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PEACE, JUSTICE, TRUTH AND MERCY
Peace and justice can be achieved in different ways according to different
people. Some people feel justice must first be done before peace can be achieved. This
the view is pursued by activists and advocates who feel mediators downplay social
justice for the sake of peace, while mediators feel advocates intentionally escalate
conflict to win support. On the other hand, mediators believe that conflict resolution
based on consensus brings peace, which in turn leads to justice being done. However,
as previously mentioned, Lederach (1989:1) feels advocacy and activism help to raise
the awareness of an issue, and mediation then facilitates the process of negotiation to
achieve peace and justice.
Justice and mercy, just like peace and justice, are often seen as being in
opposition to each other. To Lederach (1995) justice means the process ofrestorations
to those who were hanned, openly acknowledging the wrongs ofthe past and rectifying
them. This is often taken to mean determining the truth and punishing the guilty.
However, punishment seldom achieves reconciliation or restriction.
Mercy is about forgiving the guilty and affording them an opportunity for a new
start. It can be applied by giving a lenient sentence. Normally it is believed that one
cannot do justice and be merciful at the same time. However, Lederach (1995) believes
that the process of reconciliation means identifying and acknowledging what happened
(truth), an attempt to correct what went wrong (justice) and forgiving the perpetrators
ofthe conflict (mercy). This results in reconciliation or restitution.
The process of conflict transformation as espoused by Lederach
(1995) is
similar to Transforrnative Mediation developed by Bush and Folgers, as it calls for the
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