Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation
The IHJR seeks to dispel public myths about historic legacies
in societies divided by ethnic conflict
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The Polish-Jewish project has resulted in a volume published in April 2008 Shared History – Divided Memory. Jews and Others in Soviet-Occupied Poland, 1939-1941. Copies are available from various booksellers, through amazon.com
The CHDR is an outcome of the IHJR Project in the Former Yugoslavia.
The IHJR works in partnership with the Salzburg Global Seminar.
Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation
The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) works with educational and public policy institutions to organize and sponsor historical discourse in pursuit of acknowledgement, and the resolution of historical disputes. Founded in 2004, the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) is an independent, nonprofit institution based in The Hague that works in partnership with the Salzburg Global Seminar.
IHJR Celebrates Official Inauguration at the Peace Palace, The Hague, May 26, 2009
On Tuesday, May 26, 2009, the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) celebrated its official inauguration in The Hague in the Netherlands. The inaugural ceremony was convened in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace before an audience which included diplomats, judges, government officials, scholars and representatives of the civil society.
The opening address was held by H.E. Hisashi Owada, President of the International Court of Justice and IHJR Advisory Board member, who underscored the importance of addressing unresolved historical legacies as a vital element in achieving sustained peace in former conflict regions around the world.
Justice Richard Goldstone, Chairman of the IHJR, also provided framing remarks, reminding the audience about the distortions in historical discourse and its murderous consequences noting the tragedy of the Holocaust in the Second World War and the genocide in Rwanda.
The speech of H.E. Hisashi Owada is available here.
Professor Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, a former Dutch minister, presided over the event. H.E. Pieter Feith, EU Special Representative in Kosovo, H.E. Claudette Antoine Werleigh (Haïti), Secretary General of Pax Christi, and H.E. Allan Wagner, Ambassador of Peru to The Netherlands offered their testimonies and challenges on coming to terms with historical injustices within the context of their current or past responsibilities.
The IHJR, which was founded in 2004 as a project of the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria, was also honored by the presence of H.E. Ed Kronenbourg, Secretary General of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Jozias van Aartsen, Mayor of The Hague and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, who both spoke of the importance of historical justice in reconciliation processes and welcomed the IHJR as a member of the Hague-based institutions devoted to advancing peace, justice and reconciliation around the world.
The event concluded with presentations on IHJR projects in Kenya, Former Yugoslavia and the Middle East that were introduced by IHJR co-founder Dr. Timothy Ryback and IHJR Co-Director Catherine Cissé van den Muijsenbergh. IHJR Co-Director Prof. Elazar Barkan contextualized the IHJR in the framework of international relations, noting the right to redress, and in particular the role of history in shaping national identity, as a means to supplement existing judicial mechanisms.
H.E. Hisashi Owada, President
