Can Lebanon have peace if they started a Truth and Reconciliation Committee like South Africa - Essay Example

The Maronite Christian and Muslim communities have fighting for equitable sectarian political power sharing among them. This paper discusses if there can be peace in Lebanon when a Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) is established just like in the case of South Africa. Truly, it is extremely difficult to distinguish victims from the offenders during a civil war. There have been many attempts to bring peace in the Lebanese community but these peace talks ignore the underlying causes of the conflict such as the political, social and confessional cleavages.

Arguably, reparative justice can effectively address the assumed disagreement between justice, peace and reconciliation. Reparative justice is built on various elements including, active participation of the offender and victim; exploration of the motives and main causes by the offender and victim; consideration of necessary outcomes for restitution by the offender, victim and the community at large; and reconciliation of the antagonistic groups among others. According to Quinn (11), power sharing and social transformation are very important in the reconciliation process.

Arguably, discovering the truth can be done by pardoning main actors thereby creating the feeling of injustice in the society. It can also be done behind the doors so as to avoid disclosure of the witnesses. Even though this process is not inclusive and can be criticized by many people, it is the key to a lasting reconciliation. Special tribunal for Lebanon was established for many reasons including trying those who were suspected of assassinating Lebanese Prime Minister, Hariri and many other people (Moriarty and Eva 147).

Notably, traditional tribunal systems would not be effective in Lebanon, as it would promote the existing cleavages instead of conquering them. The Lebanese officials ignored both justice and reconciliation and as a result, justice