BACKGROUND With contextual differences, yet similar human rights violations, this presentation analyzes the relationship between religion, spirituality, and transitional justice in both Canada and Uganda. Preliminary research from these two regions revealed an unanticipated influence of religion and spirituality in TJ efforts to address reconciliation and psycho-social needs. First, in Canada, physical abuse, sexual assault, death, assimilation (loss of culture), and displacement occurred with the forcible enrollment of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children in Indian Residential Schools that operated from 1874 - 1996. The Canadian government collaborated with the United, Anglican, Catholic, and Presbyterian Churches in the administration and policy creation within the schools. Currently, these human rights violations are being addressed through a nationwide application of a TJ framework; this stemmed from a 2006 class-action lawsuit against the government and churches. In Uganda, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel organization, fought the Ugandan military from 1986 - 2006. Rights violations were perpetrated by both the government military and the LRA, resulting in physical abuse (torture), sexual assault, death, loss of culture, abduction, and internal displacement of the civilian populations. 3 After the LRA fled the country in 2006, the interned population was released. In addition to Non-governmental organization (NGO) efforts, the government of Uganda has since implemented the Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) to aid in reconciliation. We argue that a more comprehensive representation of stakeholder opinions is required to avoid exclusion of communities, thus ensuring identification of sustainable resolutions to survivor concerns. Religion, Spirituality, and Transitional Justice: Findings from Canada and Uganda Jaymelee J. Kim, M.A. and Adrianne Kembel, B.A. The University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology Transitional justice (TJ) can be broadly defined as a temporary, judicial or non-judicial inquiry after a nation undergoes a change in political regime, often with the oppressed having gained political power(1). Goals include: establishment of an accurate historical record (truth-telling and statement- taking), alleviation of psycho-social issues, deterrence of future crimes, creation of democracy, and reintegration of perpetrators and survivors into society (reconciliation). Methodological tools that are used worldwide to address large-scale human rights abuses include the use of investigative truth and reconciliation commissions, grave excavation and repatriation, reparations, and commemoration 1 . In brief, transitional justice analyzes and critique the efficacy, appropriateness, universality, and functionality of TJ goals and mechanisms, as well as their role in justice achievement. PURPOSE: Needs of Survivors One of the purposes of the research conducted was to identify survivor needs and expectations; both an increasingly prioritized and necessary aspect of transitional justice implementation in post-conflict scenarios. 4 Research undertaken to improve upon TJ interventions and theory has demonstrated the importance of documenting the opinions, perceptions, and expectations of the different shareholders continually throughout the project. Ongoing dialogue with survivor populations ensures that survivor needs remain at the forefront of transitional efforts. 5,6 AN UNDER-REPRESENTED FINDING: RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA As applications of non-judicial TJ tools have dramatically increased in frequency around the world, 7,8 so has the debate surrounding the universality of justice, justice achievement, and reconciliation. 9 In the summers of 2011 and 2012, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork to identify and problematize the varying perspectives and expectations of stakeholders (Indigenous participants and non-participants, government officials, etc.) in the transitional justice process that has been established to address the Indian Residential School Era. As a secondary goal, I intended to illuminate context-specific adaptations of the Indigenous people to the reconciliation process. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Findings - Human remains from the residential schools needed to be repatriated to Indigenous communities so that proper burial rites could be undertaken - For effective cleansing ceremonies for survivors, some individual TJ facilitator positions have Indigenous spiritual requirements that are currently ignored - Indigenous Participants and Non-participants in the TJ process felt that Indigenous spirituality was largely ignored in the TJ process, yet exists as a prominent part of many Indigenous people’s lives. - Marginalization of Indigenous ceremony and spirituality is perceived as intentional NORTHERN UGANDA In northern Uganda the presence of improperly buried individuals and the existence of mass graves remain a lingering issue. This is particularly problematic for the psychosocial health of recovering communities who believe that the failure to conduct proper funeral rites will result in serious cultural consequences. 10 As such, research conducted in the summer of 2012 sought to A) explore if and how the presence of individual and mass graves are affecting community members and entire communities; B) identify what community members feel should be done to address the situation; and C) investigate the culturally-appropriate methods for how this could be achieved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Findings - Communities consistently voiced that the angry spirits, or cen, of the deceased who have yet to receive proper burials, were disturbing them. However, what people believe should be done about the situation and how this should be accomplished depends upon their personal experiences and belief system. Three primary religious/spiritual perspectives were identified: traditional practices, Catholicism, and Evangelical Christianity. - There is a need for both traditional and Christian cleansing/reintegration ceremonies for returnees. - Because of lack of resources, ceremonies necessary for community healing (i.e. reintegration, reconciling of families, cleansing), could not be completed or was delayed. - There are many individuals who practice both Indigenous, traditional ceremony and Christianity. These are not discrete factors, and facets of both traditional and Christian ceremonies are sometimes employed in conjunction with one another. - In contrast, there are also Christian survivors who are opposed to the use of traditional ceremonies (due to their religious doctrine). REFERENCES CITED 1. Hinton AL, editor. 2010. Transitional Justice: Global Mechanisms and Local Realities after Genocide and Mass Violence. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. 2. ICTJ (International Center for Transitional Justice). 2008. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 3. Branch, Adam (2010) Exploring the Roots of LRA Violence: Political Crisis and Ethnic Politics in Acholiland. In The Lord’s Resistance Army: Myth and Reality. Tim Allen and Koen Vlassenroot, eds. Pp. 25-44. New York: Zed Books. 4. Aronson, Jay D. (2011) The Strengths and Limitations of South Africa’s Search for Apartheid-Era Missing Persons. The International Journal of Transitional Justice 13:1–20. 5. Quinn JR. (2007) Social Reconstruction in Uganda: The Role of Customary Mechanisms in Transitional Justice. Human Rights Review: 389-407. 6. Doretti, Mercedes, and Jennifer Burrell (2007) Gray Spaces and Endless Negotiation: Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights. In Anthropology Put to Work. Les Field and Richard Fox, eds. Berg Publishers. 7. Hayner PB. 1994. Fifteen Truth Commissions-1974 to 1994: A Comparative Study. Human Rights Quarterly 16:597-655. 8. Hayner PB. 2001. Unspeakable Truths: Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth Commissions. New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. 9. Wilson RA. 2001. The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Legitimizing the Post-Apartheid State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10. Amone-P’Olak, Kennedy (2007) Coping with Life in Rebel Captivity and the Challenge of Reintegrating Formerly Abducted Boys in Northern Uganda. Journal of Refugee Studies 20(4): 241-261. CONCLUSION Our ethnographic research has shown that religion and spirituality play a significant role in the psychosocial healing and reconciliation process that is currently being addressed by TJ mechanisms. This finding supports a growing body of research that emphasizes the need for survivor-centered approaches to transitional justice implementation; only through communication with participants can needs, including the religious and spiritual nuances that are required for effective TJ processes, be appropriately included.