Truth and Reconciliation in Nordic Countries
Norway, Sweden and Finland are currently engaged in processes of truth and reconciliation with the Indigenous Saami People of Sápmi and the Kven/Tornedalian linguistic minorities. What do these processes aim to achieve and why are they considered necessary?
Dozens of truth and reconciliation commissions have been held since the first commission in Uganda in 1974. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission 1995-1998 following apartheid and the introduction of democracy in South Africa is probably the best known. More recently, Canada supported a seven-year commission into the history and impacts of residential schools for Indigenous children which were reported in 2015 and Greenland held a Commission from 2013-2017. Inspired by these processes, Norway, Sweden and Finland are now conducting their own.
At the Law Forum, Rachael will discuss the general aims of these commissions and review some of the best-known historic examples before explaining the objectives, methods and challenges of the Nordic processes.
Rachael Lorna Johnstone is Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Akureyri where she holds a professorship. She is also a professor of law at Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland).
Professor Johnstone specialises in Polar law: the governance of the Arctic and the Antarctic under international and domestic law. She has published widely on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, international human rights law, governance of extractive industries in the Arctic, international environmental law, state responsibility and due diligence, and Arctic strategies. Her books include Regulation of Extractive Industries: Community Engagement in the Arctic (Routledge 2020) with Anne Merrild Hansen, Arctic Governance in a Changing World (Rowman and Littlefield 2019) with Mary Durfee, and Offshore Oil and Gas Development in the Arctic under International Law: Risk and Responsibility (Brill 2015).
All welcome!