the work has largely been carried out as initially planned. Methodologically, the project did not single out specific countries in which the research would be conducted, but took a global perspective, identifying key initiatives and persons to study. In total, 56 in-depth interviews were carried out with persons involved in diaspora transitional justice initiatives relating to Rwanda and Sri Lanka. These were leading figures in diaspora organizations and opposition parties, representatives of homeland governments, organizers of commemorations and persons involved in advocacy, documentation of atrocities or legal actions against perpetrators. The interviews took place in Belgium, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, 2015-2018. During the same period, the researcher also carried out observations of commemoration events, demonstrations, meetings with diaspora organizations and court proceedings. This facilitated a deeper understanding of TJ practices, discourses of the past and meaning making in relation to TJ. The project also studied news and social media, to identify respondents, gain background information and complement the data from the fieldwork.

RESULTS

1) The project has showed how migration has opened up new arenas for transitional justice. In some cases, the diaspora engagement in TJ extends and strengthens the official discourses and policies of the homeland government. This was clearly visible in how the Rwandan state mobilized its diaspora to commemorate the genocide and fight against genocide denial globally. Being away from the violence-affected homeland, however, also gives the diaspora more opportunities to challenge the dominant approach to the past. Tamils in the diaspora, for instance, commemorate Tamil victims of the war, while the rights to memorialization has been severely limited in Sri Lanka. Oppositional Rwandans in the diaspora organize commemorative events that move the focus to other victims and perpetrators than those officially recognized. At the same time, it is evident that the prevailing global and national power structures circumscribe the diaspora attempts to influence TJ processes. Diaspora challengers can be a thorn in the side of homeland governments, but do not succeed in reversing the whole TJ project. With support by international actors and the Rwandan state, genocide perpetrators in the diaspora have, for instance, successfully been brought to justice. Attempts by government critics in the diaspora to use European or North American courts to hold other perpetrators in Rwanda and Sri Lanka accountable have not succeeded, but remain of symbolic importance.

2) Transitional justice as a globally dominant discourse and set of mechanisms gives diasporas legitimacy and power to mobilize and pursue their political struggles. With TJ, new opportunity structures open up in the form of political and legal arenas for the diaspora to act on, and a language which can justify and draw attention to diaspora claims. Diaspora leaders can make use of traumas of the past for political interests in the present, and to mobilize supporters for whom dealing with the homeland’s violent history has both personal and political meaning.

3) Transitional justice initiatives contribute to identity formation in the diaspora by drawing attention to, reformulating or silencing traumatic events in the past which have a central meaning to people’s sense of belonging. The categorization into victim and perpetrator that is maintained or challenged through legal proceedings, truth-seeking or memorialization is central to the process of identity construction. The victim-perpetrator dichotomy is closely linked to ideas about good and evil and thus central to the way diaspora actors perceive of themselves and their struggle. This is also evident in the pivotal role the concept of genocide has for the mobilization of diasporas, both in the Rwandan case where genocide against the Tutsi is widely recognized and in the Sri Lankan where Tamils struggle for genocide recognition. The project also noted how memorialization is linked to diaspora home making in their new societies, through the establishment of physical spaces and monuments for remembrance. Conflicts around a Brussels monument to victims of genocide in Rwanda and the endeavors in the United Kingdoms to establish a memorial park to honor Tamils killed in Sri Lanka speak to this. Finally, the project noted that young people in the diaspora has a special position and responsibility when it comes to memory, justice and the transfer of diasporic identity across generations. Embedded in the new country but with inherited memories of a violent “homeland”, young activists have been instrumental in memorialization and advocacy work, and is looked at as both a potential resource and threat by established diaspora organizations and homeland states.

NEW RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Insights from the project regarding how certain traumatic events in the past are elevated and become part of national identity through TJ processes, while others are silenced have spurred new research interests. Orjuela (and colleagues) will (with funding from Swedish Research Council 2019-2022) study how famines can be understood as mass-atrocities on par with genocide and war, and how those responsible are held accountable and victims commemorated – or not. The study will look at historical cases of famine in Europe, Asia and Africa, but also analyze current attempts to use a transitional justice framework to address justice and memory after famines.

New research questions have also been generated based on the findings about the position of the young generation in the diaspora. Orjuela plans a new project focusing specifically on this group and their relation to repressive “homeland” states. The project will make use of new research about transnational repression and theories of “postmemory”, and also further develop the multi-sited approach to data collection used in the current project.

INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS

The study is per definition international, with field work in several countries. Interviews and observations were carried out in Belgium (2016, 2017), Canada (2016), Denmark (2015), Sweden (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), Switzerland (2017), the United Kingdom (2015, 2016) and the United States (2016). Visits to Rwanda (2015) and Sri Lanka (2016, 2018) (not financed by RJ) has enabled a deeper contextual understanding of the cases, as well as networking and informal presentations of the project to scholars and practitioners there.
International contacts have also been maintained through participation in a seminar at London School of Economics (2015), work meetings at University of Leuven (2015), as well as on conferences and workshops at Warwick University (2015, 2017), School of Oriental and African Studies, London (2016) and International Studies Association (2018). Participation in conferences in Sweden has also contributed to international networking.

The research results have mainly been published (or is on its way to be published) in recognized international peer-reviewed journals and books at international publishing houses.

DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS

Dissemination of results have mainly targeted an academic audience, but also the public and diaspora activists. The choice of journals and conferences has been made to reach scholars within different fields. Diaspora researchers were considered a particularly important target group. A close cooperation with an ERC financed project led by Maria Koinova at Warwick University has been fruitful in this regard, with several conferences and a special issue in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies where Orjuela participated. In 2016, Orjuela was invited as the keynote speaker at a workshop at School of Oriental and African Studies, London, bringing together diaspora and transitional justice researchers. Research results have also been presented at conferences for development research (Göteborg 2017, 2018), peace and conflict research (Malmö 2016, Lund 2018), at an international workshop on genocide memorialization (Göteborg 2017), at conferences focusing on migration (Stockholm 2015, Colombo 2018, Göteborg 2019), and at the International Studies Association (San Francisco 2018). Orjuela has also presented research results to diaspora activists in connection with two large Tamil diaspora conferences (New Jersey 2016, Ottawa 2018). Popular science presentations have been held in Warwick (2015), Göteborg (2016) and Lund (2016). Findings from the research have also been used in teaching at University of Gothenburg at BA, masters and PhD level (2015-2019).