Advising ethnic minority groups in Burma on peace negotiations with the government

Client(s) Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG)

Jones Day advised ethnic minority groups on possible approaches to peace negotiations by preparing a comprehensive survey of processes undertaken in similar circumstances in other countries. These groups are engaged in negotiations with the country's civilian government, which recently assumed power after many years of military dictatorship. At the request of the Public Law and Policy Group ("PILPG"), a non-profit organization providing pro bono legal services to states and governments involved in post-conflict peace processes, Jones Day produced a comprehensive survey of processes undertaken in similar circumstances in other countries. Attorney and summer associates from seven Jones Day offices analyzed the strategies and tactics that had been employed in those countries, seeking to draw lessons from both successful and unsuccessful peace processes, in order to present the Burmese parties with an array of possible approaches on which they might base their own efforts to engage with the government. The results of Jones Day's work were presented to the groups during a meeting in July 2013 at which they discussed a joint strategy for entering into future national-level peace negotiations.