Summary of the impact

Nigel Eltringham's research has enabled him to contribute to the creation of a regional mechanism for the prevention of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Great Lakes Region of Africa under the auspices of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the office of the UN Secretary General's Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG). This is the only mechanism of its kind in the world. Eltringham's contribution is based on delivering training and facilitating workshops, using the findings of his research, which directly resulted in the formation of a series of committees, co-ordination offices and programmes designed to prevent genocide.

Underpinning research

This case study is based on research carried out by Nigel Eltringham since his arrival at Sussex in 2003.

Eltringham set out to explain how, in the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide, actors account for what happened. Given the emphasis on the role international criminal law could play in responding to genocide in the Great Lakes Region (first through the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and then the International Criminal Court (ICC)), Eltringham began to conduct ethnographic research at the ICTR (2005-07). By concentrating on this discursive aftermath (rather than the actual dynamics of the genocide itself), Eltringham has been able to contribute to an understanding of how mass atrocity can become cyclical [see Section 3, R1]; the way in which exclusionary discourse is reproduced [R2]; and the way in which genocide victim's bodies are discursive vehicles [R3]. Responding to the evolving political situation in Rwanda, Eltringham has published on the proscription of ethnic identities in Rwanda, arguing that Rwandans need to be able to refer to a benign form of ethnicity to indicate a return to `normality' [R4]. This research has explored the court as a `historio-preservation technology' and the extent to which it can fulfil the dual purpose of determining individual guilt or innocence and establish a historical record [R5]. In the same vein, research has assessed the role that non-legal epistemologies (anthropology and history) can play in the trials through the testimony of expert witnesses [R6].

In this way, Eltringham's research has resisted reconstructing the Rwandan genocide as a historical event but, instead, has maintained a dynamic relationship with how others try to account for the 1994 genocide, whether through historical analogy or legal judgement. As such, the research has contributed to theoretical and comparative research on the anthropology of violence, narrative and memorialisation, while also making practical contributions to the detection of, prevention of, and response to, mass-atrocity crimes.

References to the research

Outputs can be supplied by the University on request.

Details of the impact

Eltringham's research has contributed to the development of early-warning mechanisms to prevent genocide and other mass-atrocity crimes in the Great Lakes Region, South Sudan and Kenya.

In 1994 an estimated 937,000 Rwandans, the vast majority Tutsi, were murdered in a genocide committed by militia elements of the army, often with the participation of the local population. The repercussions of the Rwandan genocide led to conflict in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 5 million people have died since 1996 as a result of the fighting. In Uganda, the insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army (which began in 1988) has killed an estimated 100,000 people, displaced 2.5 million people and involved the abduction of up to 100,000 children. In Sudan, in the Darfur region, it is estimated that, since 2003, between 200,000 and 400,000 people have been killed and 2.3 million have been displaced. In Kenya, 1,300 people were killed and up to 600,000 displaced in post-election violence between December 2007 and January 2008.

Since 2010, the Office of the UN Secretary General's Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG) has been working with the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR; an inter-governmental organisation of eleven member-states) to implement the 2006 `Protocol for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity and all Forms of Discrimination. Eltringham was asked to participate in training at the regional and national levels, where findings from his research on the Rwandan genocide are employed to explain the key characteristics of mass-atrocity crimes and the ways in which they can be prevented.

South Sudan

Acting as a consultant-trainer for the OSAPG, over four days in mid-July 2011, Eltringham delivered a knowledge-exchange programme on genocide prevention to civil-society representatives and government officials/military officers in Juba, South Sudan. Eltringham delivered two presentations in which he drew directly on his research on the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath. The issues covered included perpetrators' fantasies, paranoia, the use of euphemisms and dehumanisation, the use of history to claim victimhood, the dangers of collectivising guilt and the role of international criminal justice. Alongside another expert who presented on the role of the media in genocide, Eltringham led group discussion and facilitated group exercises. The training was attended by the Chairperson and members of the South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission (SSPRC). At the initiative of the SSPRC, in response to the workshop, the South Sudan government established a national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) in May 2012 [see Section 5, C1]. Mr Castro Wesamba, OSAPG Political Affairs Officer, reported that, since the training, `The government has established an early warning mechanism for the prevention of violence and related mass atrocities [and] has prioritized joining ICGLR with particular interest in the Regional Committee for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities' [C2]. South Sudan proceeded to join the ICGLR on 24 November 2012 and Eltringham returned to Juba in September 2013 to participate in the official launch and training of the South Sudan National Committee.

