Zack Waldeck
Mr. Maxwell
CLN4U
14 January 2016
Is justice truly served? One of the most well-known Greek philosophers, Plato had figured there were four virtues: courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice. As a society, we believe that justice is in place to preserve our beliefs, and to protect us from destruction. But is justice truly served in our world? Well, justice is difficult to define, as many societies have different points of view on justice. We’re going to take a look at three well-known genocides in our history: The Rwandan, Bosnian, and German genocide; and the trials that “served justice”. The genocide in Rwanda was truly a horrific experience for the citizens whom lived there, as well as the rest of the world who were praying
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Bringing the suspects to court was more difficult than intended, as many of the lawyers, judges and prosecutors were killed during the genocide. Many of the defendants were convicted without even having a chance to acquire a lawyer, as either their lawyer was killed or a lawyer would simply refuse to defend the client since they were afraid the public would fight back at them. At this point, many courts called “Gacaca” courts were put into play in 2005 as they processed almost two million cases until their closure in 2012. Although these courts were pumping out cases daily, they simply weren’t doing a great job investigating the cases which led to many unfair trials. Rwanda had a lack of safeguards which resulted in a high risk of unfair trials, as their judicial system was extremely weak at the time. An organization called “Lawyers without Borders” came into play to help genocide suspects, but the need for lawyers in Rwanda far outweighed what the organization could supply, which caused a slow process for each trial. Many of the participants in the courts either lied or remained silent which prolonged the process even further. In 1994, the ICTR
Agatha Christie, author of the murder mystery And Then There Were None, used foreshadowing and both external and internal conflict to portray the theme of her novel that justice can be served for the crimes that go unpunished. Christie used these elements because she enjoyed mystery and she liked to keep her readers engaged while reading. Agatha Christie is still considered one of the best, if not, the best murder mystery writer today because she wrote the first murder mystery novel and she wrote many more after that that was well loved by people.
6 million exterminated. That number rolls off of our tongues as we sit and learn history in the 6th grade, or we write a paper on WW1. How about 800,000 murdered in 100 days, while Americans attempted to keep our troops of the conflict yet watched the bloody images daily on CNN. Genocide in our world is something that is impossible to justify or embrace, but we must attempt to understand it. It is only through this understanding will we be able to prevent or stop one of the most horrific acts man can do in the future. Genocide, in both the Holocaust and in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, is grounded in self-reification and the external reification of others. This then, when put into certain contexts, can manifest itself in a
In 1994, genocide unfolded in Rwanda claiming the lives of more than 700,000 Tutsi massacred at the hands of Hutu extremist, while the entire world stood by and watched. Some would argue this event was a result of civil unrest between the Tutsi and Hutu stemming from ancient
Section three of Chapter Eight titled Doing Justice begins with the following sentence “It should be obvious that laws and trials mean something.” The role that legislated laws play in maintaining the stability and integrity of our society is something that many individuals assume to be determined by unbiased social convention. Throughout Section three the perceived significance of the law is critically examined. Additionally, the section analyzes the effectiveness of implemented legislation in the dispensation of justice to all American citizens.
A controversial question that seems to arise frequently, is if justice can ever truly be achieved after a genocide. Genocide, or the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group, seems to be a reoccurring issue in history. Justice can be obtained even after a devastating event such as a genocide, nonetheless, it isn't the easiest thing to achieve.
When most people think of Rwanda today, the first thing that comes to mind is the 1994
Our goal for the final project is to deliver useful information to the Key Bridge Foundation that could help improve the amount of donations they receive. We must interview the KBF to see if they support the idea of creating an informational video to place on their website. We want to create the blueprints for the video by gathering information from our target audience. Our audience of interest includes students of the University of Maryland. We want to gather information about the general factors which contribute to their donating habits. Also, we aim to learn how familiar the students are with restorative justice because one is unlikely to donate towards something they have no knowledge of. The student population we are surveying have access to the internet and could receive information regarding the Key Bridge Foundation from the organization’s website. We believe an informational video about restorative justice and the KBF should be made to intrigue webpage
Achieving justice in American society today is complicated. Society as a whole is indifferent on what justice is defined by. The United States government creates laws and punishments for breaking those laws. The foundation of all laws in America is the constitution. Judges and/or panels determine the consequences of breaking those laws that are protected and enforced by lawyers and lawmen. The challenge here is to truly determine what is to be considered justice for the state of the society “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” (Jefferson, 1776), and not that for a lone individual or a specific group. To bend rules or the law in a way to make a few happy is truly that of injustice.
