ABSTRACT
The United Nations was correct in asserting that the absence of war 'can only create a space in which peace can be built'. This chapter examines the challenges that exist in filling this space and, particularly, in reconciling previously warring groups in ethnically divided societies. It argues that reconciliation can only be achieved when members of different ethnic groups rehumanize and start trusting each other. The chapter describes that the former can indeed contribute to the promotion of the latter, but that this positive connection only presents one facet of the relationship in question. Several divided societies around the world have adopted mechanisms for the protection of legal human rights as part of their peacebuilding operations. Peacebuilders in South Africa have relied on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, while those in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been focusing on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