ICGLR regional committee

Over two days in February 2012, Eltringham delivered, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, genocide prevention training to the Regional Committee of the ICGLR based on his research. Additional training was provided by a Kenyan expert (Raymond Kitevu) on Early Warning Systems. At the end of the training the Regional Committee announced the creation of a coordination office at the ICGLR secretariat to analyse reports and mappings from member-states to enable Early Warning to the Heads of State [C3]. Mr Nathan Byamukama, Secretary to the Regional Committee on Prevention of Genocide, has stated that 'Having acknowledged the value of the training in its official communiqué of 8 February 2012, the members of the committee have continued to draw on Nigel's and Raymond's training as they continue their vital work of bringing an end to genocide and mass-atrocity crimes in the Great Lakes Region' [C4].

Tanzanian national committee

Over two days in February 2012, Eltringham worked with the Tanzanian National Committee in Dar es Salaam and used his research on the Rwandan genocide to assist in the creation of a twelve-month work plan for the Tanzanian national committee [C5]. With the increase in inter-religious tension in Tanzania (riots in Zanzibar in October 2012 and the bombing of a church in Arusha in May 2013), the Tanzanian National Committee held (between June and July 2013) three Peace Forums, targeting religious leaders as an important group in building peace and social cohesion in Tanzania [C6]. Ms Felistas Mushi (National Coordinator and Chair of the Tanzanian National Committee for the Prevention of Genocide) has written to Eltringham stating that 'The initial training that you (and Raymond Kitevu) provided ... is in fact the foundation of our work, as it informed the planning and implementation of the peace forums' [C7].

Kenya

In August 2012, Eltringham delivered, in Naivasha, Kenya, a two-day workshop on genocide prevention to the Kenyan National Committee and assisted in the creation of a twelve-month workplan for the committee. Additional training was provided by a Kenyan expert on Early Warning Systems. At the end of the training, the national committee announced the creation of a `Public Awareness and Advocacy Programme on the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities' [C8]. With a new election due to be held in March 2013, the Kenyan National Committee organised a sensitisation workshop for Coast Province [C9].

Sources to corroborate the impact

C1 Launch of South Sudan's national Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) (http://cewarn.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149:launch-of-south-sudans-national-early-warning-and-response-unit-ceweru&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=82)

C2 Email from Political Affairs Officer, Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Received 7 August 2012.

C3 ICGLR Regional Committee for the Prevention of Genocide (2012) Communiqué. Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 8 February 2012.

C4 Letter from Secretary to the Regional Committee on Prevention of Genocide.

C5 The Tanzania National Committee for Prevention of Genocide Updates: 1 March-15 April 2012.

C6 Workshops Report: The Role of Religious Leaders in Maintaining Sustainable Peace and Social Cohesion in Tanzania. Held from 24 June to 6 July 2013 in Mbeya, Zanzibar and Mwanza, Tanzania.

C7 Letter from Chairperson of the Tanzania Committee for the Prevention of Genocide, Ministry of Constitutional Affairs, dated 16 September 2013.

C8 Priority Projects For The ICGLR Kenya National Committee on the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities 2012—13, August 2012.

C9 Outcome Document: Office Of The Great Lakes Region (OGLR), Kenya National Committee On Prevention and Punishment of the Crime Of Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and All Forms of Discrimination Sensitization. Workshop for the Provincial Security Team and Community Leaders from Coast Province, 13—15 February 2013, Mombasa, Kenya.