Jeremy Sarkin – författare

More and more, the descendants of indigenous victims of genocide, land expropriation, forced labor, and other systematic human rights violations committed by colonial powers are seeking reparations under international law from the modern successor governments and corporations. As the number of colonial reparations cases increases, courts around the world are being asked to apply international law to determine whether reparations are due for atrocities and crimes that might have been committed long ago but whose lasting effects are alleged to injure the modern descendants of the victims. Sarkin analyzes the thorny issues of international law raised in such suits by focusing on groundbreaking cases in which he is involved as legal advisor to the paramount chief of the Herero people of Namibia. In 2001, the Herero became the first ethnic group to seek reparations under the legal definition of genocide by bringing multi-billion-dollar suits against Germany and German companies in a number of U.S. federal courts under the Alien Torts Claim Act of 1789.The Herero genocide, conducted in German South-West Africa (present-day Namibia) between 1904 and 1908, is recognized by the UN as the first organized state genocide in world history. Although the Herero were subjected to Germany's First Genocide, they have, unlike the victims of the Holocaust, received no reparations from Germany. By machine-gun massacres, starvation, poisoning, and forced labor in Germany's first concentration camps, the German Schutztruppe systematically exterminated as many as 105,000 Herero women, and children, composing most of the Herero population. Sarkin considers whether these historical events constitute legally defined genocide, crimes against humanity, and other international crimes. He evaluates the legal status of indigenous polities in Africa at the time and he explores the enduring impact in Namibia of the Germany's colonial campaign of genocide. He extrapolates the Herero case to global issues of reparations, apologies, and historical human rights violations, especially in Africa.

"As nations struggling to heal wounds of civil war and atrocity turn toward the model of reconciliation, Reconciliation in Divided Societies takes a systematic look at the political dimensions of this international phenomenon. . . . The book shows us how this transformation happens so that we can all gain a better understanding of how, and why, reconciliation really works. It is an almost indispensable tool for those who want to engage in reconciliation"-from the foreword by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond TutuAs societies emerge from oppression, war, or genocide, their most important task is to create a civil society strong and stable enough to support democratic governance. More and more conflict-torn countries throughout the world are promoting reconciliation as central to their new social order as they move toward peace and stability.Scores of truth and reconciliation commissions are helping bring people together and heal the wounds of deeply divided societies. Since the South African transition, countries as diverse as Timor Leste, Sierra Leone, Fiji, Morocco, and Peru have placed reconciliation at the center of their reconstruction and development programs. Other efforts to promote reconciliation-including trials and governmental programs-are also becoming more prominent in transitional times. But until now there has been no real effort to understand exactly what reconciliation could mean in these different situations. What does true reconciliation entail? How can it be achieved? How can its achievement be assessed? This book digs beneath the surface to answer these questions and explain what the concepts of truth, justice, forgiveness, and reconciliation really involve in societies that are recovering from internecine strife.Looking to the future as much as to the past, Erin Daly and Jeremy Sarkin maintain that reconciliation requires fundamental political and economic reform along with personal healing if it is to be effective in establishing lasting peace and stability. Reconciliation, they argue, is best thought of as a means for transformation. It is the engine that enables victims to become survivors and divided societies to transform themselves into communities where people work together to raise children and live productive, hopeful lives. Reconciliation in Divided Societies shows us how this transformation happens so that we can all gain a better understanding of how and why reconciliation is actually accomplished.

"As nations struggling to heal wounds of civil war and atrocity turn toward the model of reconciliation, Reconciliation in Divided Societies takes a systematic look at the political dimensions of this international phenomenon. . . . The book shows us how this transformation happens so that we can all gain a better understanding of how, and why, reconciliation really works. It is an almost indispensable tool for those who want to engage in reconciliation"-from the foreword by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond TutuAs societies emerge from oppression, war, or genocide, their most important task is to create a civil society strong and stable enough to support democratic governance. More and more conflict-torn countries throughout the world are promoting reconciliation as central to their new social order as they move toward peace and stability.Scores of truth and reconciliation commissions are helping bring people together and heal the wounds of deeply divided societies. Since the South African transition, countries as diverse as Timor Leste, Sierra Leone, Fiji, Morocco, and Peru have placed reconciliation at the center of their reconstruction and development programs. Other efforts to promote reconciliation-including trials and governmental programs-are also becoming more prominent in transitional times. But until now there has been no real effort to understand exactly what reconciliation could mean in these different situations. What does true reconciliation entail? How can it be achieved? How can its achievement be assessed? This book digs beneath the surface to answer these questions and explain what the concepts of truth, justice, forgiveness, and reconciliation really involve in societies that are recovering from internecine strife.Looking to the future as much as to the past, Erin Daly and Jeremy Sarkin maintain that reconciliation requires fundamental political and economic reform along with personal healing if it is to be effective in establishing lasting peace and stability. Reconciliation, they argue, is best thought of as a means for transformation. It is the engine that enables victims to become survivors and divided societies to transform themselves into communities where people work together to raise children and live productive, hopeful lives. Reconciliation in Divided Societies shows us how this transformation happens so that we can all gain a better understanding of how and why reconciliation is actually accomplished.

