Dr. Williams and Dr. Fayemi
participated in several workshops and met
with representatives from the Ministry of
Defence, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, the
LTTE, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)
and the Civil Society in Colombo, Jaffna and
Mannar. In addition, Dr. Williams visited
Vavuniya and met with military and civil society
representatives from that area too. Dr. Williams
delivered a public lecture and met with members
and heads of sub-committees from the Defence
Review Committee, where he shared experiences
from Southern Africa on security sector reform
and defence transformation.
The visit was part of a programme
of activities that the Berghof Foundation
has been organizing around security related
issues and the peace process.
Since August 2002, the Berghof
Foundation has been facilitating workshops
in Colombo, Jaffna, Trincomalee and Mannar
with a view to promoting dialogue amongst
the different stakeholders and generating
win-win solutions for all sides. These workshops
have brought together representatives from
the armed forces, the police, the LTTE, the
government, the clergy, civil society and
the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for
a discussion of possible ‘solutions.’
The workshops have provided
a structured forum for a discussion of a range
of solutions and approaches to the issue of
HSZs, the resettlement of the internally displaced
and the normalization of civilian life in
the North and the East. The workshops have
been candid and open and many of the stakeholders
have appreciated the opportunity to carry
on dialogues and negotiate appropriate solutions.
The visit of the two Africans was a consequence
of these workshops.
Dr. Rocky Williams was a former
Commander in Umkhonto We Sizwe (the guerilla
Army of the African National Congress) which
has since 1994, been integrated with seven
other South African armed formations to form
the South African National Defence Force.
In 1995, he was transferred to the Ministry
of Defence as the Director Defence Policy,
where he played a prominent role in the establishment
of the new South African Ministry of Defence.
He holds a Ph.D in Civil-Military
Relations, which he obtained from the University
of Essex in England in 1992, and has published
widely in both South African and international
journals on Civil-Military Relations, Defence
Transformation, strategic and policy management
and Security Studies. In addition, Dr. Williams
is an Associate Professor on the Faculty of
Management at the University of the Witwatershed.
J.Kayode Fayemi is the founding
Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development
(CDD), a research and training institution
dedicated to the study and promotion of democratic
development, peace-building and human security
in Africa.
Dr. Fayeme received degrees
in History, Politics and International Relations
from the Universities of Lagos and Ife in
Nigeria and a doctorate in War Studies from
King’s College, University of London.
His research interests include: Democratisation,
Governance in Security and Development, and
Regionalism in the Global Context.
Prior to establishing CDD,
Dr. Fayemi worked as a lecturer, journalist,
researcher and strategic planning advisor
in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
He has also served as an advisor
on transitional justice, security sector restructuring
and civil-military relations issues to various
governments, intergovernmental institutions
and development agencies. He is a technical
advisor to Nigeria’s Human Rights Violations
Investigation Commission currently investigating
past abuses.