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Dr. Chrostowsky
ANTH 1102- Sec 15
10/14/2018
Fambul Tok
I share the same sentiment with the man at the beginning of the clip and therefore think
having to interact with people that are solely responsible for such horrid acts of violence towards
some people renders the people these acts of violence are meted against to be powerless. Taking
the case of Sierra Leone, these people are considered to be key participants in the war, they have
also claimed the lives of thousands of people, and in a different turn out of event they are given
forgiveness and therefore have to live with the same people that they were against. They have all
the resources and power they need to eliminate the community, such include weapon, and
protection. The fact the criminals have pardoned means there is no assurance of charging them
should they commit such horrid acts of violence again. These situations leave the victims
helpless and powerless. It has a wrong impact on the society since people are not able to interact
with their neighbours freely and positively. The interaction is marred by a pin and needle walk
around the people because should anything go wrong in the course of interaction, then there is a
possibility of sparking another war. It is a social interaction characterized by fear and limits
development. Moreover, it is an act that can increase the instances of the committed killings
since it creates a sense that the victims condone the acts of violence committed against them.
The type of dispute resolution process is the reconciliation process and peacebuilding.
This kind of dispute reconciliation is likely to work not only because the parties affected in the
dispute are involved directly but also because there is a traditional bond between the soldiers
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who participated in the war and the victims. Take an example from the film where one of the
soldiers opens up and says he murdered his father by striking him with a wooden stick. This
particular soldier eventually asks for forgiveness from the relatives and the society and is
forgiven and accepted back into the society. In an analysis, the soldiers are directly bonded to the
victims through culture or tradition hence increases the chances of this particular type of
reconciliation working. However, in order to have a long-term Fambul Tok reconciliation
process built on forgiveness and tradition unity, the sense of powerlessness will have to be
improved to some extent. This doesn't, however, underestimate the success of the short-term
peacebuilding process and reconciliation laid by Fambul Tok.
According to the film, the woman is said to have been sexually assaulted by close to
fifteen men. Thing to make matters is one among the fifteen men was her uncle. This is a
horrific experience and justifies the woman’s scepticism about the whole reconciliation process.
In her defence, amnesty against these people does not take away the trauma she currently goes
through as a result of the experience and neither does it bring justice to her. She feels like the
perpetrators may again harm her and the walls of justice or the government may not protect her
or bring justice. The perpetrators of her rape should have been given some form of punishments
before conducting the ceremony. There are some forms of crimes that cannot simply go away
with reconciliation processes.
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Work Cited
O'Kane, David. "Fambul Tok Director by Sara Terry." African Conflict & Peacebuilding Review
4.2 (2014): 173-175.