Reconciling Peace with Justice in Syria

Is it possible to reconcile peace with justice in Syria? Should those responsible for atrocities be brought to justice or is amnesty/amnesia the better option?

A panel with Mokhtar Lamani, Sarwat Bashi, and Tanya Monforte; moderated by Payam Akhavan.

Mokhtar Lamani, International Diplomat & Former Joint Special Representative for Syria, UN League of Arab States, was the Head of the Office of the UN-League of Arab States Joint Special Representative for Syria in Damascus, September 2012- May 2014. Before his appointment in OJSRS-D, Mr. Lamani was the Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)-Canada. Previously, he served as Ambassador Special Representative of the Arab League in Iraq, appointed by the Arab Summit in 2006. On behalf of the Arab League, he worked to reconcile fractious parties and sectarian groups in Iraq while building peaceful relations between Iraq and neighboring countries. His distinguished career in international diplomacy includes a number of positions with the General Secretariat of the Arab League, including Deputy Permanent Observer to the UN, Officer in Charge of Iraq-Kuwait dispute, Coordinator of Secretariat Reform, and Coordinator of the Euro-Arab Dialogue and Afro-Arab Cooperation, Responsible of European relations.

Sarwat Bashi, O’Brien Fellow in Residence & Specialist in International Human Rights and Justice in the Middle East and Syria, is an international human rights and justice specialist with wide experience in the field of civil society. He worked at the International Rescue Committee in Turkey for more than two years as a Protection and Rule of Law Manager. In 2015, Mr. Bashi became a Fellow of the United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC) to research and provide advice on migration and integration issues. Prior to his UNAOC role, Mr. Bashi worked as a Research Consultant for Human Rights Watch, spending more than a year in the emergency division in northern Syria, investigating, documenting and exposing human rights violations in crisis situations on a rapid-response basis.

Tanya Monforte, O’Brien Graduate Fellow & Former Director of the International Human Rights M.A. Program, American University in Cairo, is the former director of the International Human Rights M.A. Program at the American University in Cairo, where she was also a professor of law and served on the steering committee of the Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies. She has been a visiting faculty at Brown University, Addis Ababa University, and the University of Texas. Ms. Monforte’s background in the sociology of law has contributed to her interdisciplinary approach to law. Participating in a research group of scholars from various social science disciplines and institutions in the Global South, she has developed a critical research agenda on the international protection of the child. She has published on the topic of children associated with armed groups and has a forthcoming publication on peace education during times of conflict.