A/HRC/37/55 42. A striking example is the Belarus Free Theatre, an international theatre company operating underground in Belarus and led by artistic directors in exile in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland who were forced to flee after repeated arrests, including, on one occasion, the arrest of the entire ensemble and its audience. 28 The company uses the power of art to inspire people to take action to defend human rights and bring about systemic change. By way of example of the kind of repression those engaging in such work sometimes face, reports indicate that theatre members have suffered repeated arrests or police beatings and have been blacklisted, which means they cannot work in official arts institutions. 43. Artists can play a leading role in responding to violent conflict and displacement as spokespersons, conveners (building trust between refugees and host societies), facilitators (supporting the vulnerable and marginalized) and correspondents (telling their own stories). “Syria: third space”29 is an exhibition that featured works by displaced Syrian artists who embrace this role. “Culture matters”, says Graham Sheffield of the British Council, which provided small grants for many of these artists, “for social cohesion and resilience, for economic development and sustainability, for dialogue and for mutual understanding”. 44. Actions in the field of culture can also help people reclaim public space and speak out after violent attacks. Following an Islamic State terror attack at the bus terminal in Jakarta, Indonesian artists, together with the Australia-based platform Microgalleries, created eight large-scale artworks to spread the message that Jakarta stands united against acts of terrorism. 30 A similar action was organized in Sri Lanka, where colourful street murals were painted on the sites of suicide bombings, each demanding society to “secure the sanctity of life”.31 D. Rebuilding trust and promoting reconciliation 45. Reconciliation processes aim to restore and increase trust and trustworthiness in the aftermath of violence and/or exploitation. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence recognizes that trust “is the foundation for the development of a rule of law culture, an environment that fosters reconciliation and a necessary precondition for effective communication between the victims and the authorities, as well as within society”.32 However, to strengthen a culture of dialogue, to increase empathy and visibility and to address trauma, he insists that actions in the fields of education, arts and culture are required. 33 46. Ideally, reconciliation emphasizes change at the level of individuals and groups, whether victims or perpetrators, engaging emotion, imagination and creativity, along with cognitive and analytic faculties, to first restore the relationship with oneself, and then allow relationships with others to be built and rebuilt with a view to a better future. 47. The precise activities that comprise reconciliation work, and the order in which they are undertaken, must be developed in each particular context, taking into account the nature of the alienation or violence, the trajectory and stage of any conflict, the leadership resources available, and the larger systems within which the conflict and peacebuilding processes are embedded. 1. Rehumanizing self and the other 48. Violent intergroup conflicts and abuses of human rights are almost always associated with enemies’ dehumanization of each other. In these contexts, children learn to 28 29 30 31 32 33 10 See www.belarusfreetheatre.com. See www.britishcouncil.org/arts/syria-third-space/. See http://microgalleries.org/events/reclaim-jakarta; and R. Perez-Solero, “Jakarta street art aims to eliminate fear of religious extremism”, Agencia EFE (Spain), English edition, 11 July 2017. “Fighting terror with paint brushes”, Frontline World, May 2002. See A/HRC/30/42, para. 99. Ibid., para. 32.