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MEET THE COUNCIL

Members of the Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation.

Cornerstone of the Ara Pacis Initiatives for Peace is the Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation, a universal body which, in virtue of its members:

  • primarily men and women who have suffered personal and collective tragedy yet have made forgiveness the starting point of a new existence
  • and of its practical initiatives to engage individuals and communities in paths of healing, justice and reconciliation,

can weave those bonds of trust and  friendship which lead to the reframing of narratives, the emerging of constructive visions and the rekindling of  hope, all essential elements in the challenging journey towards stability and  peace.

Such deep human consensus allows the Council to assist governments, institutions and communities by making contributions that are ethical, moral, cultural and pedagogical in nature so as to ensure that respect, understanding and dialogue are integral parts of peace processes and that the human dimension of peace is given the focus it deserves

Currently there are more than 100 Council Members coming from all corners of the globe and specializing in various fields related to healing, justice and reconciliation. You can access their biographies and reflections on forgiveness by browsing through the pages below, or by inserting a name, country or keyword in the search box at the top of the screen.

  • Ali Abu Awwad Al-Tariq-the Palestinian Institution for Development and Democracy and Parents Circle-Families Forum
  • Khaled Abou El Fadl Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor in Islamic Law, University of California-Los Angeles School of Law
  • Izzeldin Abuelaish, MD, MPH Gazan-Palestinian medical doctor and and Professor in Global Health at the University of Toronto-Canada
  • Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im Professor of Law and Human Rights in Islam at Emory University
  • Karen Armstrong Author and academic; Founder of the Charter for Compassion
  • Imam Muhammad Ashafa co-Director of the Interfaith Mediation Center of the MuslimChristian Dialogue in Kaduna, Nigeria
  • Alexandra Asseily Governor and founder of the Centre for Lebanese Studies at Oxford; Board Member of the Guerrand-Hermès Peace Foundation
  • M. Imam Aziz Founder of Syarikat human rights organization of Indonesia
  • John Bangura Founder of Hope Sierra Leone
  • Sushobha Barve Executive Secretary of the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation of India
  • Marta Benavides Activist, theologian and educator, El Salvador
  • Enzo Bianchi Author; Founder and Prior of the monastic community of Bose
  • Betty Oyella Bigombe former Minister of the Ugandan Government; Head Negotiator between the LRA and the Government of Uganda
  • Fausto Biloslavo War correspondent
  • Nilton Bonder Spiritual leader of the Jewish Congregation of Brazil
  • Eileen Borris Political Psychologist
  • Edith Bruck Author and poet
  • Marina Cantacuzino Founder and Director of The Forgiveness Project
  • Loreta N. Castro Executive Director of the Center for Peace Education of the Philippines
  • Assaad Chaftari peacemaker, Lebanon
  • Yoon-jae Chang peacemaker, South Korea
  • Mohieddine Chehab peacemaker, Lebanon
  • Valentina Cherevatenko Chair-coordinator of the “Women of the Don Region” Union, Russia
  • Reverend Canon Brian Cox Vice President of the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy
  • Robi Damelin Spokesperson of Parents Circle/Family Forum
  • Joyce Dubensky Vice President of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding
  • Christian Iosso Coordinator for Social Witness Policy of the Presbyterian Church, USA
  • Makau Mutua Dean of the School of Law at the University of Buffalo and President of the Task Force for the Establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Kenya
  • Nassera Dutour Spokesperson of the Collective of Families of the Disappeared in Algeria
  • Manuela Dviri Vitali Norsa Author, Journalist and Peace Activist
  • Rasha El-Fangry Coordinator of the Collaborative for Peace of Sudan
  • Asha Hagi Elmi Member of Transitional Parliament of Somalia; Founder of Save Somali Women and Children; Chairperson of The Sixth Clan
  • Barakat Fawzi Hasan General Director of Jerusalem Center for Studies and Islamic Media
  • Ginn Fourie co-Founder and Director of the Lyndi Fourie Foundation
  • Ron Fremder Founder of the We Do Care Association
  • Francisco Galán Bermúdez former spokesperson of the National Liberation Army of Colombia; Director of the House of Peace-Medellin
  • Anne Gallagher Founder of Seeds of Hope
  • Shukrije Gashi Director of the Partners-Kosova Center for Conflict Management
  • Leymah Roberta Gbowee Executive Director of the Women Peace and Security Network of Africa
  • Scherto Gill Executive Secretary of Guerrand Hermès Foundation for Peace
  • Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela Professor of Psychology at the University of Cape Town; Senior Consultant at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation of Cape Town, South Africa
  • Juan Guzmán former Santiago Appeals Court Judge in charge of investigation of the General Augusto Pinochet case
  • Marek Halter Author; co-Founder of SOS Racisme; Founder of the International Committee for a Negotiated Agreement in the Near East
  • Hassan Hanafi Hassanien Chair of the Philosophy Department of Cairo University
  • Barry Hart Professor of Trauma and Conflict Studies at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding of the East Mennonite University
