Grassroots Reconciliation in Yen Thanh: Peace in every village

(Baonghean) - Village and hamlet stories, for a long time, besides the good traditions of "helping each other in times of need", there are still disputes, conflicts, disagreements, quarrels, even fights and violations of the law. The activities of mediation groups at the grassroots level in Yen Thanh district, with the core being the Vietnam Fatherland Front, have contributed to the reconciliation of conflicts and disputes in the community.

"A hundred reasons are not worth a little love"

Coming to Yen Thanh district to learn about the grassroots mediation work, meeting the Party Cell Secretary and Head of the Front Committee, Head of the Mediation Team of Hamlet 5, Trung Thanh commune - Mr. Hoang Ba Ha, we heard him share: “Nowadays in the countryside, there are many complicated issues. Neighbors dispute land, gardens with each other; then conflicts between husband and wife, domestic violence; relatives and clans dispute places of worship; young people quarrel, fight each other... Therefore, when there is a dispute, conflict or petition in the hamlet, the mediation team in the hamlet stands up to grasp the information, discuss to agree on a solution.

For example, the land dispute between the uncle and his wife and the nephew (his brother's son), a piece of land of more than 200 square meters, half of which belongs to the nephew's inheritance (left by his deceased father), the other half belongs to the uncle. For a long time, the uncle's mother, the nephew's grandmother, has been living on this common land with the nephew, so the uncle handed it over to the nephew to use. However, just because of "unsatisfactory words", the uncle and his wife filed a petition to reclaim the land. The village mediation team analyzed the cause, clarified the conflict, then met directly with each side, and analyzed it thoroughly and reasonably: "If the land is divided in half, each person will have a small area, while the nephew will not have a house to live in properly and take care of his great-grandmother, and will lose the uncle-niece relationship...".

With analysis and persuasion, the hamlet mediation team finally successfully mediated the case. The uncle and his wife signed a commitment to leave the land and house to the nephew, and in return the nephew also had the responsibility to take care of his great-grandmother, and when his great-grandmother was sick, it was the shared responsibility of the uncle's family and the nephew's family. He said that in rural areas, the general level of awareness of the people, including awareness and understanding of the law, was uneven, so in order to reconcile, the members of the mediation team had to be enthusiastic and had to have "tricks" to solve each problem, on the basis of "a hundred reasons are not worth a little bit of love".

Trung Thanh Commune Fatherland Front officials discussed with representatives of mediation teams about a number of cases in the area.

Talking with Mr. Vu Van Thuy - Party Cell Secretary, Head of the Front Work Committee, Head of the reconciliation team in hamlet 7, Trung Thanh commune, we learned that in the village, there are things that seem to be nothing, but create conflicts. There is a story, the husband goes to work outside, the wife stays at home, when outsiders only need to "spit" a few "warning" sentences: "You worry about going to work, your wife is happy at home, she is beautiful again...". This becomes the reason for the husband to occasionally come home drunk and beat his wife and then file for divorce. Then there are stories just because of small conflicts, because "the rooster crows at each other"..., shallow thinking, competitiveness, "winning and losing" and lack of legal knowledge lead to bloody fights, relatives abandoning each other, husband and wife filing for divorce...

In such cases, the mediation team in the hamlets includes all members of the Front Working Committee, the Association of the Elderly, Women, Farmers, Veterans, Youth Union..., one person, one organization with "one voice" participating, both propagating and persuading the people involved to clarify the truth and understand the situation. Mr. Nguyen Duy Lieu - Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Trung Thanh commune, said: The grassroots mediation team was established in 7/7 hamlets in the commune. Through its activities, the mediation team has settled small conflicts and disputes that occurred in the community but not to the extent of criminal or administrative proceedings to preserve the village and neighborhood relationship. In addition, mediation activities in the mediation teams have also contributed to resolving conflicts that occurred within families and clans to foster happiness for each family member; contributed to stabilizing security and order in the locality, reducing complaints and complaints from the people.

Bridge to bring law to the grassroots

Ms. Nguyen Thi Dieu Hong - Vice Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Yen Thanh district said: Currently, Yen Thanh district has 498 grassroots mediation teams, with nearly 3,500 mediators. Mediation teams are established in each block and hamlet according to the voluntary and self-managed model. Mediators at the grassroots level include hamlet chiefs, Fatherland Front officials and members of the Elderly Association, Youth Union, Farmers, Veterans, and Women's Union. They are people with life experience, legal knowledge, and responsibility for mediation work; especially prestigious people in the community. In recent years, based on their functions and tasks, the Fatherland Front from district to commune has paid attention to directing its members to directly participate in grassroots mediation teams according to regulations. The district and commune Fatherland Front also coordinate with the district Justice Department and the commune Justice Committee to direct and guide the completion of mediation teams at the block and hamlet levels, ensuring the correct composition, quantity and effective operation. The district Fatherland Front also closely coordinates with the district Justice Department to guide the professional activities related to mediation work at the grassroots level, in conjunction with the implementation of grassroots movements and campaigns launched by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, especially the campaign "All people unite to build a cultural life in residential areas", aiming to link mediation work at the grassroots level with the task of local socio-economic development.

Since the beginning of the year, the district has received 228 conciliation cases, including 103 civil cases; 100 marriage and family cases; 25 conflicts and disputes. Of these, 192 cases were successfully conciliated, reaching 84.2%; thus, small conflicts and disputes in the community have been promptly resolved; the great national unity bloc has been maintained and consolidated, not allowing "one small thing to become a big deal" in each residential area. The effectiveness of conciliation work has been improved, leading to the effectiveness of the movement "All people unite to build a cultural life in residential areas" achieving high efficiency, promoting the spirit of solidarity, mutual love, mutual assistance, preserving the fine traditions of the family and community; the rate of cultural families is higher year after year. There are cases and issues that mediators also apply by propagating, explaining, and guiding through legal regulations and mobilizing people to comply with the law, contributing to raising awareness and understanding of the law among the people.

Although the successful mediation rate has not reached 100% compared to the total number of cases arising in the area, it is clear that the effectiveness of the mediation team is very great. In order to continue to make mediation work more systematic and effective, contributing to the task of socio-economic development and ensuring security and order in the locality, Yen Thanh needs to implement the Law on Grassroots Mediation (effective from January 1, 2014), in order to bring the law on grassroots mediation into life, including the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels participating in state management of grassroots mediation...

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