Rumiko Seya, Secretary General of the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention

Rumiko Seya

Born in Gunma Prefecture in 1977. Graduated from Chuo University and received an MA in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford in the UK. Specialist in post-conflict peacebuilding and reintegration of ex-combatants into society. In the past she held various positions in conflict areas, such as NGO staff (Rwanda), UN volunteer (Sierra Leone), Special Assistant to the Ambassador (Japanese Embassy, Afghanistan), and UN Peacekeeping Operations staff (Côte d'Ivoire). She became Secretary General of the JCCP in April 2007.

JCCP's website http://www.jccp.gr.jp/

To address this question, it is important to consider the reasons why areas of conflict fall into a state which lacks security and law and order.

When an area is experiencing conflict, this doesn't imply that the people living there are violent. In fact, most residents desire peace and an end to the fighting which threatens their lives and the lives of their families. However, some leaders and their followers who benefit from war are involved in this violence and the system for maintaining law and order has broken down.

First of all, the government and its leaders must view the safety of the nation and its people as paramount. Only on the basis of this premise can the system to maintain security be meaningfully considered.

In regard to the system of security in Japan, many people who responded--such as Kazuya Nakayama, a second-year student at Sagotani Junior High School--pointed out the importance of having rules to keep people safe (laws) and a structure for controlling the violators of such rules (the police).

This kind of system is surely needed in areas of conflict, too. Other important elements are a place where violators can recognize the mistakes they have made, atone for their crimes, and be rehabilitated (prison)--mentioned by Haruka Yasunari and Rikuo Kodaka, second-year students at Gion Junior High School)--and a method of clarifying why violators didn't obey the society's rules as well as preventing the arrest of innocent people by mistake (court).

In addition, if a dispute involving national borders or other matters between two countries cannot be resolved through negotiation and one country is prepared to attack the other, a military force is needed to protect that nation and its people. Japan has the Self-Defense Force for this purpose (as Kazuya Nakayama of Gion Higashi Junior High School and others pointed out).

Police and security forces guard the polls for an election in Rwanda. (Photo by Rumiko Seya in March 2001)

In areas of conflict, establishing a system for security is essential, but at the same time, the workers within this system must be trained well and the system must be run effectively.

In conflict-prone areas, governments often cannot afford to pay workers a fair salary for their duties in the police force, military, courts, and prisons, and cannot spend sufficient time training the people they hire. In some cases, too, only particular ethnic groups are given access to these jobs.

In some developing countries in Africa and Asia, police officers or soldiers set up unauthorized roadblocks and demand that people pay money to pass, a kind of extortion to earn a livable income. In other cases, the police consist of a particular ethic group and harass other ethnicities. If the people responsible for maintaining the security system don't manage it properly and fairly, society will come to have little confidence in the idea of law and order.

In order to improve such situations, many countries, including Japan, provide support for "security sector reform." This support is designed to help pay adequate salaries to the people in charge of maintaining security, provide them with effective training, and ensure that a fair balance of ethnicities are hired for these positions.

At the same time, "security sector reform" can sometimes make matters worse if the countries involved disregard the host's history and culture while pressing their own outlook on the people there.

For instance, in Afghanistan, some areas of the country are fraught with conflict between different ethnic groups. In other areas, though, the traditions of tribal society have enabled the people there to maintain their own security. But when foreign countries intervened in these areas and regarded such traditions as "outdated," pushing for more modern forms of police, military, laws, and the collection of arms, security could not be maintained.

As Shiori Ueda and Yuri Kubota, students of Sagotani Junior High School, pointed out, "traditional ties and cooperation among residents" are very important. In societies suffering conflict due to a government that is weak or showing partiality, enabling older people to live in these areas can have a positive impact on the problem. Such cases of areas in conflict may hold lessons for people in Japan, too.