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/

Ideally, when conflict ends, the combatants will willingly lay down their arms, but in fact, many want to keep their weapons and some leaders try to maintain control over their soldiers.

The end of conflict offers ordinary people the chance to begin a more peaceful and stable life, but for soldiers, on the other hand, it means losing their livelihood. Moreover, for people who are used to possessing weapons, a new life without arms can make them feel anxious and in danger. And some, of course, want to hold onto their weapons to commit crimes.

Many people who sent in their ideas about this issue said that it might be helpful to provide the former combatants with money or food in return for giving up their weapons. This method might seem effective in relieving the soldiers of their unease over having no other way to earn money except through fighting. However, if we took someone in Japan who earned money from crime and told him that we would give him money if he stopped his wrongdoing, would that person really start engaging in honest work?

Isn't it possible that once he stopped his criminal behavior because he received money, he might demand financial support again when the money has run out? At the same time, he may come to feel that resorting to crime is no obstacle to receiving help.

In nearly all conflicts, combatants demand to be pardoned for any crimes they committed during wartime. After all, money would have little value to them if they are arrested. Thus, peace accords drawn up at the conclusion of a conflict often include the condition that soldiers be pardoned for their crimes in return for laying down their arms and giving up their lives as fighters.

Arms collected from militias in Côte d'Ivoire. (Photo by Rumiko Seya in July 2006)

As Kana Manabe of Sagotani Junior High School and Akiho Nishimura of Gionhigashi Junior High School point out, on the condition that former combatants give up their arms and promise not to fight again as soldiers, many places in the world provide them with work and tools or vocational training and education. This sequence of support is called "Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR)." My own organization, the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention, provides training for former soldiers in Afghanistan to work as carpenters.

However, former leaders of the conflict are often unwilling to undergo training to become carpenters or mechanics alongside their old soldiers. Instead, they angle for government positions or business opportunities.

The crucial point in such cases is that the former combatants must not arrive at the misunderstanding that being a wrongdoer enables one to receive special support and benefits. To prevent them from keeping weapons and again engaging in conflict, they must understand that the support offered to them is designed to help them find new, peaceful roles in the world. This support provides the opportunity for them to lead different lives in the future, without violence. These points were made in submissions received from Makoto Hashimoto and Kou Takami of Gionhigashi Junior High School.

Then again, residents whose family members or friends were killed in the fighting and can't find work feel it unfair that the former combatants are forgiven for their crimes and are able to receive special vocational training. Their feelings are understandable. Because of this, although we have to provide appropriate support to the combatants, many points of view must be taken into consideration. For example, to what extent should we respond to demands made by the combatants? At what point are they being indulged? For the sake of peace, should the victims be willing to let go of their grievances and their grief? What if former soldiers fail at their new lives and are in danger of returning to weapons and violence?

It is important, then, that these former combatants receive counseling, too, and reflect on the harm they have caused others. In my next column, we will look more closely at this point.