This interdisciplinary socio-legal book explores the effects of climate change on Indigenous Peoples and minority groups. Jeremy Julian Sarkin argues that an integrated approach to deal with climate change, that also incorporates dealing with environmental justice matters, is needed. This is because dealing with environmental injustices must be prioritized in order to achieve the necessary climate change action goals and facilitate climate adaptation for the most vulnerable.The book investigates the challenges encountered by Indigenous People and minority groups, who face extensive discrimination and often live in deprived areas that are not adequately equipped to deal with the consequences of climate change. By examining the issues concerning climate change and environmental justice in the United States, South Africa and Canada, Sarkin presents various ways to enhance the resilience of those most vulnerable to climate change. By integrating knowledge and methods from a range of disciplines, including the social and natural sciences, Sarkin argues that addressing these issues concurrently and in a unified manner would better aid Indigenous People and minority groups facing these effects.Climate Adaptation Through Environmental Justice is an essential resource for students and scholars in the fields of law, environmental studies, and the social and natural sciences. It also provides helpful materials to assist law and policy makers, judicial officers, private sector actors, and civil society organisations in developing constructive policies regarding environmental justice and climate change issues.

This interdisciplinary socio-legal book explores the effects of climate change on Indigenous Peoples and minority groups. Jeremy Julian Sarkin argues that an integrated approach to deal with climate change, that also incorporates dealing with environmental justice matters, is needed. This is because dealing with environmental injustices must be prioritized in order to achieve the necessary climate change action goals and facilitate climate adaptation for the most vulnerable.The book investigates the challenges encountered by Indigenous People and minority groups, who face extensive discrimination and often live in deprived areas that are not adequately equipped to deal with the consequences of climate change. By examining the issues concerning climate change and environmental justice in the United States, South Africa and Canada, Sarkin presents various ways to enhance the resilience of those most vulnerable to climate change. By integrating knowledge and methods from a range of disciplines, including the social and natural sciences, Sarkin argues that addressing these issues concurrently and in a unified manner would better aid Indigenous People and minority groups facing these effects.Climate Adaptation Through Environmental Justice is an essential resource for students and scholars in the fields of law, environmental studies, and the social and natural sciences. It also provides helpful materials to assist law and policy makers, judicial officers, private sector actors, and civil society organisations in developing constructive policies regarding environmental justice and climate change issues.

This interdisciplinary socio-legal book explores the effects of climate change on Indigenous Peoples and minority groups. Jeremy Julian Sarkin argues that an integrated approach to deal with climate change, that also incorporates dealing with environmental justice matters, is needed. This is because dealing with environmental injustices must be prioritized in order to achieve the necessary climate change action goals and facilitate climate adaptation for the most vulnerable.The book investigates the challenges encountered by Indigenous People and minority groups, who face extensive discrimination and often live in deprived areas that are not adequately equipped to deal with the consequences of climate change. By examining the issues concerning climate change and environmental justice in the United States, South Africa and Canada, Sarkin presents various ways to enhance the resilience of those most vulnerable to climate change. By integrating knowledge and methods from a range of disciplines, including the social and natural sciences, Sarkin argues that addressing these issues concurrently and in a unified manner would better aid Indigenous People and minority groups facing these effects.Climate Adaptation Through Environmental Justice is an essential resource for students and scholars in the fields of law, environmental studies, and the social and natural sciences. It also provides helpful materials to assist law and policy makers, judicial officers, private sector actors, and civil society organisations in developing constructive policies regarding environmental justice and climate change issues.

This book emerges at a time when there is growing criticism of both truth commissions and transitional justice as a whole. Its purpose is to understand the impact and legacy of these institutions over the past fifty years.

This book explores a range of issues related to the development, application and enforcement of international criminal justice within Africa and on Africa. Written by experts from Africa, and adopting African perspectives, this book seeks to understand the scope and reach of these issues, nationally, regionally and globally. Africa's Role and Contribution to International Criminal Justice engages in theoretical and policy discourses on the substantive and procedural features of criminal law and justice in the African context. A range of topical issues are examined by the contributors, such as the ways in which African states have dealt with issues of universal jurisdiction and how victims are treated, as well as controversial questions concerning how courts function and should function in dealing with these issues. The ideas, themes, institutions, practices, concepts and patterns of convergence of criminal justice systems in Africa are also explored. This book aims to establish a greater understanding of international criminal justice and its relation to Africa, and beyond. Further, it seeks to expand the conversation beyond the narrow topics that are so commonly discussed when matters of African criminal justice are considered.

This study recounts the reasons why the order for the Herero genocide was very likely issued by the Kaiser himself, and why proof of this has not emerged before now.In 1904, the indigenous Herero people of German South West Africa (now Namibia) rebelled against their German occupiers. In the following four years, the German army retaliated, killing between 60,000 and 100,000 Herero people, one of the worst atrocities ever. The history of the Herero genocide remains a key issue for many around the world partly because the German policy not to pay reparations for the Namibian genocide contrasts with its long-standing Holocaust reparations policy. The Herero case bears not only on transitional justice issues throughout Africa, but also on legal issues elsewhere in the world where reparations for colonial injustices have been called for.This book explores the events within the context of German South West Africa (GSWA) as the only German colony where settlement was actually attempted. The study contends that the genocide was not the work of one rogue general or the practices of the military, but that it was inexorably propelled by Germany's national goals at the time. The book argues that the Herero genocide was linked to Germany's late entry into the colonial race, which led it frenetically and ruthlessly to acquire multiple colonies all over the world within a very short period, using any means available.Jeremy Sarkin is Chairperson-Rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, and is at present Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. He is also an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa and of the State of New York. A graduate of theUniversity of the Western Cape and of Harvard Law School he has been visiting professor at several US universities where he has taught Comparative Law, International Human Rights Law, International Criminal Law and Transitional JusticeSouthern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe): University of Cape Town Press/Juta