George Santayana once said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The Rwanda Genocide is a contemporary representation of the events that occurred during the Armenian Genocide. It is an unforgiving circumstance that even after massacres from the latter and the Holocaust that Genocides still emerge in a world who far too often shuts their door to the idea of intervention. Countries can have an abundance of supplies, unmatchable man-power, and exceptional military equipment, however, with interests in absentia, countries will be reluctant to deploy forces despite exclamations of help. The culmination of the Rwanda Genocide is absolutely an unforgiving portion of history that will be remembered by the victims, the witnesses, and the decision-makers.
I think that restorative justice programs are a great way to have offenders take responsibility for what they have done and their actions in the future. I feel that it truly helps the victim and the offender heal. Alternative sentencing is also a great way to deal with offenders because it may help them before they go into the prison system. If I were a victim I know I would be hesitant to meet with my offender but I now know that ultimately, it will help me and the offender. I would try to sit face-to-face with them. The benefits would be to get some degree of closure and to help the victims overcome all the fears the offender gave them. Some risks may be losing control or being overcome with anger when they see the offender. Overall I believe
In the Article, the Justice on a hill George Packer criticized Rwanda’s method of reconciliation after the Genocide. Gacaca is Rwanda’s way of pursuing justice and the countries attempt to move on from the Genocide. Rwanda’s way of conveying justice may or may not be affective depending on the individual. Gacaca un like a traditional court room allowed the public to be both present and contribute to the dependents prosecution. Gacaca contains “260,00 people of integrity” pg 61. Packer questions Gacaca, stating that is a paradox because survivors of the genocide would be the one to judge. Despite Packer’s opinion about Gacaca most of the people of Rwanda support it.
While most people know of the holocaust, they don’t know of any other acts of genocide. However, in 1994, in Rwanda, Africa,”Nearly one-million people were killed in just 100 days” (White,40). In 1915 more than one million Armenian Civilians were killed in the Ottoman Empire” (Tusan,13). These instances, which most Americans have never even heard of, resulted in the death of over 2 million people.
The term justice is used in some of America's most treasured and valued documents, from the Pledge of Allegiance, to the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. Everyone wants to be treated justly whether it's in the courtroom or the local bar. Most people would feel confident giving a definition for justice, but would it be a definition we could universally agree to? Given that justice is a very common term, and something we all want, it's important to have a precise definition. For hundreds of years philosophers have argued, debated, and fought over this topic. Justice can clearly be defined as the intention to conform to truth and fairness. This is true justice.
Over the decades, the concept of justice has been continually evolving. This is occurring based upon different moral or legal interpretations. Evidence of this can be seen with observations from Burke (2011) who said, "Few things are of more importance to a society than its concept of justice. This is because it is justice that provides criterion for the legitimate use of force. In the name of justice people are detained, arrested, handcuffed, put on trial and punished. This concept is used to provide every society with some kind of social order. Over the last 200 years, a revolution has taken place with these principles. Our idea of it is what we employ, when dealing with ordinary individuals in daily life including: making agreements, paying bills, resolving disputes and putting criminals in jail. This is a concept that is as old as recorded history and it is familiar to people everywhere. What makes it so unique is that these ideas are constantly changing which focuses on society as a whole and how people are interacting with each other. " (Burke)
Communitarian critics of Rawls have argued that his A Theory of Justice provides an inadequate account of individuals in the original position. Michael Sandel, in Liberalism and the Limits of Justice argues that Rawls' conception of the person divorces any constitutive attachments that persons might have to their ends. Hence, Sandel asserts that Rawls privileges the standpoint of self-interested individuals at the expense of communal interests. I do not find Sandel's specific criticisms to be an accurate critique of what Rawls is doing in A Theory of Justice. However, this does not mean the more general thrust of the communitarian analysis of Rawls' conception of the person must be abandoned. By picking up the pieces