AFRICANS SHARE EXPERIENCE IN SRI LANKA

Berghof Foundation
13 August 2003

Two African experts on security sector reform visited Sri Lanka recently. Dr. Rocky Williams, previously with the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC), spent two weeks in the country visiting the North conducting dialogues with the Government, the LTTE, the military and the civil society. Dr. Williams was accompanied by Nigerian scholar Dr. Kayode Fayemi, for part of his visit.

The two experts were invited by the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies (Sri Lanka Office) to visit Sri Lanka and consider how the civil society could facilitate a dialogue amongst the different stakeholders on the question of High Security Zones (HSZs) and other security-related issues. During their visit, the experts presented experiences from other societies that had gone through conflict. They also had dialogues with Sri Lankans on questions relating to HSZs, the normalization of civilian life in the North and the East, and Defence Review.

Their dialogues explored a number of issues. A few among them are:

1. The possibility of initiating concrete confidence-building measures in the short to medium term that will support the peace negotiations between the Government and the LTTE.

2. How experiences from other conflict zones could have a bearing on the resolution of the conflict over the HSZs.

3. The role that civil society could play in developing and presenting concrete solutions on the HSZs and the peace process.

Dr. Williams and Dr. Fayemi participated in several workshops and met with representatives from the Ministry of Defence, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, the LTTE, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the Civil Society in Colombo, Jaffna and Mannar. In addition, Dr. Williams visited Vavuniya and met with military and civil society representatives from that area too. Dr. Williams delivered a public lecture and met with members and heads of sub-committees from the Defence Review Committee, where he shared experiences from Southern Africa on security sector reform and defence transformation.

The visit was part of a programme of activities that the Berghof Foundation has been organizing around security related issues and the peace process.

Since August 2002, the Berghof Foundation has been facilitating workshops in Colombo, Jaffna, Trincomalee and Mannar with a view to promoting dialogue amongst the different stakeholders and generating win-win solutions for all sides. These workshops have brought together representatives from the armed forces, the police, the LTTE, the government, the clergy, civil society and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for a discussion of possible ‘solutions.’

The workshops have provided a structured forum for a discussion of a range of solutions and approaches to the issue of HSZs, the resettlement of the internally displaced and the normalization of civilian life in the North and the East. The workshops have been candid and open and many of the stakeholders have appreciated the opportunity to carry on dialogues and negotiate appropriate solutions. The visit of the two Africans was a consequence of these workshops.

Dr. Rocky Williams was a former Commander in Umkhonto We Sizwe (the guerilla Army of the African National Congress) which has since 1994, been integrated with seven other South African armed formations to form the South African National Defence Force. In 1995, he was transferred to the Ministry of Defence as the Director Defence Policy, where he played a prominent role in the establishment of the new South African Ministry of Defence.

He holds a Ph.D in Civil-Military Relations, which he obtained from the University of Essex in England in 1992, and has published widely in both South African and international journals on Civil-Military Relations, Defence Transformation, strategic and policy management and Security Studies. In addition, Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor on the Faculty of Management at the University of the Witwatershed.

J.Kayode Fayemi is the founding Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a research and training institution dedicated to the study and promotion of democratic development, peace-building and human security in Africa.

Dr. Fayeme received degrees in History, Politics and International Relations from the Universities of Lagos and Ife in Nigeria and a doctorate in War Studies from King’s College, University of London. His research interests include: Democratisation, Governance in Security and Development, and Regionalism in the Global Context.

Prior to establishing CDD, Dr. Fayemi worked as a lecturer, journalist, researcher and strategic planning advisor in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

He has also served as an advisor on transitional justice, security sector restructuring and civil-military relations issues to various governments, intergovernmental institutions and development agencies. He is a technical advisor to Nigeria’s Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission currently investigating past abuses.

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AFRICANS SHARE EXPERIENCE IN SRI LANKA

Berghof Foundation13 August 2003

The Road to Reconciliation, 2010

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Berghof Foundation
13 August 2003