  • Sohail Hashmi Associate Professor of International Relations at Mount Holyoke College
  • Le Ly Hayslip President and Founder of the Global Village Foundation of Vietnam
  • Michael Henderson Journalist and author
  • Donna Hicks Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University
  • Amy Hill founder of Silence Speaks
  • Debra Hocking Deputy Chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation of Australia
  • Thavory Huot Coordinator of the Peace Education Working Group for the Reduction of Arms, Cambodia
  • Elizabeth Lira Director of the Center for Ethics at the University Alberto Hurtado and member of the Superior Council of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO).
  • Leonel Narváez Imc Director of the Foundation for Reconciliation
  • Jan Oberg President of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research
  • George Emile Irani Associate Professor of International Studies at the American University of Kuwait
  • Dishani Jayaweera Co-Founder of the Centre for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation, Sri Lanka
  • Monica Jimenez de la Jara former Minister of Education of the Republic of Chilet
  • Palwasha Kakar Vice Minister for Administration and Finance, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Afghanistan
  • Elias Khoury Attorney and dialogue advocate, Jerusalem
  • Svetlana Kijevcanin Coordinator of the Princeton University Exchange Program in Serbia for World Learning Study Abroad
  • Ron Kovic Author of Born on the 4th of July; Veteran of the Vietnam War
  • Katarina Kruhonja Co-Founder and Director of the Centre for Peace, Non Violence and Human Rights of Croatia
  • Pietro Kuciukian President of the International Committee for the Righteous of Armenians and Co-Founder of The Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide Committee
  • Michael Lapsley Anglican Priest; Director of the Institute for Healing of Memories-South Africa
  • Salomón Lerner Febres former President of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Perù; Executive President of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights of the Pontifical Catholic University of Perù
  • Rita Levi-Montalcini Founder and President Rita Levi-Montalcini Foundation
  • Jamal Majam Director General of International Cooperation, Ministry of Culture, Yemen
  • Jaime Malamud Goti former Solicitor General of the nation of Argentina; Professor of Law at the University of Palermo
  • The Reverend Apollinaire MaluMalu Muholongu President of the Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Harsh Mander Director of the Center for Equity Studies-India
  • Hatidza Mehmedovic Founder of the Mothers of Srebrenica association
  • Alberto Melloni UNESCO Chair for Religious Pluralism and Peace; Secretary General of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies
  • Joseph Montville Board Chair of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution of the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University
  • Eva Mozes Kor Survivor of Dr. Mengele’s experiments in Auschwitz; Founding Director of CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center
  • Letlapa Mphahlele co-Founder of the Lyndi Fourie Foundation; President of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), South Africa
  • Takamitsu Muraoka Professor of Hebrew at Leiden University
  • John Baptist Onama ex child soldier and Professor of European Project Management in the Department of History and Politics of the University of Padua
  • Yaha Sergio Yahe Pallavicini Vice President of the Italian Islamic Religious Community
  • Fabiola Perdomo Spokesperson of the Foundation for Life and Liberty of Colombia
  • Eduardo Pizarro President of the National Reconciliation and Reparations Commission of Colombia
  • Qurrat-ul-Ain Member of Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace, Kashmir
  • Bahram Rahman Researcher on transitional justice, Afghanistan
  • Sami Rasouli Director of Muslim Peacemaker Teams, Iraq
  • Zarina Salamat peace activist, Pakistan; former Chairperson of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy
  • Jean-Paul Samputu Musician;Founder of the Samputu Forgiveness Campaign, Rwanda
  • Donald W. Shriver, Jr. President Emeritus of Union Theological Seminary NYC
  • Latifah Anum Siregar Chairperson of the Alliance for Democracy; General Secretary of the Papua Muslim Assembly, Indonesia
  • Geraldine Smyth President of the International Advisory Group of the International Conflict Research; Member of the Board of Healing Through Remembering in Northern Ireland
  • Carlo Strenger Professor of Psychology at the University of Tel Aviv
  • Lukasz Szajna Founder of the Oświęcim, Poland Mound of Remembrance and Reconciliation Foundation
  • Jesus Tecú Osorio Social activist, human rights campaigner, and advocate for the Achi Maya, Guatemala
  • Garrett Thomson Board Member of Guerrand Hermès Foundation for Peace
  • Öztürk Türkdogan President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey
  • The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa
  • Rev. Andrew Wesley Survivor of Canada’s Residential School System; Coordinator at the Circle of Fire Native Cultural Center, Assistant Curate at the Church of the Redeemer, Toronto Fondazione Glocal Forum Italy Via dei Coronari 44, 00186 Roma, Italia – Tel: +39 06 68 89 22 52 Fax: +39 06 68 58 58 27 – [email protected]
  • Pastor James Wuye co-Director of the Interfaith Mediation Center of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Kaduna, Nigeria
  • Kerim Yildiz Chief Executive of the Kurdish Human Rights Project

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