WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday October 8, Congressman Bill Delahunt will hold a public briefing that looks at a promising effort to promote political reconciliation in Iraq in the aftermath of the surge.

The briefing will feature the top negotiators for the African National Congress and the apartheid government during South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994, and for Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionist Party, and the non-sectarian Alliance party in Northern Ireland during the preparation of the “Good Friday” agreement in 1998. 

These negotiators, who have attained legendary status in their own countries, acted as facilitators at a meeting in April in Helsinki of leaders of the primary Iraqi political parties.  This meeting resulted in the signing of the ground-breaking “Helsinki Agreement” in Baghdad in July, which is the first Iraqi-led accord to outline principles and mechanisms for political reconciliation.  The briefing will review the status of the agreement, and preview possible next steps in Iraqi reconciliation.  The witnesses, who were credited with playing a central role in the successful completion of this accord, will testify about the potential lessons for Iraq from their own peace processes in South Africa and Northern Ireland.

WHO: Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight

WHAT:                       BRIEFING on “Political Reconciliation in Iraq and the Helsinki Process:

Lessons from South Africa and Northern Ireland”

DATE:                        Wednesday, October 8, 2008

WHERE:                    Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building at 9:00 a.m.

BRIEFERS:              

The Right Honorable the Lord John Alderdice

House of Lords

United Kingdom

 

The Right Honorable Jeffrey M. Donaldson, MP

House of Commons

United Kingdom

 

The Honorable Mac Maharaj

Professor

Bennington College

(former Minister of Transport of the Republic of South Africa)

 

The Honorable Roelf Meyer

Founder

Action for a Safe SA

(former Minister of Provincial and Constitutional Affairs of the Republic of

South Africa)

 

Mr. Padraig O’Malley

John Joseph Moakley Distinguished Professor of Peace and Reconciliation

John McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies

University of Massachusetts - Boston

 

The Honorable Cyril Ramaphosa

Executive Chairman

Shanduka Group

(former Member of Parliament of the Republic of South Africa)

(via videoconference)

 

 

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